LETTER: TDTC CHAIR MIKE BURK

On May 16^th, I urge Tiverton voters to support Budget #1.  This budget, prepared by dozens of elected and appointed town officials under public in many public meetings is a fair and reasonable budget that balances the needs of our community with our ability to support those needs.

The alternate Elector Petitioner’s budget, the Katz Budget, was prepared by six people behind closed doors.  By his own words, Mr. Katz never held a public meeting, never sought input from any town officials and fails to account for the differences between Tiverton and other towns when he tries to compare us to those towns.

Mr. Katz shares a picture of tax rates of surrounding communities but fails to share the significant differences in property values and the fact that Massachusetts’ tax and revenue system is vastly different than Rhode Island’s.  He fails to note that most of those Massachusetts communities have a commercial tax rate that is nearly twice as high as their residential rate – which helps to cushion the burden on residents.  He fails to share that of the Rhode Island communities noted, only Tiverton and Little Compton exempt the first $6,000 of a vehicle from the vehicle tax – a huge difference.  He fails to share that Little Compton has both a higher aggregate overall property value than Tiverton and also has few town services, and no high school.

Mr. Katz supposedly is a proponent of transparency in government but it is okay for him to present a budget written behind closed doors.  While Budget #1 clearly shows how the town plans to spend our tax dollars, the Katz budget does not.  Limited space does not allow me to show you all of the fallacies of the Katz budget.  Please support Budget #1 on May 16^th.

Sincerely,

Mike Burk

Chairman, Tiverton Democratic Town Committee