The Elephant in the Room…

The town of Seekonk had an opportunity to purchase 75 acres of land and preserve a huge parcel of open space for the residents. The failure to act set the stage for a massive development project that will likely move us in the direction of becoming a city. I have attached documentation that every taxpayer should read.

In sum, the development will bring up to 440 housing units into the town, with a portion going towards low income housing and rentals. While the worst case projections call for about 2600 new residents, including about 1700 children, the finals numbers will likely be lower. However, I would anticipate the number of incoming children to total between 700-1000. This influx would take place over a five year period.

The taxes from this project will be far inadequate to provide for the additional educational faculty, police and fire, and supporting town services. Consider education alone. 25-30 additional teachers and classrooms, special education would likely be substantial. Capacity would become a major issue. A south fire station would need to become a reality.

How is any of this possible without an override? As a community we are about to pay significantly more with our property taxes than the original sales price. We can only hope that strong leadership guides us through the difficult resource issues that our town shall shortly face.