To the editor:

Tiverton voters will have three budget options at this year’s financial town referendum (FTR), held at the high school all day on Saturday, May 21. Two things make the 0.9% Budget #2 different.

First, Budget #2 starts from the principle that taxes should only go up as much as residents can afford, while the other budgets start from the things that people inside government want. Second, Budget #2 is part of a 15-year plan to bring Tiverton’s taxes more in line with the cities and towns all around us without harming the operation of the town.

Town government should not be a way for people to make others pay for things that they want. In all the years that I’ve been watching

Tiverton government, one of the main ways those people get their neighbors to vote is by threatening them with the elimination of basic services. Look at the exaggerated letters and emails coming from library supporters. The Budget Committee’s budget (#1) gives the library $16,500 more than it got last year. According to the people who want that money, you have to vote to increase your taxes by $1.3 million to get that little bit of an increase in library spending.

This is exactly the trick that has driven Tiverton’s tax rate to be so much higher than its neighbors. It’s the trick that is causing potential home buyers to look elsewhere, keeping property values down for all of us and preventing us from building equity in our homes.

Here’s the bottom line: Budget #2, which calls for a tax increase of just 0.9%, gives the town $216,460 more money. Elected officials can spend that on services for Tiverton families, or they can spend it on handouts for their friends. We elected them to make those choices.

Here’s one thing that I can say with absolute confidence: There is just no way the Budget Committee and Town Council will react to Budget #2 by cutting the library and losing much more money than they save. That would be insane.

That means some voters in Tiverton will be picking a budget based on a lie. To make sure Tiverton isn’t governed by lies, please vote for the 0.9% Budget #2 to avoid a runoff election two weeks later.

Justin Katz

Tiverton