To the Editor:

Will the last person leaving Connecticut please turn off the lights? In perhaps his most dishonest budget presentation ever, (and that's saying something) Gov Dannel Malloy has instituted perhaps the cruelest tax of all because in one fell swoop he has destroyed millions of dollars in home valuations in Newtown alone by shifting costs onto the rolls of property taxes. The amount of aid reduction and expense transfer from the state to our town in just one year is almost $5,000,000. The associated decline of property values in state towns will now be measured in billions.

In my tenure on the Board of Finance we regularly had lengthy discussions and referendums over a few hundred thousand dollars during our annual budget. What's worse about Malloy's budget is that the negative effects on our town are going to recur every year without end. To those who are on fixed incomes, you are out of luck because property taxes will increase dramatically, cutting into whatever disposable income you have left. To those whose property values have little or no equity, you will now have negative equity. Look for foreclosures and abandoned properties to increase because of this budget. Look also for remaining businesses and many residents to leave as quickly as possible, and, to any business who might consider relocating to CT, you'd better look at plan B because CT is going to remain dead last in almost every tax metric.

Without any changes to the town's annual budget currently on the table and Gov Malloy's latest proposal, our town budget will increase by over 6 percent, and all of it will be passed to property owners. The enormity of the effect on property values cannot be overstated. Look for a mill rate approaching 40 this year and well over that next year after revaluation.

The most troubling aspect of all is that far from arresting the direction of decline in the state, this budget will actually accelerate the decline in all phases of life in the state. The average citizen will be poorer and the quality of life will decline. Home equity will be largely destroyed for the typical homeowner and quality jobs will relocate elsewhere. Particularly bothersome is the effect on our fund balance. For years we strived to increase it in order to obtain a AAA bond rating and the associated interest savings on future capital projects. By transferring state costs to the towns, the state is in effect borrowing on our credit and jeopardizing our bond rating in the process.

Finally, there will not be anything near the $1.5B in state public sector union concessions projected in the budget which means the cost shifting has not come close to ending unless there is another large income tax; but Gov. Malloy said that was off the table. Is there anyone left in Newtown that believes him anymore?

Sincerely,

Joe Kearney

9 Daniels Hill Road, Newtown          February 8, 2017