From Fosters…
There’s no conundrum
To the editor: Who is John B. Andrews? It is important to understand that the N.H. Local Government Center was formally known as the N.H. Municipal Association. This group represents the public employees that would be personally impacted in a reduction of tax revenue created by the tax and spending charter amendment in Rochester.
Yes, Mr. Andrews, it is true that we have a representative form of government and because we love our “vigorous political process” we can exercise our right to amend our city charter using RSA 49: B if they fail to live up to the things they say will do.
The popularity to amend Rochester’s charter to place limits on local spending and taxing is the result of municipal and school spending which has been out of line with what the taxpayer can afford. So when Mr. Andrews tells you that the tax and spending cap would place “artificial” limits on our local government, he is mistaken. There will be nothing “artificial” about the just limits that will be imposed.
If you look at wages and salaries for local administration managers from the city and the school department, you will see that over a 3-year period from 2005 – 2007, the received yearly increases in salaries alone of 7-15 percent. When the average Rochester household income only rises 2.5 percent a year in the same time period, it shouldn’t be hard to understand why a tax and spending cap is needed.
Mr. Andrews would have you believe that things like wages and benefits can be controlled. It’s as if they fall down from the sky and slip magically into government budgets and no one notices them until our tax bills show up in the mail.
Tell me Mr. Andrews why can’t government employees vigorously pursue the tax scofflaws as vigorously as they pursue their raises and benefits entitlements? Why do you suppose that government is having a difficult time collecting taxes on time? Is it because they choose not to or they cannot afford to? How will growing government spending way beyond the means of those paying the bills, help us pay ever increasing tax bills if people cannot afford to pay them now? Putting government on a spending budget will be the best chance for delinquent taxpayers to catch up.
Having said all this though, it is important to understand that the tax and spending cap will not eliminate spending increases. It will simply put reasonable limits that taxpayers can afford. A tax cap will work if the city manager and city council accept it and work with it. A tax cap will fail if the city manager and city council refuse to accept it and work against it. Don’t be fooled by people who tell you about the services we won’t get anymore because of a tax and spending cap. Ask these people who they are, where do they work and how big their raises were this year. Mr. Andrews and the people he represents only care that their gravy train is about to be derailed.
So, while Oliver Wendell Homes said “taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society,” he also said ” Between two groups of people who want to make inconsistent kinds of worlds, I see no remedy but force.”
Sounds Like a tax and spending cap to me!
Rob Gates
RCTA president