Keep Framingham Affordable
Working to Keep Your | 
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Every tax is a pay cut. |
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| It's time for the town to control costs | Friday, April 25, 2003 |
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| Harold J. Wolfe | Framingham Tab |
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Framingham is apparently delaying its proposed $90 million capital
override until after the April elections in fear that it would hurt the
re-election chances of two liberal selectman - Chris Ross and Esther Hopkins
who approved of it. The best chance of passing this override is to hold
the election in January which might discourage seniors and give town
employees more clout at the polls.
Selectman Chris Ross seems mystified by my opposition to the proposed capital override. I offer him and Esther Hopkins an open invitation to discuss said override on the cable TV show of their choice with myself and a friend. The citizens of Framingham would be enlightened by the discussion. For the would be candidates for selectman, please bear in mind that the concept of illegal aliens and town finances are inexorably tied together. The primary burden of illegal aliens falls on our schools. Each child of an illegal costs at least $10,000 per year. Each six year old child of an illegal alien will cost the taxpayers $120,000 to educate, while his/her parents might contribute about $18,000 to our tax base over 12 years. What a deal. Each year, the child's parents get $8,500 free from the taxpayers. I estimate the annual school costs to be well above $15 million. Why should Framingham seniors be driven out in order to support illegals? Perhaps, Rick Holmes can enlighten me on this issue. While Town Meeting members love to tell us all about how they volunteer their family time to help the community, their combined effort is driving up taxes and forcing more people to find another place to live. Why give unions 3 percent raises in a Proposition 2 1/2 world? Perhaps its time to consider a town manager/town council arrangement and do away with Town Meeting. We need qualified people who are paid to do a good job in controlling costs. The town's general fund revenues spiked 4 percent, from $162.3 million to $168.8 million in 2005. And the town's enterprise fund also increased by $1.7 million (recent water/sewer increase), and they still want more through an override. |
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hjw2001@rcn.com
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