To the editor:

On the day of last week’s well-attended committee on appropriations budget hearing at the high school, the Barrington Times ran an editorial entitled “Taxpayers vs. Parents, can we make a deal?” In it, two competing groups were described in Tweetable terms. One, taxpayers, described as “paying $10,000-plus per year for very little — a generous trash service, a clean beach, and the occasional police patrol through their neighborhood.” The other, school parents, wondering “how Sally will get into an Ivy League school without multiple foreign languages.”

Read the Barrington Times' editorial.

These descriptions may help The Times deal with limited word count on the printed page but they grossly underrepresent what our town and schools mean to many resident taxpayers, regardless of age, income and whether children are enrolled in the public school system. I think it’s important to keep this perspective in mind when we consider how to fund our town and schools through our property taxes.

Let’s take the town first. While it’s certainly true that we benefit from the three services described above — trash, beach and police — there are many other important parts of town government that residents value in different ways. For example, I have lived here for 30 years as an adult (plus another 12 years as a child) and while I rarely go to the town beach, I am proud that my taxes support a place where residents can go and enjoy that experience. I’m a senior citizen who doesn’t use the senior center (yet), but I know how important it can be to other seniors and am glad that a portion of my taxes supports the many activities and services it offers. The same holds true for our library. I’m not a frequent patron, but am pleased to know that this important education and knowledge resource is available to residents and non-residents alike. I could go on — parks, playgrounds, playing fields, open space, waterways, etc. — but by now, I hope you get my point. And I haven’t even mentioned things we often take for granted without a second thought like 24/7 fire and rescue service, street lights, paved roadways, sewer service, and much more. In other words, I’m willing to support my well-run town government and its services with my taxes, even though I’m not a user or beneficiary of everything the town has to offer, because I know others in our community may need, want or enjoy them as part of Barrington’s quality of life.

As for Barrington Public Schools, my first-and-foremost belief is that our town and schools are essentially one in the same. An excellent town deserves and needs excellent schools and our entire community is fortunate that our schools are rated among the best in the nation. For me, our schools were never about getting my two children into an Ivy League school or being multi-lingual. Instead, it was about them growing up smart, responsible and happy, which they are today at ages 34 and 29. Like with town services, our children didn’t need or take advantage of all the programs, services and sports offered by the schools and neither of them required special education resources. Nevertheless, I am pleased to know that my property taxes are helping to pay for a fiscally responsible, high quality educational experience with essential academic, supportive, enrichment and sports programs for the children of my neighbors, friends, the community and, maybe, my own grandchildren in years to come. My home value may also benefit from the high quality of our schools, or it may not, but for me, that’s not the point. I want the same (or better) excellent educational experiences for today’s BPS students as my children had, including their opportunity, in a few years, to enjoy three middle school years in a much better building than was available to Kate and Evan.

So yes, Barrington Times, it’s easy to conveniently characterize our current property tax debate as a conflict between two factions wanting different things, but I believe we’re actually more on the same team than in opposition. We want what’s best for our town, and our kids, so let’s all pull together in the same direction, which is toward an even brighter future for Barrington.

Richard F. Staples, Jr.

Barrington