| On May 22, John J. Fitzgerald, candidate for Longmeadow Selectman wrote an opinion letter that appeared in The Reminder. It seeks to place residential property owners against commercial property owners in the matter of tax rates in Longmeadow. According to Mr. Fitzgerald, "commercial and industrial properties generate income...and therefore demonstrate that a commercial or industrial property has a great ability to pay than residential property does." Since when did "ability to pay" determine how much in taxes one pays? The same could hold true for residential property with different people having varying degrees of "ability to pay" determining their individual tax rate. He states "fairness requires that we look at the justice behind taxing homes and commercial enterprises at the same rate. If we could shift some of the burden from homes to business, people living on a fixed income would not be burdened with carrying their own load and the load of their more affluent commercial neighbors. This new allocation of taxes will not increase our total revenue and will give minimal relief to the individual homeowner. How much saving is there per individual household? He conveniently omits any figure. If we raise commercial tax rates two things could happen. Faced with additional costs, businesses will raise their selling prices to recover these costs. If the marketplace does not let them do that, and they cannot easily absorb these costs, they may choose to move to a more tax-friendly town. Many towns give tax incentives to encourage business to move there, thereby creating jobs. When a business rather than a residence occupies land, there will be no added pressure on our school system. For instance, the potential sale of Twin Hills Golf Club to a residential developer could create as many as 150 new homes with a potential school population increase of about 300 just what our already-overburdened schools need. Let's not discourage commercial usage by raising taxes. And for what personal gain to the average homeowner? Let's see some numbers. It is interesting to see that Mr. Fitzgerald's first public stance since he declared his candidacy for Longmeadow Selectman will undoubtedly cause some polarization between residents and those merchants and professional people who utilize our commercial space to serve our community. We should proceed with caution. Sam Altman Longmeadow |
