[Ed note: My Southborough accepts signed letters to the editor submitted by Southborough residents. Letters may be emailed to mysouthborough@gmail.com.
The following letter is from Al Hamilton, a member of the Select Board.]
To the Editor:
Over the past year, as we have been discussing the Neary Project, a number of citizens have asked about the “Big Picture” that includes all the things we might want to do and how we might pay for them. To date I have not seen a comprehensive analysis of that Big Picture. Over the past month and a half, I have been working on pulling together a picture of our town debt and the impact of all the things we might consider using our debt capacity for. Unfortunately, I was not able to present this analysis prior to the Select Board 4-1 vote in favor of the Neary Project. I offer my analysis here to the citizens in hope that it helps inform Town Meeting members prior to May 10th meeting and the voters on May 13.
Al Hamilton
35 Pine Hill Road
Thanks Al. I just hope the whole board recognizes all of this. I also hope the voters use good sense. I don’t want to have to move out of town due to high taxes
Very helpful Al! I’ve been looking for an analysis like this for some time. We need a good pros/cons analysis of the Neary project exceeding the debt guardrail of 10% with options for keeping it within the recommended debt levels.
Looking at the charts that Al prepared, it’s clear that the town has a big problem, even without adding Neary to the mix. Looking at the Debt Service percentage chart, the town’s debt service will exceed 10% of the General Fund by FY31 or FY32, just based on adding the anticipated New Programs.
Everyone, please watch the 11-minute presentation that Al Hamilton put together.