LETTER: Dividing local option tax revenue in thirds

August 17, 2024

Fellow residents of Waterbury, 

Our community has been through hell and back. We’ve stood arm-in-arm and shovel-to-shovel in the face of devastating weather events and we’ve come out on the other side stronger and more prepared than ever. We’ve circled the wagons around neighborhoods affected by floods and made it clear that even Mother Nature can only ever destroy a basement, flooring, or a water heater, but not a community.

However, folks living in the flood zone are not the only vulnerable members of our community. Anyone who works hard for a living knows just how close they are to financial insecurity. Getting sick without sick pay, a check engine light, increased daycare costs, rent increases are all things that individually can bring down working folks’ financial security. 

We have an opportunity to turn the valve, even if only slightly, and release some of the pressure on working folks. That valve is the Local Option Tax. 

I propose that we, the Select Board, split the spending into thirds. 

The first third would go to fund housing initiatives, to finally start moving the needle in the direction of positive vacancy rates. The second would go to roads and infrastructure projects. If we can finally get to fixing our dirt roads after these weather events, we can save commuters on the costs of having to repair their struts, wheel bearings and suspension as much as they do because ruts and potholes that plague our streets and roadways will finally be patched. The last third would go to maintaining our current property tax rate. Ensuring that if there absolutely has to be an increase, it stays marginal. Paying down debt, paying for insurance hikes, etc. 

We need to enter 2025 with the plan to keep working homeowners in Waterbury and with cash in their pockets. Affordability is on the minds and on the tongues of quite a few folks in Waterbury right now. This plan seeks to deliver on affordability. 

The Select Board plans to discuss this matter on Monday, Aug. 19. 

Thank you.

Kane Sweeney

Waterbury

Kane Sweeney is a member of the Waterbury Select Board.