Opinion: Supporting new Old Colony is a no-brainer

To the Editor, Please vote “yes” for a new Old Colony Voc-Tech High School.

My wife and I are both in our 70s, property owners in Mattapoisett and on a fixed income.

My wife and I always want to see a bang for our tax dollar buck So, we are very interested in avoiding new tax debt for projects we deem to be costly and of dubious benefit to the town. Projects from town meetings or in this case a special election. This is not one of those projects.

Last vote Mattapoisett approved the new school, it was a no-brainer but unfortunately for we tax payers and future OC students the other towns did not. The state is going to pay $140 million toward a new building which will expand the shops, and increase enrollment from 560 students to 776 students.

Old Colony grads tend to stay in our communities and eventually become taxpayers. Each graduating class will be helping pay off the new school debt to the towns of $148 million when they become property owners. This school debt has an end date and our taxes will go back down.

The old school is in terrible shape, shops are small and crowded and many have to be brought up to code. So, this does not mean a “no” vote saves us taxpayers money. We will probably pay more over time for a patch job on the old building, without any state aid.

Old Colony grads have saved our towns thousands of tax dollars over the past decades completing projects in all of our towns. I have hired Old Colony grads for electrical and I bet you all have as well.

Ray Cabral

Mattapoisett