Abington CAM Interview

I believe whole heartedly that elected officials from the Town Moderator to the Selectboard have a duty of transparency to those they represent. With that commitment comes the requirement for mutual respect in those communications. We can agree, we can disagree and still have respectful conversations and debate.

Abington (like most similarly sized towns in Massachusetts) relies too heavily on state funding. Persistent inflation and overall town growth have and will consistently increase costs (services, infrastructure etc.) but that growth may not necessarily correlate to increased revenue. State funding has not remained consistent with rising costs over the past five years and we are feeling the affects. As a town, we have to find a way to maintain a balanced budget (dare I say a surplus) without relying so much on state funding.

Disclaimer: this will be difficult to accomplish. I would love to figure out a way to reduce further or eliminate the property taxes for our senior citizen residents. 

In order to maintain a balanced budget the town will either have to cut expenses (i.e. roles within departments, insurance coverages, utilities etc.) OR increase revenues. The majority of the town revenues comes from residential property taxes with a large portion of the school budget offset by state Chapter 70 funds. So how do we increase town revenue without taking it directly from our people? It is not an easy question to answer and if there is a candidate out there saying that they will maintain our current budget AND lower property taxes then they do not understand how this works.

I have libertarian undertones in my belief system (one could blame the Marines and the government telling me what I can and can't do for 14 years) - whether it's a Board or Committee impacting our private lives or simply making change that affect a wide swath of the town without any public input, I am generally opposed to government overreach. Most importantly, these Boards and Committees are here to represent the people of the town - not personal interests.