State and local stores: Tobacco taxes go way up and people cope. How far will we push the addicts of tobacco? I think it’s fair to make it expensive, as a way to discourage smoking. But the price is now highly artificially inflated, which means that black-marketing might become a big issue. Then smoking becomes a crime and then we start filling jails with tobacco addicts? Bad idea.
Southington: Support for budget. Quoted speakers seem to include many teachers. One mill more on a $170,000 is $15/month, while on a $350,000 it’s nearly $30/month. The problem isn’t so much that any particular individual cannot afford an extra $15 or even $30 but that the $3500 or $5500 already being collected is too much.
Wallingford: dumping the fireworks and the symphony for the 4th of July is a mean trick, since the concert is already scheduled and possibly contracted for. But more interesting in the budget is the assumption of a wage freeze for town employees.
Meriden: Councilor Tomassetti suggests more billboards on available sites. The impulse is understandable, but the visual effect is not edifying.
Regionalization: while it’s a bit unclear what areas of town government might include induced savings, it’s interesting to note how quick town authorities are to object to changing things, although they’d like the power to levy their own taxes or to get a piece of the sales tax.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment