What I Want for a Happy
New Year in North Andover
Ted Tripp, N. Andover Taxpayers Association
What I Want for a Happy
New Year in North Andover
Ted Tripp, N.
Andover Taxpayers Association
>>Valley Patriot>> |
As we look forward to the coming year in North Andover, perhaps we should pose the question: Will it be a happy year? The answer will depend on what makes you happy and how you approach happiness. Different people will have widely differing views on what makes them happy. Happiness can also be a selfish trait. Most people want to be happy and sometimes striving to achieve one’s happiness causes other people to be unhappy. For example, people who attain happiness by engaging in the improper use of both legal and illegal drugs cause untold heartaches for family and friends, not to mention the overall financial burden to taxpayers and society. In a like manner, there are many of the liberal persuasion who achieve happiness by extracting and spending other people’s money (OPM). OPM has become addictive to a significant portion of our privileged classes as the happy solution to many if not all of society’s problems. Education inadequate? Raise taxes and send the happy money to the schools. Public safety need improvement? Raise taxes and send the happy money to the police and fire departments. Roads in disrepair? Raise taxes and … You get the idea. Here in North Andover it seems to be the same group year after year who pursue self-indulgent happiness by trying to convince the populace that the “town” will suffer greatly if the schools, fire, police, DPW — pick one — don’t get more OPM. Fortunately, many voters in the town in recent years have seen through this pursuit of happiness and nixed any new taxes at the polls. In this case, average citizens have expressed what makes them more happy: simply keeping their own hard-earned money in their own pockets. Many of these voters view the OPM-extraction-advocates as hopelessly out of touch with the happy reality of the community. The coming year will be a tough one for North Andover. Department budgets will see either level funding or a slight decrease in available revenues, depending on what the town decides to do with its reserves. With employee medical costs continuing to rise sharply and heating costs going through the roof, town leaders have some tough decisions to make. Because of this, we are already starting to hear whispers of attempting, once again, another Proposition 2 ½ Override in the spring to solve the cash shortfall. We shouldn’t blame these poor souls, however, for such advocates simply want to be happy ... unfortunately though, their happiness comes at the expense of OPM. Let us hope that there are more of the “other people” in town whose happiness depends on keeping their own money for their own purposes. After all, homeowner’s heating bills have increased too, along with their medical and other living expenses. So, “What would make this columnist a ‘Happy Columnist’ in 2006?” Three quick answers come to mind: 1. That the North Andover Board of Selectmen resists the clarion calls from the “usual suspects” to put a tax override on the ballot and in turn make the tough decisions needed to get spending under control. 2. That the School Department and School Committee focus their efforts on how to provide a first-class education based on the expected budget rather than concentrate their energies on getting more money and raising our taxes. 3. That town leaders on both the municipal and school sides of the budget work hard at using our tax money wisely and bringing new ideas/innovation into local government – all without the use of increased OPM. From one “Hopefully Happy Columnist” to all in North Andover: Happy New Year! Ted Tripp is an International Consultant in high-tech manufacturing methods. He has BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from MIT. You can reach him at tripp@gis.net.
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It is traditional to wish family,
friends and neighbors a Happy New Year during the
Christmas and New Year holidays. It is a time of good
cheer and optimism for the future. You could easily argue
that such a greeting is inherent to our American culture.