Templeton Tax rate and associated costs.

Some people may think the timing of this announcement is tied to the school vote but in my opinion, that does not really matter. What matters is the details, which you can find out for yourself and in my opinion, you should contact the Assessors office and ask.

We all know inflation can have an effect on things costing us more and so can the tri annual reval conducted by the Board of assessors. The tax rate can drop but if the assessed value of your home goes up enough, this can actually equal an increase the cost of your property taxes. Again, the best thing you can do is to contact the Assessors office and ask about the assessed value of your home and you do not have to wait for your tax bill to come to do this.

Some people say and write that because of low electric rates in Templeton by way of a Town owned electric department, the same person, by the way, writes about voters getting to vote for high electric rates in Town, which you actually get to do, by way of electing Light & Water commissioners. So my question is, do we have high or low electric rates in Templeton? You may wish to contact Dave Smart and ask him that. Of course he is the same person who wrote on how the Town Administrator, the selectmen and the financial team were doing such a good job and remember, the selectmen and the Town Administrator are the same ones who voted to buy a loader and an excavator for the highway department of Templeton, where Mr. Smart works. They also approved a labor contract giving free boots and other items to those very workers of the highway department.

Dave Smart seems to have a problem with contractors and business people and appears to want the big bad business entities to pay more for simply being in business to make money. I think for the most part, if anyone takes the time to look, the majority of business in Templeton is on the small business scale and if you are a student of history, not to far back, there was talk of a big box retailer coming to Templeton, but then came the facts, such as the amount it would cost to get all the permits and such just to get started. If my memory has not faded too much, it was in the 10 thousand dollar range, while surrounding towns had the amount in the 25 to 85 dollar range. Did any big box retailer come to Templeton?

So, on one day, Templeton has very high water and electric rates and on the next, Templeton has low electric rates because of a Town owned electric department. I am no economic professor, but it seems to me that you do not build a business base, especially small business, by taxing them more. They do not want their taxes higher any more than the residents, which is why most overrides fail at the ballot box.

On another front, I spoke to my mother who is 82 and pays property taxes in Templeton. I asked her about the new school and she asked me if a new school is needed. I told her what I thought, which was that the new school is probably wanted more by the teachers and administration, shown by the questions from a principle that the teachers wanted to know about what areas would have A/C and where bathrooms would be located. Her response was the fith graders needed to be out of NRHS and if the schools had been better taken care of, they might not need to be replaced. She asked how much it will cost and I told her and I told her what I thought the total tax increase would be to pay for it, my thought is about $3.74 per thousand. She thought for a bit and told me to vote for it, so I will be voting yes for the new school. My mom is on SS, less than a thousand per month.

Jeff Bennett