To the editor:
Houlton Town Councilors want the voters to borrow $1,000,000 at a Special Referendum Election for a Bond for the voters to pay about $500,000 interest for 20 years to improve and maintain roads and sidewalks.
It has to be told that in 1994, the town of Houlton ordained the establishment of Roads 2000 account. Said account shall be funded by an annual appropriation of one mill to the Town tax base until the Roads Recovery Program has been completed, effective date Aug. 29, 1994 the law must be in force. One mill is now worth about $250,000.
“Revenue” from the state of Maine of $117,000 and with the DOT state grant in 2008 for $170,000 for new sidewalks which haven’t been done yet. Only with the help of an engineer can it go forward, I was told. Again with the one mill worth $250,000 with all this money, the Town could do a lot of fixing with the public work crews doing most of the jobs on roads and sidewalks. Perhaps we are in need of a “construction engineer with management skills as a public works director.
Perhaps one could say that the taxpayers didn’t need a million dollar bond after all – just think “No” interest, “No” payment of $80,980 for 20 years – just say “No”. One conclusion that is left – perhaps if you don’t play ball with these councilors and vote “No” on the Bond you may pay more in taxes.
We all see that a bond may not be the way to go for 20 years. But the town of Houlton hasn’t reduced it’s budget in 2009. In fact, it increased the budget by $79,862 – the grand total being $8,515,259. Most towns’ and cities’ economies are falling and they are reducing jobs and also reducing the budget; not Houlton. The people are having a difficult time to make ends meet. Just read the newspapers and watch TV, it will send you a message, can we survive a crisis of deep recession and how long will it last – perhaps for years to come. Stop your spending, councilors.
Philip Bernaiche
Houlton