Happy Father’s Day to all the dads and grand dads!! Congratulations to the State Champion Boy’s Varsity Volleyball Team, and best wishes to the St. Mary’s Varsity Baseball team as they play in the State Championships Saturday evening.
I’m going to keep this article short. A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about the SIX PERCENT TAX INCREASE. Nothing’s changed since then. The Finance Committee met this week with many departments to review their budgets. Nine councilors attended each session, four did not. Only one of the new candidates for City Council attended the meetings.
The disappointing news is that very few taxpayers attended. However, I’ve been posting articles and surveys on Facebook, and getting a ton of interactions, feedback, and suggestions. Please take a look at the posts on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ElectDaveFlaherty/ and The Westfield Community Forum at https://www.facebook.com/groups/WestfieldMAEvents/ and join the discussion. I’ve provided links to the City Budget and other state and local documents that help explain and validate things.
Like many of you, I have to live within my budget, and I think the city should be doing the same. We can’t keep paying higher and higher taxes, we can’t keep passing the buck to the future generations, and we can’t keep giving government employees wages and benefit increases that far exceed what the private sector and retirees are getting. Many small business owners like me have challengesgrowing and operating our businesses, covering operating expenses and payrolls and taxes, and making a livable wage with the leftovers. It drives me crazy to see the City waste our tax dollars on things a normal homeowner or business would never do, or to prioritize niceties over critical necessities.
I’m absolutely not voting for the proposed six percent tax increase, and I know several other councilors feel the same way. However, believe it or not, there may be a simple majority of councilors who will vote for it – some will be the same ones who will be looking for your votes in November and who will be talking about saving money, improving roads and schools, reducing taxes, and representing your wishes on the City Council. If you want to know where your Councilors stand, please reach out to them. Their contact information is on the City website at http://cityofwestfield.org/122/City-Council. A good opening few questions would be “Are you going to vote to raise my taxes by 6%?”, “What specific areas of the budget are you willing to cut?”, “How do you suggest we fix our roads and bridges?”, and “How do you think the City will ever pay off all of its debts and obligations?”.
If you want to express your concerns about this tax increase or speak for or against any part of the City Budget, please attend the Public Forum on Wednesday, June 21st, at 6PM in City Hall.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Dave Flaherty
Westfield City Councilor
[email protected]
