DANBURY — Newtown residents are among those directly involved with Amos House, a nonprofit organization in Danbury dedicated to ending the cycle of homelessness...
To the Editor:
It is that time of year again when the local unit of the Salvation Army will be setting up kettles and ringing the bells to raise money for our f...
To the Editor:
As a proud Second Amendment gun owner, I write in support of the three proposed gun ordinances being presented to the Legislative Council. 70 per...
Lenox, Mass., resident Jean Mary Peters (Sturges, Sheldon) Stempel passed away on Tuesday, November 24, at 94 years old. She was an example of tenacity and inde...
Occupation: I’m the proud owner of Main Street Adventures here in Newtown. Main Street Adventures is an indoor playscape for children. I organize private pl...
Each week we compile a list of the most-read stories published at newtownbee.com. Here is a roundup of the week’s top five stories, based on the number of page ...
The question of constitutionality and enforceability are both on the table Wednesday, December 2, as the Legislative Council gathers at 7:30 pm to consider whet...
Valerie C. Ide passed away peacefully on Monday, November 23, from natural causes. She was born on March 9, 1936, in Teddington, England.
She is survived by her...
Lynn Nespoli Lewis, age 48, passed away unexpectedly on December 1, at Yale University Hospital. Lynn was the beloved wife of Allan for 24 years, and mother to ...
The local branch of the Salvation Army is seeking volunteers to sign up for bell ringing this holiday season. Register at SignUpGenius at bit.ly/2020bells or co...
The issue is not that our taxes will go up. The issue is that the assessment came at a time when the pandemic brought folks to Newtown in a frenzy to buy small houses (like mine <2000 sq ft). 13 houses on my street with long time residents sold in less than 2 days each with most getting more than asking. And these 'comps' were used for my assessment (42% increase). Now that the market has stalled, housing prices have dropped dramatically. We will pay increased taxes for the next 5 years until the next assessment corrects this anomaly. And wait for the car tax! Not to mention the 'R' word.
I hope that concerned folks will focus on the budget that we vote to approve each year. It is the primary determinant of the taxes we pay. Assessments are, in a way, the distribution or redistribution of that tax burden across taxpayers based on the value of their homes. Even if there were no revaluation taking place, we would be paying more tax because we voted for an increased budget. The only other offset would be a meaningful increase in businesses or new homes providing additional tax revenues. As I understand it, the mil rate will adjust based on valuations (grand list) to provide the budget we vote for. Taxes will go up until we spend less or get more revenue from new sources.
Editor's Note: It should also be pointed out that NYA (and NVAC) built their own building — which has a footprint larger than Newsylum, Parent Connection, and the Ambulance headquarters combined — that each of the latter organizations also contributed their own significant funds to their construction and improvement projects; and that Newsylum and the Parent Connection both improved existing abandoned buildings that may have otherwise continued to be unused and deteriorating.
