Debt Exclusion Vote to Fund the Underwood Pool Tuesday

On Tuesday, a group of pool activists will be seeking a Yes vote on Ballot Question One. The proponents favor this Override of Proposition 2 1/2, but is it good for Belmont as a whole?

From published data (in 2009, the latest available) there were fewer that 650 family memberships sold during the entire year. Based on reported revenues, each membership cost about $165. Even with this fairly high membership, the pool only covered about 75% of it's operating costs, leaving a deficit ultimately paid by the Taxpayers of about $35,000.

 With a pool that size, it must have been almost like a private club for the families that actually used it. But what about the other roughly 10,350 families in Town. They got to pay part of the bill, but derived no benefit from the expenditure of tax dollars. This project, quite clearly, ONLY benefits the SWpecial Interest few.

Furthermore, We are in Belmont, MA, not Belmont, CA... for 9 months of the year, it is not exactly pool weather!!

As to the design of the pool, the majority of comments reported from the public meetings on the plans were that the projet was simply far too lavish and far too expensive. Almost anything designed by various Town Building Committees over the last few decades has been from the Taj Mahal School of Design. So is this. The reently abandoned (hopefully for MANY years to come) new library is a prime example.  It tried, as with the pool design, to be all things to all people....  and was rejeted, as this should be.

 The pool, based on existing data, would likely have had 1/10 the number of patrons, be open less than 1/4 of the time, and cost nearly half as much to the Belmont Taxpayers as the library.

Folks, this is a waste of money. Period.

While on the topic of money, the debt exclusion (Note that the amount is UNLIMITED in the Ballot Question) will cost every Belmont household over $200. Ask yourself: "Will I get $200 (plus membership fees) of use from this project?" For the vast majority of people the answer is NO.

 And, now to the deceitful manner in which this lemon has been promoted:. The ACTUAL cost, over $4,500,000 last seen, has been disguised to look much smaller by raiding the CPA slush fund for about $2,000,000. This is pretty much like understating the cost of the library, by getting outside money. However, with the pool proposal, it IS NOT outside money. The money comes from the CPA surtax, levied on the already very high Belmont Property Taxes, and has already been collected FROM YOU.

Note that if the money is NOT squandered on the pool, it does NOT vanish. It is still in the Town coffers and an be spent more wisely on other projects.

 To see just how much you are REALLY paying Belmont every year, take the Property Tax bill that came in the mail recently, and multiply that by FOUR! (BTW, since interest rates are near zero, the original argument that the Treasurer made for four annual bills improving the Town's cash flow, makes a lot less sense now. )The REAL reason for quarterly billing is to intentionally fool people into believing  that the Property Tax bill is not horse choking.

 Multiply your tax bill by four, and think about whether you really think it's a good idea to make it EVEN BIGGER.

 Then

 VOTE NO on Question One

 Waverly.Watchdog@gmail.com