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Not a Token Amount

My wife and I have lived in Clinton for more than 30 years. We have raised our children here and have built the home here in which we hope to retire.

Our real property taxes in Clinton have more than doubled in the past seven years—100 percent more money paid yearly to the Town of Clinton in just seven years. Our home is unchanged; no new additions or fancy new improvements. Last year all Clinton residents endured an astonishing 10 percent increase in their property taxes. An almost five percent additional increase in town spending and education was just rejected.

Anyone who has paid attention to the news of the U.S. economy knows that inflation nationwide is under two percent a year for those past seven years. I ask the Clinton Board of Finance to not insult the voters again in 2018 as it did in 2017. In 2017, the Board of Finance reduced the rejected town budget of $17,687,459 by only $179,769 to finally get an approval for $17,507,690 on the third ballot. It is many rejected budgets overdue for every line item beneficiary of town spending to realize it is time to significantly reduce yearly spending.

The Clinton taxpayers are again demanding a significant reduction in both the education budget and the town operating budget before we vote again—not a token amount to wear us down at the ballot box, but a meaningful restructuring of spending from all branches of education and government.

Michael Sexton

Clinton