Westborough Taxpayers Association

Westborough's Local Financial Heroes

BONUS!  Fan Letter Below concluding, "When I use your column to pick up my dog''s waste, I'm insulting her product."

By Len Mead

April 10, 2010

While government-gone-wild spending and tax increases continue, at least  we in Westborough can hail some local financial heroes. Their efforts will finally slow down unrestrained Westborough spending -- and not a moment too soon!  The result may even be a slight reduction in our property taxes -- now 60% over the state average.

The heroes are Karen Henderson, unpaid Chair of our School Committee; our new Town Manager, Jim Malloy; and Maryanne Bilodeau,  Assistant Town Manager/Human Resources Director.  They saw to it that taxpayers finally got some fairness in how far our taxes will rise for public services compared to the actual growth of our incomes to pay them.

With patience and mutual respect these individuals worked tirelessly with ten town and school unions and the school administration.  They proposed -- and all accepted --  changes in health benefit plans and “automatic” pay increases that will save Westborough about $1 million in fiscal 2011.

Since the school union employees vastly outnumber all the other employees,  it needs saying that without a new respectful atmosphere created by the teacher's union, this reasonable change never would have happened.  For the first time, local individuals had collaborative talks, saving taxpayers from another financial mugging.   For far too long, public union pay and benefit cost increases -- and the tax increases to pay them -- have far exceeded taxpayer income increases.

Without our heroes’ efforts, Dear Reader, we would be facing real estate taxes rising way over the current $7,000 per year compared to the state average of just over $4,000. Finally, school and town public employees, safe in their jobs, will not receive pay and benefit increases two times that of struggling taxpayers -- who are facing 10% unemployment and 20% under-unemployment (desperately working in jobs below their skill levels or part time with NO health benefits).

The new respectful atmosphere was created but hidden behind the usual secrecy of “good faith bargaining” -- meaning no public official lets taxpayers know or respond to what increases are being proposed in new union contracts until the bill hits town meeting for approval as a “settled“ item. Then, the “cake is already baked.”

Unfortunately, Friends, this good local step in spending control is not the end of this year’s financial story. At the state level, Governor Patrick Deval has inflicted job destroying tax increases on us, cutbacks in “state aid” (giving us back our own taxes we pay to the state), no relief from unfunded state mandates and no significant pension reforms or state lay-offs. Can somebody please remind him and Obama that there are no “government funds?” They only can spend what we pay in taxes, or what they borrow and obligate us to pay.

Worse, the fraudulent, unconstitutional “Healthcare Reform” bill has been rammed through congress. Obamacare happened while I was standing in Tiananmen Square in Communist China --about where the famous picture showed a citizen stopping an oncoming Army tank. I will admit to almost crying when I heard that Obama’s oppressive regime actually succeeded in jamming through a bill that 60% of Americans do not want -- which, unless repealed, will destroy the best health system in the world, will raise job-killing taxes for 10 years starting immediately and start unknown “benefits” 4 years from now while cutting Medicare and providing nothing in real health-care efficiencies.

And even worse, next January we will see the end of the Bush tax cuts. The resulting tax increases will create an even deeper recession and even higher unemployment.  As weak as this year’s economy is, businesses are prudently taking any profits they can this year in anticipation of the tax increases coming in January. This means job and economic recovery prospects will be even more bleak next year as losses and lay-off costs are taken by businesses to offset the higher taxes.

My fellow citizens, the best hope we have left to preserve our remaining freedoms and fortunes is to remember next November that every public official who raised taxes or supported Obamacare needs to be voted out of office in favor of conservative candidates who respect that this is still a country of the People -- not a state managed regime where profits and success are “re-distributed.”

Sponsored by Tea Party patriots,  Sarah Palin will speak on Boston Common April 14th -- the day before taxes are due.  From experience, I can tell you the Tea Party people don’t give a damn about political parties -- big government Republicans and Democrats are equally despised. So come on down to Boston and hear some positive words about our sweet land of liberty and how we can finally have a conservative revolution at the ballot box in November.

Meanwhile, let’s celebrate our own local heroes -- Henderson, Malloy and Bilodeau who are showing the rest of the state what’s needed in these tough times.

Len Mead can be reached anytime at mead1720@gmail.com  

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Len-

How are the American people served by you encouraging them to come down to Boston to hear "positive words" from a complete idiot like Sarah Palin? Her continual distortions are testimony to her ignorance and/or disregard for the truth, and folks like you celebrate her.  Wow...

Real Americans are not swayed by the delusional hysteria that comes from you, Fox News, and the Tea Party. You create crap that isn't real, then rail against it. Even when the fear-mongering of your heroes is debunked (remember "death panels"?), instead of thinking "Hey, I'm getting jerked around", you just go back for more. About the arms reduction treaty Obama just signed, Palin turns the spotlight on her own epic ignorance by saying "No administration in America's history would I think ever have considered such a step that we just found out that President Obama is supporting today".  Instead of calling her out with "uh, Reagan and Bush 1 did the same thing", you cheer.

America is not served by people who use a microphone or a column to mislead their fellow Americans.  Real Americans who still value reality will prevail over you moronic anarchists.

When I use your column to pick up my dog's waste from the yard, I'm insulting her product.

Bruce Buch