From:
Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Website: ctact.org
860-528-0323
April 21, 2004
SPECIAL
EDITION:
As we enter this budget season, again, Donna McCalla of Hebron Dollars & Sense is doing an
outstanding job on compiling information on tax and budget proposals and
adoptions by the towns and cities throughout Connecticut. Please refer to her comments below and the
attachment which should be opened in Excel.
If you cannot open, contact me at fctopresident@ctact.org and I will
send it to you.
Also, a special thank you to Jim Mathias
and Peter Arcidiacono for inviting me to participate in their
Taxpayers Meeting last week. They
and their tax group, Common Sense of East Hampton are doing an
outstanding job. Keep up the good work,
Jim and Pete.
WELCOME TO THE 28th EDITION OF
TAX
TALK
Your update on what others are thinking, doing, and planning
Send your comments or questions to me, and
I will include in next week's publication.
Please note that TAX TALK is now on our Website
Susan Kniep, fctopresident@ctact.org
Subject: Susan Kniep to Partcipate in Forum Sponsored by New London Day on Sprawl and Property
Tax Reform
April 20, 2004
The New London Day invited me to participate in a
Panel Discussion on the issue of Sprawl and Property Tax Reform on April 27 at 2 PM at the Public Library in New London at the
corner of Huntington and State
Streets. The Day also requested that I
provide them with an 800+ word op ed piece on this
issue which is scheduled to appear in their May 9 edition. I will post on our website ctact.org
following this date.
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Pat Spring, SpringFrnk@aol.com
Tax Group:
Taxpayers for Berlin
Subject:
Taxpayers for Berlin
to Oppose Budget Increase
April 20, 2004
Hi Sue, Just wanted you to
know that we had a Taxpayers for Berlin meeting
last Thursday, the 15th, We voted to oppose the tax increase of
2.13 mills in the upcoming referendum on April 27th. Too
much. After the near riot we had last year with revaluation and
the Board of Ed. pulling all sorts of stunts, we lost by 23 votes, so we hope
to win this year. Will be making phone calls to urge a "no"
vote. Pat Spring--Taxpayers for
Berlin
***********************************************************************Donna McCalla, CTJodi146@al.com
Tax Group: Hebron Dollars and Sense
Website: www.HebronDollarsandSense.com
Subject:
Connecticut Municipal
Tax Increase Comparisons for 2004
April 21, 2004
Congratulations, Thank You, Super Job to Donna McCalla who puts her time and effort into compiling
valuable information on Town and Board of Education Budgets throughout
the State. Please refer to Donna's comments below and the attachment
which should be opened in excel. Also, if you have information on
your town, you may wish to communicate with Donna directly at the email address
CTJodi146@al.com. Susan Kniep
A Message from Donna:
Hello, all. I am attaching the first version of the
spreadsheet comparing proposed Connecticut municipal tax
increases for FY 2004-05. At this point, I have about half of the towns
reporting; this is actually better than the data I had at this time last
year.
As you will note, the spreadsheet is different from last
year. I include a column for the FY 2003-04 final budget numbers, for
easier comparison. Also, in the Notes section, I am trying to document
actual mill rates in order to expand the data base for next year.
Finally, I have included an additional worksheet showing last year's results,
including all multiple referendums, also for comparative purposes.
Note that the statewide average, for the 90 reporting
towns, of proposed tax increases is 6.19%. The numbers from Thompson
and Preston are not sustainable, and I regressed them, for a new average of 5.78% average proposed
tax increase statewide. To add some validity, I also regressed
the top five proposed increases and the bottom five proposed increases,
resulting in a statewide projected average tax increase of 5.76%. To
further confirm, I regressed the top ten proposed increases and the bottom 10
proposed increases, resulting in a statewide projected average tax increase of
5.69%. At this point, I think that the data ultimately supports a
projected statewide average tax increase around the 5.75% level. What
could that mean? Historically, towns that propose a lower-than-statewide
average have a far better chance of passage, although fiscal pressures are
growing, especially in personal (consumer) debt, job out-migration, continued
erosion of state aid to cities and towns, and those pesky unfunded mandates at
the state and federal levels that are plaguing all Connecticut towns.
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The 5.75% projected average state tax
increase is much higher than last year's average statewide tax increase of
4.92%, and signals a variety of factors, most importantly reduction in state
funding.
I have prepared the first edition of the CT Budget Watch
List, which a few weeks ago was comprised of 48 towns. Using this new
data, I will reassess the Watch List and issue the first edition this
weekend. I expect the number of towns on the Watch List to drop to about
30-35, using the 5.75% projected state number. Also, this is probably the
most important week in terms of final decisions by funding authorities, so a
lot may change between now and Sunday.
Lastly, I am finalizing the lastest CT Education Budgets Analysis, which I hope
to release in a couple of days. As funding authorities finalize spending
levels, you will see that the statewide average of education funding has
changed from the 3.5% recommended increase in March to an average
4.54% approved increase in April. While some towns are facing
challenges of "VNTL campaigns" ("Vote No, Too Low"),
historically VNTL campaigns always fail. It will be interesting to follow
towns in which residents pursue a VNTL strategy.
Any questions (or updates or corrections to the attached
spreadsheet), please contact me at this email address. Thanks,
Donna
To date, we have 7 passed budgets and 1 defeated budget (Monroe). Notice
that the passed budgets are by and large equally divided between quite low tax
increases and increases that follow the statewide average to date.
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Len Chaponis, chaponis2@yahoo.com
Tax Group: CPOA, New Britain
Subject: Hartford’s
Mayor Wants Homestead Exemption or
Will Look to Unions in Budget Formation
April 16, 2004
To Susan Kniep, President of
FCTO: Hartford's Mayor Eddie A. Perez has stated in the Hartford Courant that
the sacred cows of education, fire and police would be on the table -if Perez
did not win legislative authorization to ease the homeowners tax hike in
Hartford. An Act concerning a Homestead
Exemption and Differential Property Tax Bill. Printed below is Tax Relief -The "Homestead
Exemption"
Bill for the City of Hartford, CT.
REPORT ON BILLS FAVORABLY REPORTED BY COMMITTEE
COMMITTEE: Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee
File No.: Bill No. SB-598; PH Date: 3/15/2004; Action/Date:
JFS 3/29/04
Reference Change: TITLE OF BILL: NEW TITLE AND CONTENT
AN ACT CONCERNING A HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION AND
DIFFERENTIAL PROPERTY TAX ON VACANT LAND.
SPONSORS OF BILL: FINANCE,REVENUE AND BONDING
COMMITTEE, SENATOR FONFARA;
REASONS FOR BILL: The substitute bill would allow
municipalities with
the vote of their legislative body to establish a residential property tax
relief program that would be funded by a tax surcharge on other types of
property.
This bill as amended would exempt up to half the assessed value, up to
$150,000, on owner-occupied housing with up to 3 units. A surcharge of up to
twice
the property tax is placed on vacant land that has no buildings or structures
except for public parks or land designated as open space, forest land, or
farmland under Chapter 203 of C.G.S.
*********************************************************************
Susan Kniep, fctopresident@ctact.org
Subject: Editorial Writer for New Jersey Newspaper Looking for
Information
April 20, 2004
I received the
following request. Prior to my
responding please email me your comments.
Susan
Hello,
I'm an editorial writer for The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., where
we are trying to cut property taxes. I wondered if you could give me some
history on how Connecticut abolished
county government, and how much money
that might have saved. We are considering doing the same thing here.
Thank you,
Paul Wyckoff, PWYCKOFF@STARLEDGER.COM
The Star-Ledger
Newark, N.J. 07102
973-392-4159
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