And the Answer Is...Cap Our Property Taxes!

THE VOTES ARE NOW IN

...Regarding the question: "Would you like to see a 0% increase in your property taxes for one year?"

59% voted YES, even with large cuts to services.

27% voted YES, provided there were minimal cuts to services.

14% voted YES, provided there were no cuts to services. This represented the "NO" vote, since we can assume there would be some cuts to services.

So 86% of respondents would like to see a cap on their property taxes for one year, even it it means a cut in services.

The answer to the question was what the tax watchdog group Enough Is Enough (EiE) was attempting to discover when it proposed that the Board of Selectmen (BoS) place a NON-BINDING citizen's advisory question on the warrant for the upcoming Special Town Meeting on October 17th. It was denied, unfortunately, and this writer would have liked to have seen a larger sampling of voters that a warrant article would have provided. However, the BoS themselves suggested that perhaps a poll could be taken using the town's new website...once some of the bugs had been worked out of it.

Not knowing when that might be, and in the interest of time, I decided to conduct the poll myself here on this blog site and the results speak for themselves. We seem to have the answer EiE's initiative would have provided...and perhaps some insight as to why the BoS denied placing the question on the warrant. It's the answer they surely did not want to hear.

But hear it they must... if only to grasp the seriousness of the economic plight of so many residents in Hamilton. The Wall Street Journal recently posted findings by The Tax Foundation showing the states with the highest property taxes as a percentage of income. Massachusetts ranked 9th with 4.1% of income paid toward property taxes. With the highest property tax rate on the North Shore, you can imagine the role Hamilton taxpayers play in that standing.

"Budgeting by override" fortunately ended last spring at the Annual Town Meeting. Now it seems as though voters also feel that increasing yearly budgets by +2.5% needs reconsideration, at least in the short term. Perhaps next time EiE will, instead of asking permission, submit a citizen's petition that will require the BoS to place it on a Town Meeting warrant so that voters can decide.

Don't be surprised, however, if it calls for a BINDING resolution next time.