We write today (Jan. 27, 2016) to express our very serious concern regarding recent dynamics between our Jamestown city government and the Board of Public Utilities.

As Jamestown residents and property taxpayers, we have a continuing and growing concern regarding the core problem here: the ever-increasing expenditure budget of our city government. Despite City Council’s most recent dividend grab from the BPU, our property tax rate was, nonetheless, increased over 4 percent. This was an extraordinary increase given our current overall taxing environment. Looking back over several years, we have recognized that our city tax rate increases have well exceeded the inflation rate.

As we understand it, our city has taxed itself to within 2 percent of its “taxing limit.” With very little wiggle room remaining, it is quite apparent that the city government has turned to the BPU dividends as the solution to its continuing fiscal woes. Does anyone doubt that those dividend grabs will continue and increase significantly in the years to come? Using those dividends as their “go to” budget balancing strategy, can there be any doubt that city residents and city businesses will suffer more frequent rate increases into the future? Likewise, if the Mayor and City Council are unwilling to implement the cost saving measures recommended by the BPU/City Task Force, how likely will they be to find substantive cost savings of their own design? In the BPU dividends, the city seems to have found its golden goose.

We would be wise to remember that our independently managed and extraordinarily efficient BPU has been a major player in maintaining jobs in our community. That same BPU is arguably the single most attractive feature for future economic development opportunities in our town. When our utility rates more quickly march higher and higher, our city will become less and less attractive for future development. Our existing businesses (and residents) will have less and less reason to stay. That fact seems abundantly obvious.

With the city’s growing and continuing drain on the BPU’s dividends, there can also be little doubt that the BPU’s ability to reinvest in itself will be compromised as well. Until now, our BPU’s management team has been appropriately proactive in its approach. They have wisely reinvested those dividends to upgrade aging infrastructure, responded to changing economic circumstances (ex. conversion from coal to natural gas), addressed important safety upgrades, and any number of other improvements – always with an eye to the future. Suddenly however, a dark shadow has been cast over that future.

All this because our city government is unwilling or unable to get it’s expenditures under control. We know from direct, personal experience that the process of budget cutting is an extremely difficult one. However, circumstances have required that the city expenditure budget be reduced. Not easy for sure, but absolutely necessary all the same.

Lastly, we cannot leave this discussion without addressing a very personal chapter in this story. We were both very disappointed when three extraordinarily bright, professional, community-minded, and experienced businessmen were unceremoniously removed from the BPU Board of Directors. It should not have happened as these three men only added value and expertise to the BPU. Their departure is a substantive loss to the BPU and to our community at large. John, Carl, and Wayne deserved better.

And so does our community.

Deke and Deb Kathman are Jamestown residents.