An open letter to all Scarborough voters.
I am Michael Turek; and I am running for a seat on the Scarborough Town Council. My vision is of a Scarborough that enjoys sustainable, affordable growth. My priorities are:
–A quality education system that meets State standards while preparing future generations of Scarborough residents.
–Grow business investment. More businesses would provide more tax money to the town and relieve some of the burden off home owners.
–Reasonable taxes. If we limit our budget increases to 3% or less, we can grow our town and schools without huge tax increases each year.
–Decrease the town and school debt so more money is spent on services and education and less on servicing the debt.
If you watched the candidate’s night on Channel 3 Wednesday, 30 September 2015, you would see the distinct difference between my views and the other candidates. They had a smooth, polished presentation, but no concrete ideas or suggestions. I, on the other hand, offered three solutions to the problems in Scarborough:
–Keep all budget increases to 3%. This allows the Town Manager and School Superintendent to plan long range and set priorities year to year. There were detractors to this plan among the candidates. They said it couldn’t be done. The Manager and Superintendent are highly intelligent men capable of making this work, if only the Town Council demands it.
–Decrease the town and school debt so more money could be spent on services and education and less on servicing the debt. Our town is presently nearly $100,000,000 in debt! We spend almost $3,000,000 a year to service that debt! What could we do with $3,000,000 every year? A lot.
–Change the way we make budgets. Go to a two year budget cycle like the State has. Immediately we would cut the annual bickering in half. The Town Manager and School Superintendent could make longer range plans and operate freely without having to prepare annual budgets. This would take a Town Charter change.
–Change our fiscal year to match the State’s. We presently prepare budgets without knowing how much General Purpose Aid (GPA) the State will give us in the State budget. We must do this because our fiscal year begins 3 months before the State’s. If we realign our fiscal year to 1, 2, or 3 months after the State’s, we would know how much GPA the State is giving us. This would take a Town Charter change.
I can promise 3 things.
–If elected, I will stick to my vision, my priorities and my suggested ideas.
–If Mr. Caiazzo and Mr. Rowan are elected, your property taxes are going to climb at an alarming rate over the next 3 years. Both want more money for the schools. Mr. Ciazzo actually presented a school budget last year that was a 12.6% increase over the previous years; and he called it reasonable!
–If these men are elected, the town debt will almost double in the next 3 years. Both want new schools and have grand ideas, but it will take a huge increase in debt.
I am asking for your help in getting elected to the Town Council. Most critically, I need your vote in November. Secondly, I need money. This campaign is getting very expensive; and has drained all my personal money. Any campaign contribution can be sent to Turek for Town Council at 11 Bayberry Lane, Scarborough. I sincerely appreciate it.
Mike
ScarboroughTaxes.com 