RINDGE — Suanne P. Yglesias, one of the co-owners of Lily’s on the Pond Restaurant in Rindge, was planning to be at her business from 9 a.m. to midnight on an unusually busy Saturday.
In the midst of a national economic downturn Yglesias, who, at 60, says she’s “not a spring chicken,” is working six days a week. The co-owners have had to take a pay cut, watch every penny and make tough choices, she said.
In the meantime, she said, her town, school district and county should do the same.
“All of us are cutting back. … We’re working more,” Yglesias said, adding that in the throes of economic upheaval, the 14.5 percent increase in Rindge property tax rates is “unjustifiable.”
But it’s hardly uncommon, as a sampling of the region shows a 20 percent rate increase in Gilsum; 24 percent in Swanzey; and a whopping 37 percent in Sullivan.
“People cannot — literally can’t — afford it,” Yglesias said of the tax hike.
James R. Critser, a 57-year-old electronic engineer, echoed her.
“Without a question, everybody within Rindge is unhappy with the increase,” he said, standing near the stairwell of his Rindge home. “The general feeling is that paying taxes is a good thing for services rendered, but when the economy is in its current state, as the folks in Washington say, everybody needs to cut back.”
While Critser said he’ll be able to pay the taxes this year on his 12-acre property, “a lot of people won’t be (able to) — right here in Rindge.”
Critser and Yglesias are just two residents in a town where roughly 30 people showed up at last week’s board of selectmen meeting to discuss their property taxes — an outpouring of concern and a slice of what’s being felt throughout the region and country.
“They came in large part to, I think, vent their frustrations that the bills have gone up so much,” said Patricia Lang Barry, chairman of the board of selectmen. “… I explained to them, ‘I’m a taxpayer too … I totally understand.’ ”
Still, she said, “It doesn’t do anybody any good to talk about us versus them. … When the selectmen look at the budget, we’re spending our own money.”
Barry said she pointed out to residents that the town portion of the taxes — which saw a rate increase of 25.9 percent —only accounts for $3.84 of every $23.24 collected from taxes. A total of $14.12 goes to support the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District, while $2.49 goes to state school taxes and $2.79 goes to the Cheshire County government.
This year, the town’s had to contend with declining revenues, she said, along with the N.H. Supreme Court’s upholding of a decision that exempts Franklin Pierce University from paying taxes on its wastewater treatment plant.
At the same time, she added, “We have more people coming requiring … welfare than ever before.”
Still, 70-year-old Richard D. Call — who chewed a toothpick while listening to Willie Nelson in his Rindge living room Saturday evening — summed up the tax situation as follows:
“It sucks.”
Call’s wife, Mary T. Call, similarly called this year’s taxes “too high,” particularly with the holiday season approaching..
“At this time of year it doesn’t seem to be fair,” she explained, adding that her family’s property tax rose $500 from June. “I think it would be bad timing anytime, but certainly before Christmas.”
Like the Calls, 65-year-old Joseph F. Doherty Jr, a former Rindge selectman, said he’ll be able to pay the taxes on his roughly 3-acre property.
But that doesn’t make him happy about this year’s rates.
“A lot of people are talking about leaving town because they can’t afford (the taxes),” according to Doherty, who is retired.
Given the sorry state of the economy, he said, “Everything (in town) should be put on hold” — including hiring, salary increases and building projects.
Richard Call also lamented town government spending in Rindge.
“The departments are getting bigger and bigger … and we’re not getting more services,” he said.
Call said he doesn’t need any more services, but said that in the town offices, “You got more people up there than you can shake a stick at.”
Selectmen Chairman Barry disputed this, calling the town department heads “extremely frugal” and saying town offices haven’t expanded recently.
“The real problem, in my opinion … is that everything is on property taxes,” she said, urging people to direct their energy and frustrations toward this reality and their state representatives.
“In my opinion, the problem is at the state level,” she explained, “and until the towns can get some kind of tax relief from the state, this is just going to get significantly worse.”
Meanwhile, although Rindge resident Robin M. Murphy — who spoke with The Sentinel at a Route 202 gas station Saturday — called tax hikes “tough,” she said., “Everything’s gone up. And you have to pay for public services.”
But Yglesias, of Lily’s on the Pond, had this message for the various beneficiaries of her tax dollars:
“We are in an economic crisis, They have to do what everybody else is doing … find a way to control expenses.”
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Never before has it been so important to attend your town and school meetings where you can vote down spending that is not necessary. This is not the time to be buying conservation land, building schools and libraries or raising salaries of public officials.