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Not New and Improved

I read that Killingworth will hold a Town Meeting on Monday, May 19 to approve our FY 2014-'15 budget and the borrowing of $2 million for infrastructure projects. I'm told that this is the first time in Killingworth history that the town has borrowed to do capital projects. We borrowed once before to buy and develop the Park on Parker Hill Road, and refinancing of the purchase of Parmelee Farm, but this is the first time of this type of borrowing.

In the past, funds were allocated each year to keep up with the repair and improvements of our infrastructure, but not in the past few years or so. Now we will be paying for these present projects for the next 20 years, and if we repeat our past mistakes, the infrastructure will again not be maintained. We need to restore pay-as-you-go capital budgeting, and we need greater yearly attention to our roads, drainage issues, and other infrastructure assets.

This is not a new and improved manner to govern Killingworth. We need to look back and learn how previous generations were able to build and maintain Killingworth without borrowing money.

Philip StullKillingworth