Officials Invite Taxpayer Questions, Extend Office Hours Ahead Of Fifth Referendum

By John Voket

It has been relatively quiet during the first couple of open office opportunities First Selectman Pat Llodra has offered to chat with taxpayers about their budget concerns or questions ahead of Newtown’s fifth-round budget referendum.

After four failed votes going back to late April, residents are called to the polls at Newtown Middle School again, Thursday, July 12, to endorse or reject the latest spending plan. That proposal requests $106,246,838, representing an overall tax increase of 0.69 percent, and would raise the mill rate from 24.37 to 24.54.

A mill represents one dollar for every $1,000 in taxable property.

Mrs Llodra told The Bee July 2 that her first weekend session one day earlier, which was also attended by Board of Education Chair Debbie Leidlein, saw no taxpayers.

“But I think that is because we only put out this extended office hours schedule late last Friday,” Mrs Llodra said of the June 29 announcement.

Another open office opportunity on the Fourth of July saw more than a half-dozen residents visit, according to Mrs Llodra. The first selectman also fielded several phone calls from taxpayers during the holiday session July 4.

The next open office session is Friday, July 6, from 5 to 6 pm. Mrs Llodra and other officials will also see taxpayers Saturday, July 7, from 2 to 3 pm; and each evening from Monday, July 9, through Wednesday, July 11, from 5 to 6:30 pm.

These open sessions will likely feature other officials including either the chairman or vice chair of the Legislative Council, the Board of Finance and/or the school board, according to the first selectman.

Mrs Llodra is also continuing to address specific questions that are coming to her directly from taxpayers who visit, e-mail, or call her office, as well as responding to those who posit about budget issues on local social networking sites.

The latest responses the first selectman is also posting under “Pat’s FAQs” on the town website, www.newtown-ct.gov, range from sending out supplemental tax bills, to the cost of, and need to maintain, winter salt reserves.

Supplemental Tax Bills?

One question relates to why the town is holding off on sending out tax bills with the 2011-12 rate of taxation, and then dispatching supplemental bills once a budget is passed.

Mrs Llodra responded that many property owners pay taxes through an escrow account provided by their mortgage provider.

“The mortgage banks will use the initial tax bill amount to calculate the tax payment paid to the Newtown tax collector,” she wrote. “The supplemental tax bill will also be sent to the mortgage bank. Our previous experience with this process led to confusion with the mortgage banks because they had to recalculate the tax escrow payment.”

This led to late tax payments and liens placed on properties, and it took many months, staff and mailing costs to make the situation right for the affected property owners.

During a brief Board of Selectmen meeting July 2, Selectman Will Rodgers, an attorney who handles real estate matters, said he recalled a similar situation in a neighboring town about a decade ago, and said in some cases tax discrepancies were showing up during closings years later.

Another concern is the 280 persons on the state elderly property tax credit program, Mrs Llodra explained.

“We will have to hold those tax bills until we get an adopted mill rate,” she said. “The state will not calculate the tax credit with last year’s mill rate [they require the adopted mill rate].”

Also, resulting supplemental bills for personal property taxes will be very small amounts.

“It is the tax collector’s policy not to send out tax bills less than $3 because it costs more to process and collect,” Mrs Llodra said. “These amounts will be collected if we wait for an adopted mill rate. Otherwise these small amounts add up to significant amounts, which would result in a loss of tax revenue to Newtown.”

Mrs Llodra said she had a taxpayer visit Monday asking why the town bonds payroll for municipal workers who participate on bonded capital projects. But the first selectman assured the resident that it is illegal to include payroll for town workers in bond resolutions — and that the individual had received misinformation.

She added, however, that in cases where bonding does not equal the final cost to complete a municipal project, town crews may be called in to supplement work — as was the case with the new animal control facility.

Winter Salt Solution

The first selectman also responded to comments posted on one or more social networking sites about the possibility of further reducing the budget by cutting winter road salt purchases. But according to the records of treated salt usage from the past few winters, even last year’s mild winter used about the same amount of salt as in previous years.

She noted that in the calendar year 2009, the town consumed 5,221 tons of treated salt; in 2010, crews used 4,866 tons; and in 2011, the town used 4,786 tons. Since January 1, town crews have already used 1,419 tons of treated salt.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said that each storm, regardless of its intensity, can consume 400 to 500 tons of treated salt to keep Newtown roadways safe. He said there are four classes of trucks outfitted for local salt and sand distribution, from pickups with sanders that hold half-a-ton per load, to the two largest classes of dump trucks that hold about eight tons per run and 18 to 20 tons per run, respectively.

“I don’t think people realize how many tons of salt we can burn through, even in a mild winter,” Mr Hurley said. He and Mrs Llodra have said they would prefer to budget for the correct amount of salt, or even for a slight surplus, rather than come back for an unbudgeted appropriation once the budget has been approved.

Newtown participates in a consortium of approximately 60 Connecticut towns in order to get best price in volume discounts on treated salt — which is required by the state environmental agency.

“Our price per ton is $80.37,” Mrs Llodra stated. “We have an inventory of tonnage left from our very mild winter of 2011-2012.” As a result, Newtown’s budget line for salt for this upcoming winter is $100,000 less than what was spent in 2010-2011.

“Hopefully, the inventory of salt will help us get through this coming winter season without having to make additional purchases beyond what is budgeted,” the first selectman said.