The size of the Keene City government grows by 6.5%
It seems to be the nature of governments to grow, and the recent proposed Keene operating budget for the fiscal year of 2008-2009 makes the local government in Keene NH no exception to this rule.
According to the Keene Sentinel, the proposed budget is 6.5% higher than last year’s budget. This means that property owners can expect to pay more in property taxes, as the proposed budget requires property taxes to be raised by 4.8%. Naturally renters should also expect to pay more, as landlords will likely pass the raised expenditures down to them.
City Manager John A. MacLean seems to think that this is a tight and responsible budget. This may be because John MacLean is paid over $100,000 a year, which is paid for by the tax payer. While John McLean can afford to pay more in property taxes, it is becoming increasingly hard for families to keep up with the growing prices of food and gas, let alone having to pay more to the government.
It should not be the job of the government to take care of us, but left unchecked more and more services will be provided by the government. It is my hope to push back the size of government, but first we must find a way to stop its growth.
