Response to recent letter

To the Editor:

I would like to respond to the accusation made in a recent Times editorial that Dixfield is full of spending addicts.  
Since the citizens are the ones that vote for the budget at town meeting, I hope you are all angry. No one wants taxes to go up, especially the Board of Selectmen. Yet go up they have, and the quick answer is it is the school budget which makes the difference. That is the truth.  
The municipal portion of the budget has changed very little in the past several years but more and more has been accomplished because of where and how the money has been spent. No one (I hope) ever wants to be elected to the board so that they can make taxes go up, but if they are working in the best interests of the town, they will be faced with situations when they need to make hard decisions.
When these things are presented at town meeting, explanations are given and the votes are taken. A town cannot stand still.

Progress must be made in maintenance, infrastructure and services. When things are not going well, choices must be made as to how to fix them and the boards of the past several years have made consistent progress to get the most effective value for the town for the least cost.
Sometimes, these decisions have to be implemented over a period of time to spread out the cost impact and sometimes an expense will be thrust upon the town as in the new bridge construction.
We are not living in a vacuum and I challenge anyone to find a town where the taxes have gone down unless it is one that has had an infusion of value added to their taxable base. If not, prices go up, services cost more, fuel costs increase, and the amount of work needed to maintain the same job increases with government requirements. The work force must constantly be kept informed of the many changes in their jobs.
Maintaining a town that all of its citizens can be proud of is a fulltime job but it is one that I hope I can be elected to fill.
Norine Clarke,
Dixfield