Letter: 1st Selectman Candidate Krumeich's Borrowing Plan 'Puts Taxpayer Interest First'

To the Editor:

Of the three first selectman candidates, only Beth Krumeich puts Taxpayer interests first.  Greenwich's governance system imposes a long and difficult path before any capital project.  Deferral, delay and scope reduction are routine.  Only the most intrepid and dedicated get to funding.  Then the financing decision is made!

Having decided to do something, Greenwich cleaves to the idea that a project should be paid for more or less immediately.  Thus we build fire stations with thirty- to fifty-year lives and pay for them over 5 years.  In the process we impose high current taxes on those who have other things to do with their money, including investing it at higher rates of return than Greenwich pays in interest rates.

Only Beth recognizes Greenwich's approach costs taxpayers money and would change the policy to allow the taxpayer to retain the difference between 5-year amortization and 20-year amortization to earn a return in excess of Greenwich's borrowing rate (which is among the lowest available to any municipality).  She recognizes it is in the taxpayers' interest for Greenwich to allow them a longer time to offset the cost by investing the money.

Beth is not arguing to spend more money; rather she is arguing that Greenwich should finance the expenditure in a way which imposes the least cost on taxpayers.  Putting taxpayer interests first is the hallmark of her plan; do the math.


Robert Brady
Riverside

(The writer is an outgoing Democratic member of the Board of Estimate and Taxation.)

(Editor’s note: More letters to the editor regarding Greenwich elections may be found in our elections and government categories.