To the Editor:

It is time we challenge our municipal government to reduce taxes and lower annual operating expenses. The recent “news” that taxes are going up again is disappointing, yet not entirely surprising. We’ve seen property taxes increase steadily for quite some time — and here, I mean the actual bottom-line amount we’re paying each year, not partial figures that are reported as stable with or lower than previous years. We should be concerned with the total dollars we provide quarterly to the town — not the misleading jargon of bureaucracy which makes it seem that things are costing less.

First, let me say that I find it interesting how Council breaks down the expenses (municipal, school, library, etc.), but it really doesn’t matter — more is more if you shave a little here and lard up over there then tweak it a little next year for the same result. So I reject any clever explanations about this or that type of spending that makes it seem like there is some valiant effort underway to trim costs. We get one property tax bill and pay it to the same place before they divvy it up.

It seems our elected officials continually wedge themselves between a rock and a hard place such that when it comes time to do the accounting, they have no options left but to raise taxes and cut services and then blame the usual bogeymen (Oh, that Christie!). They like to claim the rock (sometimes the state of New Jersey) and the hard place (legally binding expenses, obligations, lawsuits) are just the way it is and if we don’t surrender more money every year, then, well — the children or somebody will suffer. By this, I recall discussion about the recent school budget with comments regarding it, ‘for only a few dollars more kids can have ….’ For the smart folks in this town, I’m surprised this blunt tactic and obviously slippery slope approach is acceptable and has been for so long.

So, my challenge to our town’s elected officials is this: try living within or below your means for one year. If we, as residents, don’t do that, we can lose our homes. “Your means” are the total taxes we pay that should not go up more than inflation since most incomes haven’t been going up since the financial crisis. No excuses either — you’re smart folks, and we’re a smart community — we expect (and entrust) you to figure it out. So please figure it out.

Lastly, I want to say that this is not a personal attack against anyone in our local government. We’ve got some sharp folks with big hearts looking out for the best interests of our community. Their hard work is what keeps our streets safe and schools topnotch. Part of the problem seems to be that the taxpayers have been lax in voicing concern about rising taxes and this has allowed some pernicious groupthink to settle in — it’s time to challenge that too!

Aaron Bennett

Markham Road