You may have recently seen a post on Facebook, Front Porch Forum, or elsewhere titled “Serious Misinformation About Merger”. I think it’s extremely important to point out that the post contains misinformation itself! The post claims that the numbers presented by two Town Outside the Village (TOV) residents is “…absolutely NOT correct” and “…absolutely false”. This just isn’t the case because BOTH sides are correct.
Both presentations are talking about different ways of looking at the numbers – a simple difference between starting/ending tax bill and cumulative amount paid over the span of 12 years. (And, yes, based on the suggestion in the post, I reached out to staff to verify these are both correct).
The difference to your current tax bill and your tax bill on year 12 would be $324 (assuming an estimated average annual increase of $27/year for a $280,000 home).
The cumulative additional amount that ToV would pay out of their pockets over that entire 12 years would be $2,106 (again assuming $27/year and NOT factoring in any other increases for any other purposes). Year 1: $27, Year 2: $54 ($27 on top of the $27 from prior year). I’ve created a spreadsheet below to show the difference.
Regardless of your personal feelings toward merger, all residents need accurate information grounded in facts (and clearly described) to make the right decision for themselves. The simple fact is that both are correct, depending on what number you are interested in.
Tracey Delphia, Essex Selectboard 