To the editor:
Don’t blame the new councilors next year for the tax increase you’re going to get. They will just be trying to clean up the mess from a few that are there now.
I don’t have a master’s degree in financial management like some of our councilors, but I do like playing with numbers, and you can put me on record today that Caribou will fall short of its revenue projections this year by $700,000 or more. That’s approximately 2 mils for anyone that’s interested.
Last year (2019) the city’s share of the property tax revenue was $4,027,637. This year (2020) the revenue from property taxes is budgeted to be $4,051,590. Can anyone explain how you can decrease the mil rate by 1 mil, which lowers everyone’s taxes, then budget to take in more taxes than the previous year? I can’t comprehend how this is possible, but maybe Councilor Hugh Kirkpatrick, who has a master’s degree in financial management and voted to approve the budget, can explain it to everyone. You might want to ask him the next time you see him.
Maybe they really cut back on the city’s expenses. Let’s see, 2019 actual expenses were $9,908,797. In 2020 expenses are budgeted for $10,044,013. Hmm. Something’s not right here.
Do you think our two councilors would just arbitrarily drop the mil rate 1 point, just to get re-elected, even if the numbers show that is not possible? I can’t imagine anyone would even consider doing this, but if they did, I certainly don’t want them representing me, or my city, in the future.
Know the real facts and vote accordingly.
Gary Aiken
Caribou
