By JOSH RESNEK
The Mayor is hard at it again, spending your money without any regard or consideration of what it takes to earn it.
Last week the Leader Herald published an article about the City Council rubber stamping the Mayor’s elaborate – and over the top – spending plans.
The article highlighted Councilor Fred Capone’s question of a line item in the City Budget that boosted spending on flowers and holiday baskets from $280,000 in FY2020 $495,000 in FY2021.
That additional $215,000 (a 76.78% increase) over the previous year’s budget amount will be funded by your tax dollars.
And make no mistake, if you own property in Everett, you are paying the excessive bill for the Mayor’s extravagant spending.
Even if you do not own property in Everett, you are still paying the bill.
When property taxes increase, your rent increases.
If a landlord can no longer afford to keep paying higher and higher property taxes and the City does a tax foreclosure, you may need to find a new place to live.
The Mayor depends on two things. Number one is that you are not smart enough to see through his plans to buy your votes with your own money.
We know taxpayers are much smarter than he thinks you are.
Number two, because of the large number of multi-unit dwellings in Everett, there are more renters than owners.
If the Mayor, through his financial propaganda minister Eric Demas, can convince you that the landlords are paying the bill, not you, then he is trying to buy your vote.
If you are a property owner, hang on for a wild ride, because as City expenses rise, so to do your property taxes.
Adding insult to injury, the Mayor doubled down on his 76.78% increase in spending for flowers by acquiring a spiffy new truck to water those flowers and hanging baskets!
How much, we should all be wondering, did you spend on that truck Mr. Mayor?
$35,000? $50,000?
Was the purchase of the truck put out to public bid? From which budget line item did funds for the new truck come? Did you lump it into the capital budget as another new vehicle for the public works department without any detail (we know you do not like it when people ask you questions)?
Was it leased?
Will the people of Everett be paying for this truck for the next 30 years?
How and why does the Mayor continue expanding expenditures at a time when income to the city is down?
Why isn’t the enormous amount of money coming in from the casino being put to use to reduce expenditures, to bank the money, to prepare for a rainy day.
The state does this. Why not Everett?
The taxpayers of Everett are much smarter than the Mayor believes they are.
Spending money the city does not have and which it cannot afford, laying off employees and then making new hires and then telling taxpayers everything is great, great, the way President Trump tells the nation is no way to govern.
The president, it appears, is in office to make money he needs very badly.
More and more, the Mayor comes to look and act like Trump.
I wonder if the mayor pays any taxes.