The Three Percent Solution

There are lots of numbers in the $104,453,615 budget that will go before the voters next Tuesday, April 27, and almost as many interpretations of what those numbers mean for Newtown. Then, there are the numbers that are not in the budget, like the $2.5 million in school expenditures removed by the Board of Finance, a cut subsequently sanctioned by the Legislative Council. But the number that sits squarely at the fulcrum between the pluses and minuses of this budget plan is three — three percent, that is.

Three percent is the amount the tax rate will rise if the proposed 2010-2011 budget is approved on Tuesday. In this economic environment, almost every household is keeping close watch on expenses, and most taxpayers have already run the calculation to determine just what that three percent means to them in dollars and cents. Like every other household expense, the cost must be weighed against the benefit, and it is this cost/benefit tug-of-war that has so strained Newtown’s body politic this year.

The Board of Education could not reach a consensus last week over whether it supported or opposed the proposed budget. And Independent Selectman William Furrier, who voted with his board to approve a $37,458,881 spending plan for the town side of the budget, said this week that he is urging people to reject the budget in Tuesday’s vote. Despite all the contention in wrestling this budget to the polls, Newtown’s elected representatives have gone to extraordinary lengths to hear every concern, address every question, and to open the books on every calculation and assumption that underpins the $100 million-plus they intend to spend on behalf of local taxpayers in the next fiscal year. Stories, videos, audio files, and supporting documents have piled up online at NewtownBee.com, giving voters more than enough source material to make an informed decision on Tuesday. In making that decision, we urge voters to keep three things in mind.

First, is a three percent tax hike something you can realistically afford? No one likes to pay taxes, especially when governments don’t seem to be making good choices with the money we already give them, but there are so many government-provided services, beyond the much-debated educational costs, that we take for granted — from roads and fire trucks to restaurant inspections and police protection. These services would be sorely missed if taxpayers collectively dug in their heels and refused to pay. Taxes are the price we pay for civilization.

Next, what happens if the budget is rejected? Are you prepared to live in a town with even fewer services — or, conversely, even higher taxes? In a sharply divided debate like the one surrounding this budget, where everyone claims to know “the will of the people,” a true reading of that will is almost impossible beyond the fact of a budget’s approval or rejection. Even The Bee’s effort to secure some sense of the electorate’s thinking through an online poll between now and Tuesday will, at best, reach only a small percentage of voters. The next budget could take an even less palatable turn, and the budget after that… and the budget after that.

Finally, it is no coincidence that after two years of approving budgets on the first try, Newtown’s bond rating has been boosted and interest rates lowered, saving the town millions in future borrowing costs. (Bond rating agencies like a stable political environment.) In the middle of the current fiscal year, the town was able cut its expenditures to meet anticipated revenue shortfalls largely because of savings in debt financing costs realized through lower interest rates. Mr Furrier asserted to the Legislative Council April 7 that these cuts were made easily — so easily that it was “an indication that there was padding in our budget.” In truth, those cuts were not nearly as facile as was the selectman’s off-hand comment. The declining interest rates available for Newtown’s capital projects are the result of a lot of hard work at holding the line on spending in order to present budgets that win taxpayer confidence and support.

We don’t believe Newtown voters are ready to abandon the fiscal conservatism of Newtown’s Board of Finance and Legislative Council, and we don’t believe these elected representatives are ready to abandon their commitment to supporting all of our town’s essential institutions through even the most challenging times. The number they have come up with — three percent — seems to strike the right balance.