To the editor:
Candidate for selectman Peter Spellios has sent all registered voters a postcard suggesting that tax increases just under 2.5 percent are an achievement of fiscal prudence for which he can claim credit.
This cynical act of political misdirection fails to mention that he has presided over a budget in deficit for the past two years (backfilled with free cash), and that the 2022 budget projection includes an increase in taxes to the levy ceiling.
Our taxes are projected to increase by more than 2.5 percent for seven of the next 10 years, compounding to a 35 percent increase in the average tax bill by the end of the decade. The average single-family bill is projected to go from $9,000 today to more than $12,000 by 2031.
During his tenure as selectman, our unfunded retirement obligation to town employees has increased by 50 percent (from $80 million in 2013 to $124 million today). No meaningful steps have been taken to address this bubble, and the average employee age is 50.
Town voters should know that this financial obligation has not been addressed, and that pre-election year limits on tax increases will not continue under Spellios.
Elizabeth M. Burns
3 Laurel Road
Swampscott
