How to Spend More Taxpayer Money
The Team Santiago Commissioners are spending money hand over fist with no indication about where the money is going to come from. We all know it’s going to come from increased real estate taxes. The only question is how much and when. Team Santiago has cancelled the construction department’s shared service agreement with Upper Deerfield which by all accounts has done a good job for the city. The construction department under Upper Deerfield was run efficiently and impartially. For the first time in recent memory the department was operating in the black. When the department was run in house, it constantly ran at a deficit often in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bringing the department back in house will mean the city will lose over $100,000 yearly. With the department in-house the city, by statute, cannot make a profit so that $100,000 is gone. The city will also have to hire a construction official, several inspectors, and office staff. The funds will h