The economy of the United States is contracting and experiencing deflation, the stock market is at 1996 levels and unemployment has reached 8%. The Wall Street Journal reports today that credit markets are seizing up again. More and more it is beginning to look as if this recession, depression, whatever one calls it, is still deepening and some are now saying it could be 2012 before the nation comes out it. This is no time for laying additional financial burdens on the taxpayer.

Nonetheless, the Town of Chatham is fashioning a warrant for voters to approve at the May 11th Town Meeting and the May 14th Election that will raise property taxes now, in the immediate future and for years to come.

CCT’s position is simple and straightforward. “Not Now.” While taxpayers, particularly the elderly and retired, have suffered and are suffering losses in savings and income, this is no time to impose additional financial burdens on them. Indeed, even a small tax cut would be a proper response to the times.

Here is the situation as it stands now with two months to go to Town Meeting:

The operating budget that is to be presented to Town Meeting has a deficit in excess of $700,000 that the town leaders propose should be cured by a property tax increase. Most of that deficit is for pay raises ranging as high as 6 and 7% for Chatham’s well-compensated public employees. While unions and other employees in other cities and towns are agreeing to freezes on compensation at various levels, that is not the case in Chatham. A special vote will be needed to fund the budget as it stands. Voters can say no.

Free cash that could be saved ($1.2 million) as a buffer for the hard times ahead in fiscal years 2010 and 2011 is to be spent for a number of small capital projects. This has been the practice in the past. But are they really essential, are they for emergencies? Is this wise? Voters have a say on this, too.

Stabilization Fund monies (several hundreds of thousands of dollars) that are accumulated (left over from property taxes levied in earlier years) for fiscal emergencies are being used to keep the school budget intact, pay for fiscal 2009 overruns in police and fire overtime and other what seem to be non-emergency spending. Voters have a say here as well.

But that’s not all.

On the capital side, the ten year planning of the wastewater system is suddenly to become a live capital project, with the first spending of what may be as much as $270 million (2007 estimates) getting underway with votes at Town Meeting and the Town Election this May!

The Town should have put out all the financial information, including the construction, spending and sale of bonds schedule a long time ago and not just two months before Town Meeting. That’s just not right.

Because of the long planning period, relatively few citizens have paid much attention, feeling it’s certainly “a good thing,” but probably thinking they would never have a chance to use it let alone be asked to pay for it. Now, with just two months before Town Meeting, it’s a go? In this time of economic distress?

Last Tuesday, for the very first time, there was a public presentation of a few graphs to the Selectmen to help them decide if the sewer would be paid for by the property tax alone or with a 25% contribution from betterments. (Most sewer projects in Massachusetts are funded with up to 100% in betterments.) The Selectmen quickly decided the cost would all be on the property tax.

Considering that the project is hugely expensive, involves a great deal of underground work the conditions of which are not fully known and has a 20-year time frame, it certainly seems taxpayers should have more time than two months to become fully informed of the impact of the costs on their properties before being asked to embark on the project, Considering also that the town leaders are planning a special town meeting for January for authorization of some $40 million more in additional spending on the wastewater project, isn’t it the better course to defer all spending decisions to the January Town Meeting so that taxpayers will have the time to learn what they are being asked to vote on?

These are 2007 figures. The town is going to be looking for about $50 million in bonding authority between the May and January town meetings. That would raise Chatham’s outstanding bonds to about $80 million, not counting interest, more than doubling the bonds now outstanding. (There’s another $21 million authorized but not sold; $17 million is for the PD/Annex project, which should go into deep freeze for now.)

We have heard from non-residents who want everything to go forward immediately and be finished in eight years. Of course, that can’t happen. For the design work about two years will be required, we are told. We do not know how long the enlargement of the treatment facility will take or when the collection system expansion will begin. All told, Phase 1 is supposed to take 20 years, nine months a year, no activity during peak summer season.

The economy will turn up at some point and that is the time for new capital spending.

The Town should be tightening the proverbial belt as taxpayers are doing. The Town should not be looking for taxpayers to fund operational deficits or to authorize a major though admittedly beneficial non-emergency project without time for a thorough vetting of the spending and taxing plans.

As we have noted before, we are not opposed to the wastewater plan; we don’t have any relevant expertise. It’s a very big and important project and we believe taxpayers should have full opportunity to study and discuss the fiscal impacts on them before being asked to vote.

“Not now” is what seems to make the most sense. Resident taxpayers need time.