Monday is the city budget hearing, which is being held online, only to suppress comments from Concord’s most vulnerable although the Concord School Board has held hybrid hearings since last year. The city brags about a level tax rate last year and a low increase this year, not mentioning that the tax bill for a typical homeowner is up over 10% last year and maybe again this year due to higher valuations. Businesses are allowed to request lower valuations due to reduced income although homeowners’ assessments are based only on values their neighbor sold for. This needs to stop.
Another surprise is that water/sewer rates will increase maybe 50% for low end users since your bill will be mostly a flat fee with only a small charge for the water you use. Good if you have a mini-mansion but this is neither environmentally sound nor fair to ordinary people who try to conserve. The US banned the poll tax over 50 years ago but apparently, water is not a necessity. The police department has gone to “targeted recruiting” in which likely candidates are encouraged to apply rather than more general advertising, and the same is proposed for the fire department. Is this otherwise known as cronyism? This is good to bring in similar people who will be encouraged to stick around, but bad for diversity and change.
Roy Schweiker
Concord