As a Belton council member, I donated my salary to charities and persuaded the mayor and council members to stop attending expensive “conferences” on the coast. Why take spouses if not a vacation?

About 2003, the council voted to keep increased property taxes from reassessment and to increase the tax millage, two property tax increases in addition to enacting a 2 percent hospitality tax on prepared foods. The current tax increase will be the fourth one in six years in addition to other fee increases.

According to newspaper articles, the council voted itself a 10 percent pay raise within the past 2 to 3 years and granted themselves city-paid health insurance. Salaries were substantially raised about 1998 in lieu of receiving health insurance.

The city provides a vehicle to about 20 percent of the employees. The taxpayers pay all costs and the employees get to take the vehicles home.

According to the Appalachian Council of Governments, the Belton mayor and council are paid substantially more than the standard for comparable councils. Those towns also generally have a strong mayor form of government, whereas Belton has a weak mayor form. This means Belton’s mayor is exactly the same as a council member except that he presides at meetings.

Before raising taxes on the people again, the mayor and council need to do more to reduce costs. Reducing pay to the standard, eliminating “vacations” to the coast and limiting vehicle use would save more than the increases in fuel costs.

Robert C. Tugwell, former mayor pro-tem, member of Finance

Committee, Belton