Last week, Barrington resident Joe D’Arrigo sent a letter to the Barrington Times that asked the question: At what point do the tax increases begin driving residents out of town?

“My taxes have gone up 32% in three years!” D’Arrigo wrote. 

He also referenced the expected increase in the total town budget of more than 8%, adding that if this year’s budget is approved without any changes, his taxes will have increased by 40% in four years. D’Arrigo questioned the end-game, and how this escalation would impact residents who are living on fixed incomes. 

“When does it stop?” D’Arrigo wrote.

At the budget hearing on Wednesday night, April 15, Robin Bacon shared a similar concern. The New Meadow Road resident told town officials that the income of senior citizens living in town is not increasing at the same rate as the town’s taxes. 

Bacon said that not everyone in Barrington has an unlimited pile of money to pay for the near double-digit tax increase. Bacon said she supports the public services and the school department, “but I’m really getting concerned about the tax rate.”

Later in the meeting, Barrington resident Neile Hartman questioned town officials — she pointed to the town council members and school committee members — who requested significant operating budget increases, despite knowing that taxpayers would face a large debt service bill for the $250 million school construction bond. 

Hartman also said that the Barrington School Committee’s decision to request a new dean of students at Barrington High School in light of the other costs facing taxpayers was “tone deaf.” 

Shortly after the April 15 budget hearing concluded, Hartman sent a email to members of the Barrington School Committee, Town Council, and Committee on Appropriations. She called on the council and school committee to file amendments for the financial town referendum proposing lesser budget increases for the upcoming year.

“These (school) construction expenses have been well known for years and represent an investment that is necessary,” she wrote. “I am not calling the smart decision to invest in school infrastructure into question. However, my expectation was that given this significant spending increase, the rest of the budget would reflect a shared commitment to ‘belt tightening’ and that both bodies, SC and TC, would collaborate to ensure that our town could reasonably absorb the known debt service expenses.

“Instead, it feels that neither council was willing to embrace necessary hard cuts in other area of their respective budgets. As an example, I find the suggestion to hire a Dean of Students at BHS, an expensive administration position, very concerning. Likewise, the notion shared tonight that there were basically no cuts available on the municipal side just cannot be true. There are no easy cuts but there are cuts. Should we be investing in Bay Spring Community Center, upgrading playgrounds, adding free shuttle service to the beach from in-site parking? Considered in a silo, each has merit but what was required was a mindset of ‘not this year.’”

Hartman shared the same concern as D’Arrigo and Bacon — the compounding tax increases in Barrington will force some residents to move out of town. 

“I believe you as our town leadership need to embrace a realistic attitude, one well known to the individual households who voted you into place, that we can't have it all,” Hartman wrote. 

“I am heartbroken to know how the proposed property tax increase … will impact families already living on tight budgets, especially our seniors. Actions like this sadly will drive away people who love Barrington.”

Out-pacing inflation, earnings

A closer look at the municipal and school operating budgets in Barrington show significant increases over the past six years. 

In 2020, the municipal operating budget in Barrington was $17.1 million. The proposed 2027 municipal operating budget is $23.6 million. That is a 35% increase. 

It is a similar situation for the school department’s operating budget. In 2020, the schools had an operating budget of $52.4 million. The proposed 2027 school operating budget is $70.7 million. That is a 36% increase. 

The operating budget increases are out-pacing the rate of inflation and the rate of workers earnings by more than 10% during the same period of time.