What a year it has been in Scarborough. Think back for a minute on what we have been through. There was the ugly process of amending the animal control ordinance that stretched out over many months. Then this spring’s enactment of a school budget that was rejected once by the voters and then approved with 49 percent believing it to be too high. And homeowners filing suits against the town alleging discriminatory property valuations. And, most recently, a new cell tower ordinance being enacted despite much public opposition and many unanswered questions.

There appears to be a common thread among these fiascos: Town officials are not hearing the voices of the voters and are unable to craft solutions that meet the town’s needs.

Against this backdrop, a group of concerned Scarborough residents came together this past spring and formed Scarborough Maine Advocates for Reasonable Taxes, or SMARTaxes. The rate of recent property tax increases has far surpassed both the general inflation rate and the Social Security cost-of-living increases on which many Scarborough taxpayers depend. The group’s mission is straightforward: “To provide and widely share information and analyses of town and school finances and to advocate for tax rates that support excellent public education, provide quality public services and are affordable for all Scarborough residents.” It is crucial to understand that this is not a “no new taxes group.” It is not an anti-school group. SMARTaxes seeks a balance between what the town and schools would like to have versus what we can afford.

The unveiling of the new Wentworth School presents a very visible example of the type of discussion SMARTaxes encourages. The new school is the result of untold hours of hard work by a large number of talented and dedicated volunteers. It will, no doubt, serve the children of Scarborough well for many years. At the same time, its apparent opulence raises issues about how questions of need-versus-want were resolved in the planning process. Many glowing and well-deserved adjectives have been lavished upon the new Wentworth, but frugal and thrifty are not among them. The lesson to be learned from SMARTaxes’s perspective: make certain that fiscally concerned taxpayers are well represented on future school building committees.

A silver lining of the many recent controversies surrounding town governance is an increase in citizen involvement in town affairs. Clear evidence of that is seen in the impending election. There seems to be considerably more interest in the local election than in previous years as more voters have been personally impacted by the council’s actions over the past year. Seven candidates are vying for three open seats on the Town Council. Suddenly “transparency,” “responsiveness” and “fiscal responsibility” are on every candidate’s lips.

While SMARTaxes is pleased to hear this newfound sensitivity to taxpayers’ concerns, we wanted to be certain it is more than election sloganeering. So we interviewed all the candidates and explored their views on the town’s budget, debt and real estate tax matters. As a result of those interviews we identified two candidates who were most closely aligned with our positions on those matters – Peter Hayes and William (Liam) Somers.

Peter and Liam bring the business experience, the budgeting expertise and the good judgment that will serve the taxpayers well in the often-complex matters that come to the council. Of equal importance, they have the knowledge and willingness to challenge the so-called experts whose assumptions and conclusions may well be at odds with those of the majority of Scarborough’s taxpayers.

In the School Board election, the two incumbents were running unopposed… until Michael B. Turek declared as a write-in candidate. Mike, one of SMARTaxes’ co-founders, decided that he could not sit by quietly while the School Board continued to present budget after budget that came in at multiples of the rate of inflation. Since the school budget comprises about two-thirds of our tax bill, those large and repeated increases are the main factor driving our overall tax increases. Writing in Michael B. Turek for School Board will add a much-needed voice of fiscal moderation to the board.

With the election of Peter Hayes and Liam Somers to the council and Michael B. Turek to the School Board, a sea change will take place in Scarborough’s governance. We believe that change is long overdue.

To learn more about SMARTaxes, email us at ScarboroughTaxes@yahoo.com or visit our website at www.ScarboroughTaxes.com.

Steve Hanly is a member of the SMARTaxes Steering Committee.

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