Editorial

By Stewart Dobson - May 16, 2008

When government decides how people ought to live, it is tricky business, no matter how visionary the proponents of the associated regulations might be.

Such is the case in Berlin, where town officials are considering the expansion of its historic district.

The question the interim mayor and council must decide is where history ends and zoning based solely on aesthetics begins.

As one resident said during the council session on the subject, a structure’s age does not necessarily make it historic.

On the other side of the issue, advocates of expansion are correct when they contend that making neighborhoods look better would have a positive impact on the town’s economy.

The sticky part, however, is deciding whose version of “better” will apply. In situations when a structure is not truly historic, these decisions would be subjective at best and at worst, a matter of someone’s personal preference.

That is generally the way it works when people decide how things ought to be, as opposed to how things are.

Interim Mayor Gee Williams has the right idea about going throughout the affected neighborhoods to assess residents’ feelings on the issue.

The ultimate decision rests with them, not town government or advocates of historic district expansion.

Whether a larger historic district would be good for the town is not the point. What matters is how a majority of residents in the affected neighborhoods feel about it. And, of course, what would be in it for them.

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By Stewart Dobson - May 09, 2008

Tax rates don’t matter. Tax bills do. That’s what seems to get lost in translation when governments talk about their budgets and how they plan to pay for them.

That was the situation this week when the Worcester County Commissioners announced that it appears they will leave unchanged the property tax rate of 70 cents per hundred dollars of a property’s assessed value.

Not raising the rate might sound like good news, but it is not, since it means that property owners not protected by the tax cap for residents, will see an increase in their bills.

This increase is because most properties have higher assessments going into the new fiscal year, even though the surge in property values resulted from real estate prices that levitated above reality before crashing last year.

Consequently, government at all levels will be operating on income generated at the beginning of the real estate cycle while property owners are mired down in the here and now.

What this means is that sooner or later government will have to come to terms with the same economic malaise that is already affecting property owners, particularly in northern Worcester County.

Unlike the private sector, which experiences all the volatility of this especially volatile tourist destination market, government seldom retrenches by doing such things as freezing payrolls, reducing hours or limping along the best it can with what it has.

The public shares a good portion of the blame for this, as no one is willing to accept cuts in favored programs and services. It is always someone else’s favorite that should bear the burden.

Given the circumstances that now envelop this area, and the entire country, for that matter, there has to be a point where the public and governments will be forced to make some hard choices.

So let’s not obfuscate the situation by focusing on the tax rate. Let’s go to the heart of the matter and talk about the bill.

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