PERU – Calling the Palesky tax-cap proposal a disaster for small towns, selectmen have come out solidly against the referendum question and urged residents to vote against it in November.

In a press release issued Tuesday, selectmen said that if the proposal is passed, the tax rate of $15 per $1,000 valuation would be lowered to $10. In dollars and cents, that would be a reduction of about $350,000 for the town.

After paying for schools, that would leave about $100,000 to operate all other town services.

“We will have a choice: We can run our town office or plow our winter roads. There will not be enough money to do anything else, including road maintenance,” according to the statement.

It continues by citing the board’s belief that the Palesky tax-cap proposal is a radical solution to a serious problem.

“It is akin to amputating the whole leg because of an infected toe,” according to the statement. “There is a better solution. Leave the property tax alone and work on the Legislature to solve the problem where it must be solved, on the state level.”

Selectmen said the problem of high property taxes cannot be solved by limiting a community’s ability to pay for services by limiting revenue, or capping the tax rate.

“The people at the local level should make that decision,” according to the statement. “We urge you to vote no and spend your energy on working on the Legislature to truly solve the problem.”

Selectmen are Andre J. St. Pierre, Norman J. DeRoche Jr., James L. Pulsifer, Ronald L. Chartier and Kathy L. Hussey.