Dear Editor:
Our town needs more money.? Our schools are suffering, our police and fire department are understaffed, and we need improvements to our library.? Sticking our heads in the sand and continuing to deny the needs of our town will put us on a fast road to a community that nobody wants to live in.? Some people seem to think the money will miraculously appear when things get bad enough, as if there is a secret store of money that can be pulled like a rabbit from a hat.? I have reviewed the budget documents.? There is no more money to be found.
My husband and I strongly support an override to prop 2 1/2 and an increase to property taxes to protect this lovely town of ours.? We are a single-income household and do not have money to burn.? Where better to spend our hard-earned money than on our children and the people who protect us daily?? We have by far the lowest tax rates of any surrounding town, yet the average household income in Shrewsbury is comparable, or in many cases, higher than that of the surrounding towns.? Shrewsbury is no longer a good buy.? We should appreciate having had low taxes for many years, appreciate our town's ability to stretch our dollars for many years, and move on now to start paying our fair share.
Shrewsbury is on the verge of a downward spiral, but we can stop it from happening.? We need solutions now.? I ask the board of selectmen to let us exercise our democratic rights and put a prop 2 1/2 override on the ballot.
Regards,
Amy Coskie
Shrewsbury