I’m writing to express my wholehearted support for the budget proposal recently made by First Selectman Tom Banisch. Banisch’s proposal uses surplus funds from financially healthy town government accounts to offset spending increases in the proposed budget for the 2016-’17 fiscal year. His proposal is a creative approach to accomplishing two important goals for the residents of Madison in the upcoming fiscal year. First, his proposal maintains vital town services at a time when unusually high insurance bills incurred by the Town of Madison and an ambitious capital improvement plan impose increased pressures on the town’s ability to pay for those services. Second, Banisch’s creative approach to our town’s finances avoids burdening struggling taxpayers with a tax increase in the 2016-’17 fiscal year.

As a retired, middle class Madison taxpayer, I am increasingly concerned about the size of the tax increases that may be required to pay for town services and capital projects in the near future. I applaud First Selectman Banisch for the creative approach he has proposed that balances the need for town services and the ability of taxpayers to pay for those services in the 2016-’17 fiscal year.

Arthur Symonds

Madison