Westporters are used to paying taxes for services we may never use.
Single folks and childless couples pony up for education. Country club members subsidize Longshore. We all chip in for the fire department, even though most of us (thankfully) never call them.
Yet a recent proposal has called into question an intriguing question: Who should pay to dredge the Ned Dimes Marina?
No one denies it’s needed (it was last dredged in 1993). But the cost is $1.2 million.
The Ned Dimes Marina.
The Board of Finance thinks boat owners with slips in the marina — that’s the one at Compo Beach — should cover the entire bill. The RTM Finance Committee agrees.
But another option on the table is an 80-20 split between boat owners and the town, respectively. The RTM will discuss the matter at their January 10 meeting.
What do you think? Is this a project that — while it does not benefit everyone — the town should fully cover? Are there intangible benefits that non-boat owners receive from a dredged channel? Is this one of many uses for tax money that we should not even quibble about? Does it open the door to a discussion of other types of funding, for other “town projects”?
Click “Comments” below. And be sure to note whether you’re a boat owner or not.
And if so, where you keep it!