County taxpayers, you have a right to know, and Gardiner city officials, you deserve a big shout-out for the attitude that “together we can find a better way.”

For years, I have asked our county commissioners and the budget committee to thoroughly examine ways to reduce spending, lower the cost of supplies perhaps by expanding their garden to increase products received or more marketing for vendors, decrease the number of jailed non-violent inmates because we have costly staffing and services problems, etc., Responses have ranged from “it’s not our fault, it’s too late to bring this up although the budget has not received its final approval” to “we can’t do that” in response to using undesignated reserves.

When our county commissioners and budget committee are approving a 21% increase in spending, increasing this year’s budget of $14 million to over $17 million next year, they are approving additional economic hardship on their constituency.

As reported in the KJ on May 20, Gardiner city officials reduced their property taxes by putting their heads together to examine all possibilities. That is what can be accomplished, even in county government. I must cite these Gardiner officials, Anne Davis, Patricia Hart, Tim Cusick, incoming manager Andrew Carlton, Denise Brown and all the other participants, for finding and using an alternative revenue source. Might it be that the county commissioners and budget committee might ask Gardiner how to do this?

You might surmise that I am not happy with the increased spending and tax increases in the proposed county budget. Since they could not get a quorum at their last county meeting, taxpayers still have an opportunity to express themselves. Join me in letting them know how you feel. The cumulative effect of all the new tax increases, inflation, heating, and gasoline cost increases, Covid, etc., is devastating to all of us.

Joe Pietroski

Winthrop