Hamilton Property Taxes

It’s no secret that Hamilton’s property tax rate is one of the highest on the North Shore. What are our Selectmen doing to correct this burden on the property owners? Not much from what I can see. In fact, it appears that the Selectmen have been on a spending spree for the last several years. A $2.5-Million-dollar pool, $10-Million-dollar water pipe restoration project, $700,000.00-dollar soccer field, purchase of 4 new trucks in one year instead of stretching it out over several years, $2 Million dollars for Sagamore Hill, almost spent $4 million on the Pirie property, looking to increase the CPA tax from 2% to 3%. These are just a few off the top of my head.
Now we come to the Patton Property. This was a wonderful gift to the town from Mrs. Patton. Per the agreement the town was able to sell off a portion of the property for $1 million dollars of which, $250,000.00, was to go toward the upkeep and maintenance of the Homestead. The taxpayers thought the balance, $750,00.00, would be applied to the property tax rate to give some relief to the overburdened property owners but our Selectmen had other ideas.
First an article was proposed and passed at town meeting to set aside $500,000.00 of the money for a future turf field project at the High School. Now at a recent Selectmen’s meeting we find out that there will be an article at the upcoming town meeting that the remaining $250,000.00 will be set aside for capital improvements at the Patton Homestead.
The Hamilton Selectmen need to take a step back and look for ways to give the taxpayers some relief! Something that hasn’t been done for a long time! This is an election year for two Selectmen so let’s look long and hard at the candidates.