Budgetmakers See

Higher Taxes Next Year

By Steve Bigham

Town officials this week are telling Newtown residents not to be surprised to see next year’s budget proposal reflect an increase in the tax rate of two mills or more.

Legislative Council Chairman Pierre Rochman, who prides himself on his conservative views on financing, this week said a two-mill increase in next year’s budget is likely.

“I’d be surprised if we can hold it down to two mills. I have to let people know that it is not prudent or reasonable to expect the kind of one mill increases that we’ve seen the past three to four years,” Mr Rochman said Wednesday.

Bonding for the proposed 5/6 school and Board of Education salary increases each represent a projected increase of an additional one million dollars over last year’s budget. In addition, there are the costs associated with the purchase of Fairfield Hills, as well as the usual increase in operating costs for both the town and schools.

“Right now, we’re looking at a four to five mill increase, which, of course, is not acceptable. But I don’t think we can keep the increase anywhere near as low as we did last year if we are serious about Fairfield Hills and the 5/6 school,” Mr Rochman added. “We’re doing things this year that we’ve never seen before. If we decide not to do the school or buy Fairfield Hills, I’m going to go for a zero mill increase, but I think people do want those things, and we have to pay the price.”

Adding to what should be a very difficult budget process is an economy that has slowed down considerably. This fact has everyone on the council concerned, particularly finance committee chairman John Kortze.

“The town has had a cushion of revenue the past few years. However, that luxury may no longer be there if the economy is slowing,” he said.

The slowing economy is already starting to affect the way some residents think about spending their tax money – Fairfield Hills included. In a letter to The Bee this week, resident Christian Deschermeier made that point.

“I continue to be disappointed in reading how willing a group of people are to spend our money,” he wrote. “Fairfield Hills is being offered at $5.5 million. Rest assured that will just be the beginning of the spending. Asbestos, renovations, and building code corrections are just a few examples of how the $5.5 million will only be the tip of the iceberg. A town that is already one of the highest indebted towns in the state has no business going deeper in debt, especially for something like this.”