@DY
Using saved tax dollars for other projects does not mean higher taxes, it doesn’t change the amount of tax paid, but reallocates expenditures.
Contrary to your opinion, I don’t want to keep it for the government, I want to spend it for the benefit of the populace.
I am the first to admit that small town government and operations is quite different than big city ways. Maybe that’s why I like living here. Last year the kids’ plays-cape at one of our parks needed replacing. The bids came in at over 100K which was not in the Parks and Rec budget. So the local service organizations got together and made a proposal to the town. Buy the material and the citizens will do all the construction and landscaping at no cost to the town. In fact, Home Depot stepped up and donated the materials and in two weeks the project was complete. This wouldn’t work in NYC. The municipal unions would be apoplectic if free labor was used.
I’ve talked about supporting our EMS. We have a great one, mostly volunteer, as is our Fire service. Mrs. CTL has needed EMS as recently as last month. They arrived in less than 2 minutes. Because they were told the patient was a female they sent a female crew and paramedic. I may be in the vast minority being observant and Jewish in this town, but the community respects everyone’s values. Small town living is not for everyone, but it works for us. We are close enough to the big city when we want what it offers, but avoid the hassles and expense of living in the concrete jungle.