When money is tight these days in Walpole, it is surprising that Walpole selectmen are actually encouraging a $4.7 million tax increase over the course of 20 years. The temporary tax rise would allow Walpole to purchase Walpole Woodworkers- a manufacturing site that builds fences, furniture, and play sets. Town officials want to buy 14 acres of the property, and the company would keep a whopping 2 acres to continue with their retail. They have recently bought some new equipment (you can check out the best of list from woodworkingtoolkit.com) and now are struggling to place it taking into account this property buying issue. This issue was discussed at the May 2 Town Meeting, and residents will get to vote on the June 4 ballot. But in a time when no one has a lot of money to spend, residents should wonder whether the land is really worth buying.  The possible benefits that would come out of buying the land are definitely not worth all the costs.

Opponents of this tax hike are worried primarily about the cost of the property. Walpole selectmen say they have been looking for a place to build a new fire and police station, along with a senior center. But the need for new public safety facilities is questionable.  When times are tough, a town needs to establish the difference between its needs and wants. Maybe now is not the best time to spend millions of dollars on a building that is not even necessary. Voters in the town have defeated three out of the four proposed tax hikes on community buildings, including a new police station over a five year span; one would think officials would get the hint by now.

In 2009 the plurality of Walpole residents made a mistake when they voted to fund a new public library, a proposal that was passed by only eight votes. The better choice would have been to use that space to build a new police and fire station instead of a nonessential library. The decrepit police station that was built in the early 1880s is in much worse shape than the library and actually is in need of renovations. But since we chose a $6.7 million tax increase for the extravagant library we are in no position to again buy more land.

For some households the extra $50 a year in taxes will not matter, but for the majority of people struggling to get by this extra money could cost them a week’s supply of food. While the economy remains in the slumps we should not make any increases in taxes. It all goes back to the building of the new library and the recent tax hike-if we voted down that tax increase maybe we could afford to raise them now.

Next, throw in the possibility of contamination lying within the land due to the fact that it is an industrial site. If the land is indeed contaminated it turns the purchase into something not only pointless, but now dangerous. The town thought of using the land as a place to create a new baseball field, but who wants to play baseball on a field that could be contaminated? All these possible perils are signs that buying the land would bring more consequences than benefits for the town. Again, the benefit of having another baseball field is not worth the facing the contamination.

Between the expensive costs, overcrowding, extra traffic, and potential contamination that buying the land would bring, voters should vote down the proposed property purchase on the June 4 ballot. Common Walpole residents who understand the financial conditions of the time will get to share how they feel about buying the land, instead of just hearing the opinions of politicians and selectmen. Buying the Walpole Woodworkers land will hurt this town and will end up being a huge mistake, a mistake that Walpole cannot afford to make.