I fully understand that these are hard economic times and much hard work will have to be done by Augusta’s able councilors to come up with a budget.

I am confused by Councilor David Rollins’ suggestion that everyone try to get new families to relocate to Augusta. This will increase the tax base and the school will have more money to spend.

Why would anyone want to move to Augusta when good jobs are not available?

Let’s work with his theory and assume 50 new families move to Augusta within the next year, and they all buy a home with property taxes of $1,500-$3,000 per year. This would bring in $75,000-$150,000 in tax dollars, which would not make much of a dent in a $51.5 million annual budget.

If Augusta could get a new industry or two, however, and some businesses that would offer jobs that offer higher wages like J.S. McCarthy, then the tax base will take care of itself.

So my advice to the council and the Chamber Of Commerce and anyone else who wants Augusta to become prosperous is to work hard and make it appealing enough to get new businesses to locate here.

Paul Douin

Augusta

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