Unnecessary Spending in Bow
Monday, January 27, 2014
My family moved to Concord in 1964, and we lived on South Street, a stone’s throw from the Bow town line. I can remember my father lamenting how close he was to the enviable low tax rate paid by those who lived in Bow compared to his in Concord.
My wife and I moved to Bow in October 2005. At that time, the tax difference between our home in Concord and the home we were buying in Bow was about $600. In the eight years we have lived here, our taxes have gone up 38.6 percent. With our current tax bill from June to December, we have gone up another 7.7 percent!
I voted against the multi-million-dollar municipal building project last year. For a town our size, I thought there must be a more affordable way to upgrade our police and fire facilities. Unlike Washington, where I have little or no say to spending gone wild, my voice can be heard in our town. With minor revisions of a few hundred thousand dollars, this project will once again be put to a vote, but it is still a $7 million expense to the Bow taxpayer plus interest for 20 years of more than $3 million. I don’t know about anyone else in Bow, but my income hasn’t gone up 38.6 percent in eight years. We have to be more reasonable about this uncontrollable spending often based upon wants and not needs.
Robert Arnold, Bow