Post by oldetowne on Aug 18, 2004 6:39:35 GMT -5
Here's an editorial from today's Courant - I think both projects are worthwhile, but this is something that needs to be kept in mind:
"Two Questions Good Idea
August 18, 2004
WETHERSFIELD -- Wethersfield council members would be making a wise decision, if, as anticipated, they separate an $8 million bond package into two referendum questions for the November ballot.
About $5 million is for a long-sought overhaul of the shared town hall and library building and another $3 million is assigned for badly needed road and sidewalk improvements.
Even though both capital projects are overdue, they are so divergent that combining them into one take-it-or-leave-it ballot question would offend voters and probably lead to a defeat.
Wethersfield residents deserve to select the projects they want to pay for, especially given the expenses that they have recently absorbed.
They approved borrowing $10.6 million to convert the Webb building into an elementary school that accommodates 420 students and $13.2 million to renovate and expand Silas Deane Middle School.
They also are paying off $13 million for the new police station and have been hit this year with a property tax increase of $700 for the average home assessed at $164,000.
Further, the council approved several hundred thousand dollars in upgrades for Cottone Field and avoided a referendum on it by putting the project in the regular budget.
If the new projects are defeated in a referendum, the council might be forced to do the improvements on a slower schedule. Starting on a priority basis, for example, by seeking the $1.1 million needed at town hall to replace the roof, boilers and ventilation.
Town hall improvements and road repairs were at the top of the list in the town's five-year capital improvement plan. But the council plucked the Cottone Field upgrade from the bottom and gave it preference.
If the debt-weary residents of Wethersfield vote down the building repairs or the road improvements, it may show that the field project exhausted the council's credit line."
"Two Questions Good Idea
August 18, 2004
WETHERSFIELD -- Wethersfield council members would be making a wise decision, if, as anticipated, they separate an $8 million bond package into two referendum questions for the November ballot.
About $5 million is for a long-sought overhaul of the shared town hall and library building and another $3 million is assigned for badly needed road and sidewalk improvements.
Even though both capital projects are overdue, they are so divergent that combining them into one take-it-or-leave-it ballot question would offend voters and probably lead to a defeat.
Wethersfield residents deserve to select the projects they want to pay for, especially given the expenses that they have recently absorbed.
They approved borrowing $10.6 million to convert the Webb building into an elementary school that accommodates 420 students and $13.2 million to renovate and expand Silas Deane Middle School.
They also are paying off $13 million for the new police station and have been hit this year with a property tax increase of $700 for the average home assessed at $164,000.
Further, the council approved several hundred thousand dollars in upgrades for Cottone Field and avoided a referendum on it by putting the project in the regular budget.
If the new projects are defeated in a referendum, the council might be forced to do the improvements on a slower schedule. Starting on a priority basis, for example, by seeking the $1.1 million needed at town hall to replace the roof, boilers and ventilation.
Town hall improvements and road repairs were at the top of the list in the town's five-year capital improvement plan. But the council plucked the Cottone Field upgrade from the bottom and gave it preference.
If the debt-weary residents of Wethersfield vote down the building repairs or the road improvements, it may show that the field project exhausted the council's credit line."
