>>Valley Patriot>>
|
Why Lawrence Should
Pay More in Taxes!
01/04/07
Over the last several months,
we have heard members of the Lawrence City Council
complain about wasteful city spending while at the same
time voicing strong opposition to raising property taxes
up to the Proposition 2 1/2 levy limit.
While I agree that there is a lot of wasteful spending in
the city, the main reason for that waste is because most
of the money being spent does not come from local
taxpayers. This results in lack of community interest in
how the city spends its money and how much it spends.
That is, until officials start talking about raising
taxes, and even then only a handful of active residents
show up to protest.
I do understand that some Lawrence residents on a fixed
income will bear a hardship if property taxes are
increased, but the fact is, the Lawrence City Council
approved a budget that calls for more than $200 million
in spending ... and that money has to come from
somewhere.
Whats more, it was the Lawrence City Council that
approved this amount, knowing that the property owners in
Lawrence are only contributing approximately $40 million
to the city budget. The rest of the $160+ million is paid
for by state taxpayers in North Andover, Methuen,
Georgetown, Boxford, Dracut and the rest of the state.
Thats like buying a $2,000 stereo system at Circuit
City and only paying $400 bucks for it.
Whats more, hearing councilors pander to their
voters by complaining that Lawrencians pay too much in
taxes is like complaining that Circuit City is now going
to charge you $500 for that $2,000 stereo instead of
$400, while someone else is still picking up the rest of
the tab.
This leaves the people in surrounding cities and towns
who pay the rest of the bill (and fight each year for
revenue to keep their own police on the streets) to
wonder: When is the city of Lawrence going to start
paying its own way? When are city officials going to
start kicking in more of their fair share for the $200
million plus in services that the rest of the state is
providing?
The $40 million the people of Lawrence are paying for the
$200 million in services they receive is simply
inadequate. Especially when you factor in another $50
million plus (aproximately) in federal grants that get
funneled into city coffers that are not counted in the
citys budget. Just imaging running a business that
spends $250 million dollars a year, yet only makes $40
million in revenue to pay for that spending?
It is for this reason that the mayor and City
Council have an obligation to raise property taxes to the
levy limit. The municipal budget in Lawrence is on
welfare from the state and federal government and city
officials act like they are entitled to that money
without taking any responsibility for how it is spent.
Mayor Sullivan has the right idea. The city of Lawrence
needs to get off the welfare dole by slowly starting to
pay more so that the rest of the state taxpayers can pay
less.
When that happens, you will see more vigilance by city
officials in the way they spend money and more interest
from the Lawrence taxpayers as to how that money is being
spent.
Tom Duggan is the president of Valley
Patriot, Inc., a former Lawrence School Committeeman, and
hosts the Paying Attention! Radio Program on WCAP, 980AM,
every Saturday afternoon from noon-2pm. You can email
your comments to Tdugjr@aol.com
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The January 2007 Edition
of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
We publish 10,000 newspapers and distribute in Andover,
North Andover,
Methuen, Haverhill, Chelmsford, Georgetown, Groveland,
Boxford,
Lawrence, Dracut, Tewksbury, Hampton & Salisbury
Beach, and Lowell.
|
Valley Patriot Archive
Valley Patriot Story
ARCHIVES
Prior Lead
Stories
Prior
Valley Patriot Editorials
Prior Columns by ...
Tom Duggan
Dr. Chuck
Ormsby
Paula
Porten
Ralph
Wilbur
Hanna
Ted Tripp
Valley
Patriot of the Month
Griselsilva.com
Patrick
Blanchette
D.J.
Beauregard
Jim
Cassidy
D.J. Deeb
Marcos
Devers
Bob
Desmarais
Regina
Faticanti
Jim
Fiorentini
Bill Kelly
Wilfredo
Laboy
Peter
Larocque
Vilma Lora
Ed Maguire
Billy
Manzi
Paul
Murano
Mark
Palermo
Hartley
Pleshaw
Debbie
Quinn
Raise Em
Right
Dr. Peary
Kathleen
Corey Rahme
Barney
Reilly
Angel
Rivera
Jim Rurak
Grisel
Silva
Mike
Sullivan
Sandra
Stotsky
Mike
Sweeney
Ken Willette
Scott Wood
Jim
Xenakis
|