Editorial: The folly of reading their lips

Thursday, 21 January 2010 00:00

Well, it sure didn’t take long for the new administration that came to power by criticizing its opponents for raising taxes to consider doing just that themselves.

Less than two weeks since assuming office, the Republican administration has already said it may need to raise taxes by 2%. This comes after months of pummeling opponent and then Town Supervisor Edward Brancati for his proposal to raise taxes to close a significant budget deficit. At that time, the Republicans cast themselves as the anti-tax lot, insinuating that if voters chose them, their taxes would decrease. Yet, after only took two weeks in office, the opposite may happen.

This really should not come as a surprise. During the election, Republicans failed to answer how they would come up with the money to close the deficit without significantly raising taxes. They talked about new sources of revenue, such as lifetime pool passes, but admitted when pressed that would do little to offset the budget gap, and they offered no alternatives to a tax hike. Despite that, their anti-taxes rhetoric was enough to get them elected, as the Democrats had the unfortunate timing of being the party in power when the economy tanked and mortgage revenue, the main source of money for the town, largely disappeared (of course, it didn’t hurt that Democratic leadership blundered its way through the campaign, too). Those factors forced the Democrats to raise taxes 25% for 2010. Now, the Republicans are looking to add to that and the year’s barely begun.

Were the Republicans disingenuous during their campaign? Of course — they didn’t offer any suggestions to avoid new taxes because they didn’t have any at that time, just as they don’t now, which is why Town Supervisor Charles Duffy is considering a tax increase. With his head deep in the town’s books for the first time, Mr. Duffy may have just begun to realize what trouble the town’s finances are in, and how limited the options are to fix them. But Republican leadership, including seasoned Town Board member and running mate Peter DeLucia, were well aware of what the town was facing when they went door to door promising voters something different than the high taxes of the Democrats.

If implemented, this additional tax would be used to build a fund balance at an amount the board set forth in policy last year. There’s nothing new here. It’s also not new to view Republican and Democratic politicians alike with skepticism when they are in campaign mode. What will be new to some voters in Lewisboro, though, is that when it comes to taxes, it apparently doesn’t matter which party is in power.

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