Many of the people who can afford to move here have an intrinsic vein of altruism. I hope they will not overlook the as-of-yet unmet needs of deserving residents in their own town because of the distracting rhetoric of some of our local politicians.
The part-time residents who were interviewed for this story expressed anger about the proposed Residential Tax Exemption, stating it could "damage the culture of Stockbridge in a very unfortunate and bad way."
The benefit of the proposed Stockbridge residential tax exemption to low-income residents is sufficient to offset the additional cost until a more targeted program can be approved by the state and implemented locally.
Eighty percent of Great Barrington home owners would see their property taxes decrease. For the median home, valued at $294,400, the residential exemption would cut the tax bill 11 percent. Benefits would be concentrated in Housatonic village and Risingdale, where most tax bills would drop at least 20 percent.
