Misconceptions About The Budget

To the Editor:

On next Tuesday, May 30, we will get another opportunity to vote on the town’s annual budget expenditures. I hope that you will be able to join me in voting for this budget. Regardless of whether you are for or against the budget, I urge you to vote. In the first two referenda, 78 percent and 70 percent of registered voters did not vote. If eligible property owners are considered, the percentage of nonvoters is even higher. There is no other vote we can cast that more directly affects us and our neighbors either in the taxes we pay or the services that we will or will not receive.

I certainly appreciate the concerns that voters have expressed about the impact of rising taxes, particularly on the elderly and others on fixed incomes. I share those concerns. This is not unique to Newtown. Connecticut is one of the most property tax-dependent states in the country for funding local services. For Newtown, 83 percent of our revenues come from the annual property tax levy. I have been working at the state level both with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) where I am currently president, and with the Council of Small Towns (COST) where I am a board member, to find ways to lower the burden on residential and small business property taxpayers.

Be that as it may, the current reality is that we have only one primary way to fund the services our citizens expect and require, the annual property tax. While I can assure you that the selectmen are doing our best to control costs in the one-third of the budget that we control, increases in three items alone, debt service ($539,000), utilities and vehicle fuel ($190,000), and state mandated property revaluation spread over two tax years to lessen the budgetary impact ($200,000) amount to almost 50 percent of the general government increase in spending. Without those items, our budget increase would be under three percent.

There are several comments that I have heard or received in writing that are misconceptions. The first is that we are proposing a ten percent increase in taxes. The actual increase in taxes will be 4.6 percent, slightly lower than last year’s increase.

Another comment is that the town is not doing anything about economic development. That is also false. We have added a number of new commercial buildings in the last few years and the Economic Development Commission is aggressively working to develop the lad off of Commerce Road and supporting the development of the Curtis Industrial Park and the retail developments on South Main Street in the vicinity of Sand Hill Plaza. In addition, despite the continuous loud opposition of a few people, the Fairfield Hills Authority is seeking compatible private development to help pay for activities at Fairfield Hills.

With regard to expanding our tax base, while it is essential and we are always working on it, we should not be deluded about its realistic impact on our taxes. It will take eight to ten developments the size of Sand Hill Plaza to reduce taxes by one mill. We would have to add that magnitude of development (eight to ten Sand Hill Plazas) each year to keep taxes from increasing.

Once again, please vote Tuesday, May 30, between 6 in the morning and 8 in the evening at the middle school.

Herbert C. Rosenthal

First Selectman

45 Main Street, Newtown                                            May 24, 2006