Tax increase ?

Like a lot of Wallingford residents I am anxiously awaiting Mayor Bill Dickinson’s budget proposal because it will tell me a lot about the kind of tax increase to expect. Dickinson is scheduled to release his spending plan late Wednesday afternoon.
I’m hoping he limits any proposed increase to two percent or less. I’m a little worried though. He complained when the council cut his budget last year and he hasn’t exactly been talking tough about holding the line on expenses in the upcoming budget. Hopefully he will surprise me and put forth a budget that holds the line on spending. That would mean reducing the number of school and town hall employees. No one, including yours truly, likes the idea of laying off workers. But with job cuts nearing record levels in the private sector it will be impossible to generate enough tax revenue to afford the town and school employees we have this year. Hopefully, some or all of the reduction can be done through normal attrition. If the mayor and school board had been working on contracting jobs last year this year’s cuts wouldn’t have to be as drastic.
If the Republican mayor puts forward a spending plan that calls for more than a two percent increase and the same number of school and town hall workers, he may play right into the hands of his Democratic challenger in this year’s election.
With 13 terms under his belt, Dickinson has built up a lot of good will. But voters are in an ornery mood this year, spurred on by forced cuts in their own household budgets, and may be looking to exact retribution on any politician who doesn’t work hard enough to cut spending.
Let me know what you think.
Look for full coverage of the mayor’s budget in Thursday’s Record-journal.