Residents want roads fixed but do not wish to pay for it?
Recent moves by Hubbardston Town voters seem to back that up.

HUBBARDSTON — Voters turned out but were not supportive of a plan to tackle road repairs through an override that required election approval.

A ballot question seeking a tax increase of up to $350,000 to fund the municipal road repair and maintenance fund, created at the June 3 Town Meeting, failed, with 190 voters in favor and 219 against.

The override article won approval by required two-thirds at Town Meeting, but it also required a majority votes in support of the tax measure at the election in order for the plan to move forward.

Templeton, MA:

People may feel that the gas and diesel tax paid at the pump is where the money comes from or should come from for road repair / rebuilding. While it is true some monies do come to towns from that program, it is not enough, for several reasons.

First and foremost, state legislature and governor do not put forward enough money in the chapter 90 program for it to really work. (200 million shared by all cities and towns in state) Secondly, and I am not sure if this has been tracked at any level, with the advent of electric cars, hybrids, better gas mileage, push for mass transit, what are the annual gas tax collection rates over the years? We, as residents, may be waiting a long time for that to happen. In the mean time, the way our roads will become passable and in decent shape, which affects many things, to include how much is spent on clearing roads in the winter, damage to personal vehicles, danger to kids riding bikes, walking on roads without sidewalks and even people moving to our town.

There is one option available; it involves creating a stabilization fund strictly for roads, requires two thirds vote of town meeting, then a funding mechanism, one being a tax override which only goes to provide money for that fund. If the fund is emptied or the roads are fixed, the override goes away. Something to be looked at and considered. All people are tired of crappy roads. Money could also come from left over tax money, ie: free cash. You, the tax payer control that; if you wish it to go to a certain thing, say so, and you can choose to vote no if free cash is presented to be spent on other things, that is your real power, power of the purse. Taxpayers have to decide what they want. In the near future, no one else is gonna make this happen except you