Glad to see the anti-tax folks finally admit, after so many years, that the town has a revenue problem and not a spending problem.

It took less than two months for new Councilman Dave Spelich to become enlightened and realize how overburdened town staff is and that there is no room for budget cuts. He admitted this at the council retreat before introducing a proposal to raise revenues over a four-year period.

Other anti-tax advocates quickly jumped on the “infrastructure and maintenance fee” bandwagon, but their solution is unworkable and short-sighted. Sure, it goes away after four years, but that’s also the problem with this idea!

Ongoing and increasing operational costs – law enforcement, road maintenance, fire and emergency medical service, park maintenance, etc. – will not be going away in four years. The town needs a more permanent solution to this revenue problem than a temporary Band-Aid when major reconstructive surgery is required.

The town is lucky to have a 90 percent collection rate for the measly $36 annual environmental fee for which, by the way, the town lacks any enforcement authority to go after deadbeats. What do you think the collection rate will be for a $300 fee?

Adding another fee only escalates billing, collection and staffing issues and costs. Thought we wanted to save money? Is this really an efficient way to raise revenue?

If trust is the true issue, and fear over how money will be spent, isn’t that a major reason why Mr. Spelich was elected in the first place? He can become the budget cop and make sure there are no hidden studies, consultants, lagoons or wayfinding signs in the works.

Let’s move on from this fee idea and come up with more reasonable and workable solutions such as a bond package and a sales tax increase.