Date: Mon 01-Jan-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

edink-surplus-council

Full Text:

Starting Off On The Right Foot

The new year began with some good news from the town's auditors: Newtown has

posted a $1,979,153 surplus for the 1994-95. In closing the books on the last

fiscal year, the auditors found that the town enjoyed good growth in its grand

list, improved its rate of tax collection, and benefitted from some good

investments, all of which combined to put Newtown solidly in the black.

Newtown has always been conservative in its budgeting practices, regardless of

which party has been in power. While some may argue that large surpluses are

an indication that townspeople are being overtaxed, the town has in recent

years been returning $600,000 of the surplus to the taxpayers through direct

tax rate reduction. The remainder has been set aside to pay for large,

nonrecurring expenses that ordinarily would cause the town's tax rate to

fluctuate more dramatically year to year. The practice has spared taxpayers

major surprises in their tax bills in recent years.

In deciding the disposition of this year's nearly $2 million surplus in the

1996-97 budget, we hope the Legislative Council gives careful consideration to

the effect revaluation will have on local taxpayers. The revaluation process

is not supposed to create dramatic changes in the amount homeowners and

businesses pay in taxes, but we won't know for sure until after the council

crunches the numbers for the 96-97 budget. If revaluation exacts too great a

toll on too great a portion of the taxpayers in town, a larger share of the

surplus should be used this year to ease the transition.