Letter: What appears to be a savings, could likely be a loss

Posted 5/23/17

To the editor:

We need to carefully analyze the finances of the proposed reduction in programs proposed by the committee on appropriations and the Barrington schools.

The quality of our …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Letter: What appears to be a savings, could likely be a loss

Posted

To the editor:

We need to carefully analyze the finances of the proposed reduction in programs proposed by the committee on appropriations and the Barrington schools.

The quality of our schools supports our home prices. How much? Based on the figures provided by the committee on appropriations, the tax base is approximately 3 billion dollars. For each 1 percent loss in home value due to the change in school reputation, the residents of the town lose 30 million dollars in value. That is real money, equity that we have saved.

Of course, this is only one side of the story.  

Paying taxes costs real money too. This is not just in the taxes we pay, but also in decreased home values, as buyers weigh the cost of future taxes.

But also note that any property tax increase is deductible from our income tax.

All of this plays out differently for every taxpayer and homeowner. 

I made a simple spreadsheet to help me understand the financial implications of the vote. It is available at preservebarringtoneducation.weebly.com. One can input one's own estimate of the loss in home value due to decreased school programs, the rate of inflation, how long one plans to own one's home, etc. I calculated the loss in home value with increased taxation using a present value calculation over 30 years. Feel free to download this and modify it to fit your own ideas.

What I have found is that for most people, if the value of our homes drops 1-2 percent, we will lose more than if we pay the increased property tax. What appears to be a savings, is likely to be a loss.

After this vote, there is more long term planning that we have to do. The school committee, the committee on appropriations, and the Barrington schools need to work together.  

Thomas A. Krahn, M.D.

Barrington

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.