SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The town of Ripton missed out on thousands of dollars in state aid in fiscal 1984 because Massachusetts revenue officials could not find the community on the map.
But the officials had the perfect excuse: Ripton doesn't exist.
Nevertheless, the mythical community was listed in the fiscal 1984 state budget to receive $150,000 in local aid.
The listing was a joke played on a former top legislative budget writer by his staff.
'Some of the staff members thought they would play a joke on the chairman,' said Rep. Michael Creedon, a former House Ways and Means Committee chairman. 'I think it's great. I think it's a riot.'
The aid allocation was signed by Gov. Michael Dukakis, but never paid because the Department of Revenue, which makes out the checks, could not find the town on the map.
The mythical town surfaced again this week when the Air Force and some state officials received a letter from 'Robbins Phillips,' purported chairman of the Ripton Board of Selectmen.
The letter said Ripton would welcome an Air Force-proposed 'antenna farm' adamantly opposed by residents of Hawley, the tiny town western Massachusetts town targeted for the project.
