Jim Haff Election Ad

The best path forward for Killington outlined Dear voters, It’s time again to vote on town issues and for a Selectman in Killing- ton. A position that requires the Board member to sit in on meetings and represent us, the taxpayers and voters, to be fair to all those that make up our community. I believe the job of the town budget is to take care of our infrastruc- ture. I feel that we as a town have stepped away from these responsibil- ities and moved more to thinking it is our (all resident taxpayer’s) job to insure that our restaurants and hotels have a better chance of surviving by allocating our tax money to increase tourism in our town. I feel that by doing this we have struggled to keep up on our capital replacement needs. The position I’ve always taken, and still stand by today, is that if business want to succeed then they should invest in themselves. While I know some disagree with this position, the unfortunate thing is that instead of discussing the ideas these folks found it was easier to paint a picture of me as a person that is destructive and not willing to move this town forward. This is the wrong picture of me. I, for one, love this town and see so much positive in our future if we could just get back to the principals. Our town has an obligation to fund the necessary infrastructure such as library, schools, swimming pool, re safety building and, yes, our golf course. Another questions in front of us this election is the rescinding of the sales tax portion of the option tax. I believe that this tax would be the beginning of our town getting back to doing what a town should do. By voting “yes” on this item we will be shifting the responsibility of business taking care of their marketing and special events on their own (see letter from Mr. Mike Salimano in last week’s edition). Then we can start looking to take care of what we need to take care of. Our golf course is heading down a bad path. This is not my opinion, the numbers here show the path it’s on and it’s not good. I understand that by bringing this up you the voter will be told I’m wrong, that I don’t know what I’m talking about. But please, take a look at these numbers yourself then ask who’s right. I mention every year that we need to take care of our Irene debt. Some on the Board claimed there was no debt that it was just an inter- nal accounting gure, and that all debts were paid. Then why are we being told by accountants and now the Board that we need to close the books on this debt yet another year and it’s not included again? So when you vote this year, please vote for a person that will ask the questions and understand the situation we are in so we can be a com- petitor to the other ski towns that keep business interest separate from town obligations. The rst step is to vote “yes” to rescind the sales portion of the op- tion tax. The second step is to hopefully see through the bad picture painted of me being a destructive person when in fact I’m a very positive per- son and wish to see this town of Killington I call my home succeed. I hope that you, the voters of Killington, will look at all the facts and cast your vote for me and the vision I see for the best path forward. Thanks, Jim Haff, Killington

Rescinding the 1% local sale option tax A letter from Mike Solimano, president of Killington and Pico resorts, published in the Feb. 15-22 edition of the Mountain Times: “Currently, the town spends $280,000 on marketing and events (funded by the 1 percent option tax), and this year’s proposed budget includes an additional $100,000 to support the 2017 World Cup, should the resort hold that event (and only if ). This brings the town’s events and marketing contribution to a total of $380,000 for scal year 2017– and this general fund expense would be removed from the town’s budget entirely in scal year 2018 if the “sales and use” portion of the 1 percent option tax is repealed.” What’s not included in these numbers that Mike is showing is the town is also paying for heath insurance and other payroll for these employees so the total is just over $400,000 being paid for this department which would be eliminated with a “yes” vote to rescinding the sales options tax portion. The golf course debt From page 72 of the Killington town report “Green Mountain National Golf Course once again had a successful year in 2016. The course was able to pay for all its oper- ating expenses and all its capital equipment and its course and facility capital expenses. GMN transferred $200,000 to the Town’s General fund from the golf course account. These funds were being used for course operating capital but will now be available for town operations. Keeping a watchful eye on spending, and responsible management of resources also helped us to again keep operational expenses below budget. We will also work closely with other town departments by sharing equip- ment and resources whenever possible to save money.” What are they talking about? Look at these gures. Looks like a downward spiral to me. How many more years to zero? Golf Course Net Operating Income See page 77 of your town report. This is the first time in the golf course’s history that it owes the town almost $300,000. Golf Pro Shop Balance as of Jan. 1, 2016: $397,205.39 Receipts: $937,399.62 $1,334,605.01 Disbursements: -$1,099,840.21 Balance as of Dec. 31, 2016: $234,764.80 “Pro Shop Disbursements include $200,000 Transfer to Town General Fund towards 2015 Start-up Expenses, plus $97,972.87 in Debt Service and Interest usually paid from the Town General Fund. This leaves a balance of $68,709.58 due to Town of Killington for 2015 Start-up Expenses plus $224,059 for prior years’ bills paid by the Town when Golf Course was not considered a separate entity.” Total: $292,768.58 Balance due to Town Sherburne Golf Service Company/Restaurant Balance as of Jan. 1, 2016: $94,101.06 Receipts: $169,474.29 $263,575.35 Disbursements:-$234,319.41 Balance as of Dec. 31, 2016: $29,255.94 Now let’s go to our golf course capital plan, page 75 and 76 of your town report. They are budgeting for 2017 total capital projects and equipment needed $113,120 yet their only budgeting a net operating in- come of $91,400. How do the numbers work? Please, others, start asking these questions because that’s what I’ve been doing for the past eight years. Vote for me or not, but if anything please vote to rescind the sales option tax. Maybe with that removed from our town budget, anyone on the Board will be able to focus just on our town needs.   Please vote based on numbers and who’s going to get the questions answered. There’s no destructive person in me, it’s just the picture painted of me by those that refuse to answer the questions and it’s easier for them to make the questioner the bad guy. Paid for by Jim Haff