To the editor,
In response to the letter “Smith will bring financial stability, open government to Beacon Falls” (Oct. 17, Citizen’s News).
All it took was 15 minutes on May 15, 2018, and Beacon Falls will never forget the devastation. A tornado, in Beacon Falls. And yet, 17 months later, and the continuing trend of zero increase in the 2019-20 mill rate, this town and its administration has worked miracles with the infrastructure, roads and parks.
Taxes matter to people. Improvements matter to our town. First Selectman Christopher Bielik has successfully done both. For two years, Beacon Falls has seen no increase in the mill rate. And yet during this time, improvements to our town have been made and will continue to be made with the current budget, including becoming greener and more environmentally friendly, an important step in the right direction.
For example recent roads work includes repairs to Burton Road, Highland Avenue and Noe Place, a project that came in under budget, and repairs to Skokorat Road, Railroad Avenue, a section of Pent Road, and Lancaster Drive, and Beacon Valley Road is scheduled to be completed by summer 2020.
Other improvements include purchasing a fuel-efficient public works plow truck, a new ladder truck for Beacon Hose Co. No. 1 and a bus for the senior center. The town has also received a $10,000 Bright Ideas award for renewable energy and efficiency upgrades, a $500,000 STEAP grant and a $400,000 Community Block Development grant.
Since taking over, there has been a reduction in back taxes owed the town. Also, with creating partnerships with other towns like Oxford, Seymour and Bethany, improvement costs have been shared, helping our mill rate to remain flat and our towns to work together for a better, brighter future.
Achieving all this while federal and state budgets have bombarded towns with unfair monetary burdens is incredible and needs to be continued into our future. A vote for Bielik is a vote for stable taxes with improvements.
Benita Pearse
Beacon Falls
