Last Monday’s city council meeting demonstrated why property taxes are so high. The city council is known to be a soft touch, so special interest groups get them to pay for things that should be paid by the state or county, even though the Median Household Income in Concord is $10,000 less than the median for Merrimack County, and $12,000 less than the state. The abandoned railroad track from Horseshoe Pond to Hannah Dustin island has been designated by the Federal Railroad Administration as part of a potential Boston to Montreal High Speed Rail Corridor, with the segment from Lebanon to Boscawen already acquired by the state and managed by the Bureau of Trails as the Northern Rail Trail. Testimony at the hearing asserted that the Concord segment was a critical link in a future statewide rail trail. So why did the city insist on buying it instead of leaving it to the state? Meanwhile the city manager set fees for the Beaver Meadow Golf Course with no public hearing allowed. His favorite half-truth is that spending money from reserve funds on his pet projects doesn’t increase taxes, but he won’t admit that the money could be used instead to reduce taxes. A committee made up entirely of golfers suggested new golf rates similar to or even below previous rates, such as including adult children in a family membership. Golfers will not pay toward the new $6 million clubhouse except for a $50 charge on out-of-town annual members.
Roy Schweiker
Concord, NH