Has the town council placed the spending cart before the revenue horse?
Why is the town investing in a costly new elementary school when enrollments have declined over the past decade and young people cannot find affordable housing in town? Does the town council's budget assume the older town residents plan to start new families?
Shouldn't the town first focus on developing affordable housing for young families before building a new school? That would increase the tax base, help pay for a new school, generate enrollments for a new school and alleviate pressure to raise property taxes on current residents.
Unlike the premise in the movie "Field of Dreams," if you build it they will come, elementary age children will not come to a new school in Bar Harbor if young parents can't find affordable housing.
What a great story. We owned a house in Town Hill for 20 years and sold it 4 years ago just when the pandemic started. Every now and then I get an Email from Zillow telling me that that house is now worth twice what we sold it for. Typically a newspaper sends a young reporter to cover things like this and the reporter does not have the experience to understand how taxes affect people. By retelling a homeowner's comments and interviewing the assessor to explain why tax bases have gone up so much, you have done something that deserves a Pulitzer prize. One thing the previous town manager did wrong as far as I know is use temporary federal funding passed during Covid to hire new employees who have become full time and must now be paid from taxes.
Has the town council placed the spending cart before the revenue horse?
Why is the town investing in a costly new elementary school when enrollments have declined over the past decade and young people cannot find affordable housing in town? Does the town council's budget assume the older town residents plan to start new families?
Shouldn't the town first focus on developing affordable housing for young families before building a new school? That would increase the tax base, help pay for a new school, generate enrollments for a new school and alleviate pressure to raise property taxes on current residents.
Unlike the premise in the movie "Field of Dreams," if you build it they will come, elementary age children will not come to a new school in Bar Harbor if young parents can't find affordable housing.
More cruise ships and freedom to AirB&B would fix the high taxes right?
What a great story. We owned a house in Town Hill for 20 years and sold it 4 years ago just when the pandemic started. Every now and then I get an Email from Zillow telling me that that house is now worth twice what we sold it for. Typically a newspaper sends a young reporter to cover things like this and the reporter does not have the experience to understand how taxes affect people. By retelling a homeowner's comments and interviewing the assessor to explain why tax bases have gone up so much, you have done something that deserves a Pulitzer prize. One thing the previous town manager did wrong as far as I know is use temporary federal funding passed during Covid to hire new employees who have become full time and must now be paid from taxes.