Commentary By Chris Jones

I was perusing the pages of NH+ this morning and was intrigued by the article on journalism. I enjoyed it.

A note in the subtext of that piece said that at a recent meeting of the BOS (Board of Selectmen) there was, and I suppose has been, conversations regarding how best to utilize funds received from the action taken by the Town against CRRA (Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority) to recover monies charged to the Town and the other 70 members of the Mid-Conn Project post the failure of ENRON and the loss of $250,000,000.00 in what was to be proven an illegal loan disguised as an energy transaction with ENRON by CRRA.

That, as ancient history, leads us to today where in our local government is now drooling over monies once pilfered from us, and now found, and I suppose, considered a ‘windfall’. Truth be told that cash is NOT a windfall by any stretch of the imagination.

The $140,000.00 (or so) that was returned to the Town of New Hartford after a nearly 5-year court battle is not the property of our Government but rather the monies belong to the taxpayers of our Town. It was derived from ill-gotten means and represents an over-taxation by a quasi-public agency. It is not a gift from Heaven.

Our Town leaders should consider only one use for those funds and that is to be applied fairly and squarely towards our annual budget and make some modest effort to reduce the mill rate, thereby returning the monies to the rightful owners, the people of the Town. Unfortunately, we have seen too much of Government spending in all forms of late and, while the economy continues to reel from the “Great Recession” it would be nice if budgets could be balanced and taxes contained.

Don’t worry, nobody expects anyone to hold their breaths. But collectively our local Government should be seeking ways to spend less and tax even less.

Listen, I understand that the cash all goes into one big pot anyway, but for once, when effort returns benefit shouldn’t that benefit be given back to the people? That is to say I get it, roads still need to be paved and plowed and the kids need great schools. I’m OK with that. But before our BOS or BOF start salivating over the possibilities that go along with a huge chunk of cash they should remember that it is not the Government’s money. It’s ours. Yours!

All politics being local politics, the right thing for our leaders to do is to lead and govern. That does not always require spending.

Wanna get reelected? Lower taxes… Oh, and don’t lend money to creeps like ENRON.

Chris Jones, a long-time resident of New Hartford, is a former selectman of the town.

Disclosure: Chris Jones was on the Board of Selectmen during the Baxter administration when the town’s selectmen filed a lawsuit against CRRA in what was described as a “David vs. Goliath” battle to recover funds that CRRA had over-charged its member towns in an effort to cover its losses due to a loan it had made to ENRON before that company’s collapse in 2001. Chris worked tirelessly on behalf of the town even after he had left office to help win the lawsuit which resulted in the $147,833 settlement from CRRA which is the subject of this commentary.