Ben finally spoke up in a comment a few articles below. It’s nice to know that someone has the courage to say something.
from John
Last summer before the last election I visited Linda Bernardi at the tax collectors office in the town hall. I wanted to see a copy of the 2008 grand list to see how much of the Property Taxes had not been collected. I was surprised to find that about 98% of the property taxes had been collected and much of the 2% that hadn’t been collected was from properties that were on the market. Apparently it is customary for owners to delay payment of property taxes until sale and settlement.
I was quite impressed with the residents of Woodstock, even those that complain all the time about our high taxes. There’s a significant percentage of town folk who vote NO at the budget referendum … but they still pay their property taxes.
Let’s face it. We have a pretty well-run town and the budget will be flat for two years in a row. It’s a far cry from Ms. Wholean’s padded budget and salary. As the economy recovers, we need to make sure that town employees get a raise.
There’s an article in the Norwich Bull today entitled “Economy is taking a Toll of Tax Collection” which mentions Griswald, Putnam, and Brooklyn but does say very much; nor am I going to say very much. If people are struggling because they have lost jobs or taken a significant pay-cut, then we should sympathize with them and try to work something out.
