Westbrook Taxes: 2008 v. 1958

Below is a breakdown of how taxes were budgeted in Westbrook during 2008, compared to the way in which they were budgeted in 1958. The former figures are based on a January 2008 supplement in the American Journal, and the latter numbers have been culled from the City of Westbrook's 1958 annual report:

Education
2008: 52.6%
1958: 50.1%

Public Safety
2008: 14.5%
1958: 11.6%

Public Services
2008: 8%
1958: 16.6%

Administration
2008: 7.3%
1958: 2.8%

Debt
2008: 6.6%
1958: 5.3%

County Tax
2008: 3.1%
1958: 3.4%

Trash Collection
2008: 2.4%
1958: 1.5%

Recreation
2008: 1.6%
1958: .2%

Library
2008: 1.3%
1958: 1.2%

Miscellaneous
2008: .8%
1958: 2.8%

The 2008 expenditures contained categories referred to as Transit (1%) and Health (.8%) that could not be matched up with an equivalent in the 1958 output. And the 1958 expenditures had a category entitled Charities (3.3%) that could not be easily matched up with 2008.

- John C.L. Morgan