Dear Editor:
Regarding Fred Swift’s column published on Jan. 23, “Candidates should share specific plans with voters,” I completely agree with Mr. Swift’s call for candidates running for the Noblesville city government primary to be specific regarding their approaches to the many large and costly challenges that lie ahead.
We are no longer a small community where candidates need only smile, give generalized feel good comments and know the right people to win. As taxpayers and voters, we should want to elect common sense visionaries with a plan to prioritize all the expensive wants and needs of our growing community. As voters we should have no illusions regarding costs and who will pay. The state may pay for parts of some projects, but costs will mostly be our responsibility.
So we’d better understand our votes.
Regarding costs to taxpayers, the letter published in this paper from candidate Mike Corbett regarding the city’s use of tax abatements certainly caught my attention. Like Mr. Corbett, I thought tax abatements were intended for distressed property and blighted areas. Then, how are abatement renewals justified especially given the recent large tax increase for the school referendum?
It would seem to me taxpayers deserve more transparency as well as candidates’ positions on the use of abatements.
George Hodgson
Noblesville