Getting the Message on Population Decline?

“Proposed school renovation voted down in New York Mills“

Are people getting the message that it makes no sense to expand schools when the population is shrinking? Who knows? The vote was close. Maybe NYM voters were simply upset at being played for fools when the school district cited a school closure in the early 1980s as a reason to expand buildings now. Or maybe the NYM SD did not hire enough residents to skew the vote . . . or they did, but even the employees have had enough with taxes.

Unfortunately, declining enrollments in New Hartford were not a discussion issue in the main stream media when NH had its capital project vote — and were not considered in BOCES’ expansion project either. Both projects will saddle taxpayers not only with project costs, but maintenance costs well into the future. And be prepared for taxes to support these projects to go even higher, particularly in New Hartford. Why? Demographics. New Hartford is OLD. 23.7% of the population is over 65 compared with 12.4% average in the US. Expect a precipitous drop in population when these people “age out.” Then watch housing values tumble — and taxes rise — driving even more population loss. As Gear pointed out over the weekend, the “feedback loop” puts us in a death spiral.

When the population of the County has already declined by over one fourth, it makes no sense for government, schools, and public infrastructure to expand.

We need a graceful way to contract.