We are writing on behalf of ourselves and our co-owner at 412 Federal St., Brigitte Adams, to express our opposition to the proposed increase in property taxes included in the pending 2025 budget for Milton.
Town Manager Kristy Rogers has been quoted in the Cape Gazette as stating the property tax increase is required in part to support higher demands on the town's resources generated by new residential developments the town has approved.
In our view, it is unconscionable for the town to expect its existing residents to pay for infrastructure costs generated by new development. Costs of that nature must be quantified. We have recently witnessed the approval of new communities and both a McDonald’s and a Royal Farms on Route 16 within town boundaries. They are not only of no direct interest to existing, longtime residents like us, but they also detract from the unique charms and tranquility that attracted us to Milton in the first place. They will destroy the very essence of the town that we love.
In short, we believe the direction this town administration has set for our community is fundamentally ill-advised and requires urgent reconsideration. At a minimum, those who are proposing new commercial development for Milton should be required, as the cost of entry, to bear the public expense impact that their proposals will generate.
We request that the council vote no on the proposed property tax increase. We would also request council authorize a study to determine the community's consensus regarding how the town should evolve. Such a comprehensive approach to an economic strategy would be different from the current piecemeal approach of voting on specific annexations, as in the case of the recent referendum on the Scarlet Oaks project.
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