Enfield voters will decide on three questions in Tuesday's election that will affect schools, the town's sewage treatment plant and energy efficiency at town buildings.
One proposal would clear the way for more than $40 million in capital improvements at schools across the district, another would allow the town to purchase more energy efficient technology for town buildings from Honeywell, and another would allow the town to use sewer fees to make improvements to the existing sewer treatment plant.
The most consequential, as far as taxpayers are concerned is the $44 million bond initiative to allow $41 million for improvements to schools that would lead to new windows, exterior improvements, roof improvements in some cases and even new main entrances.
“Schools should have a vestibule-type set up with a secure doorway" Enfield Mayor Scott Kaupin said.
Kaupin said the initiative could mean local tax increases later in order to pay for the bond payments.
“I would be one, as a realist to say, there would be a slight tax increase unless the council found ways to cut funding from other areas of the budget.”
He said in some cases, schools haven't seen any improvements in decades and added that the town's planning hasn't necessarily been the most forward-thinking.
“In Enfield we’ve pretty much been a pay-as-you-go community funding one project after another but for these particular projects, they are expensive.”
The bonds would be paid over the course of 20 years.
Carrie Payer has two children in Enfield schools. She says she's wary about the way town spends her taxes.
“When the money is coming out of your pocket, you want to see results," she said.
Payer added that town officials need to really sell these kinds of projects to prove to residents that they're doing the right thing.
“The taxes in Enfield are quite high already and if you talk to the residents, every year we come across these things with our taxes going up and people are very frustrated about it," Payer said.
