To the Editor:

My struggle to pay Bath property taxes is not unique.

My mother’s side of my family has lived in Bath for six generations.

When I returned home to Bath in 2002, the taxes on my house were about $2,300 per year. Now my property taxes are over $4,000.

Bath Iron Works, owned by General Dynamics, is asking local taxpayers to give them another tax break.

Since 1999, BIW has been given $197 billion in tax cuts from the state and the city. Since that time they have reduced their work force by more than 30 percent.

Bath resident and former BIW employee, Jerry Provencher, who thoroughly researched the BIW taxincrement financing proposal, stated that General Dynamics has earned $7.2 billion in net profits over the past four years.

My property taxes, water and sewer total over $6,600 a year or $550 per month for me. Then there are mortgage, electricity and heating oil expenses … forget medical and food.

I have been unemployed for seven years since I became disabled as the manager of Parkview Hospital’s social work department. I fully recovered from my medical problem four years ago and even with the help of the state vocational rehab department — I have been seeking employment for over four years.

I find as the head of household at age almost 68 who supports a disabled spouse, it is almost impossible to “make ends meet” in Bath on my income from Social Security retirement and a tiny pension — from over 34 years of church and nonprofit employment.

I oppose this new TIF that BIW is requesting.

The Rev.
Carol L. Huntington
Bath