Commentary

How Important Is It?

As I am writing this letter to the Editor, the Listers are in the final phases of the grievance process. We are currently participating in the Board of Civil Authority hearings.
First, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow Listers, Kay Gault and Moe Harvey. You two are diligent, devoted servants of the town, and I am honored and proud to work with you both!
Second, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the over 350 taxpayers whom the Listers spoke and met with during the past one-and-a-half months for the townwide reappraisal. This process is, of course, not without fault, but none-the-less extremely important. Most of you were thoughtful, peaceful citizens gathering information, making comparisons and pointing out discrepancies or inequities. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we all worked through the process. For those of you who were not so kind (and you know who you are), all I can say is “shame on you.” Mutual respect and thoughtfulness are of the utmost importance in a situation such as this.
Property owners need to know that this is not personal. The Listers are not picking on individual properties but rather looking at this town of 1,659 parcels as a whole. Taxpayers, we are all part of the big picture. When we knowingly put our property on the market for higher than the town’s assessment, we are a piece of the picture. When we knowingly purchase a property for more than the town’s assessment we are a piece of the picture. When we sit at Town Meeting and vote yes, we are a piece of the picture, and if we don’t bother to vote at all, we are a piece of the picture. We are all in this together!
The Grand List is vital to all that happens in our town. What is the one thing that every page in the Town Report has in common? The Grand List. Without it, there would be no roads, no schools, no recreation, no town hall, etc. The Grand List may be the most important element of Town government. Since the Listers are the keepers of the Grand List they are vital to the workings of the town. Therefore, they deserve a slap on the back for accepting this huge responsibility and doing what the other 2,720 registered voters of Charlotte will not. It is definitely not an easy position to be in, but it is so important.

The next time you are at the Town Hall, poke your head into the office in the back and just give us a “Thank you.” We’d appreciate it!

Just wondering, how important is it to you?

Listers are elected officials who serve a term of 3 years.
It just might be the most eye-opening three years of your life!

-- Heather Manning