From: Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Website: http://ctact.org/
email: fctopresident@ctact.org
860-524-6501
February 10,
2005
Review
Previous Tax Talk Issues on our Website at http://ctact.org/
WELCOME TO THE 43rd EDITION OF
TAX TALK
This Tax Talk Publication is dedicated to Mike Guarco, Chairman of Granby’s Board of Finance, who has spearheaded efforts to
highlight and reform such labor mandates as binding arbitration and prevailing
wage.
Below Mike provides us with insight into their
success and recently reported that CBIA (http://www.cbia.com/home.htm ) is now
an “official supporter of the Municipal Consortium for Fiscal
Responsibility.” Congratulations
Mike! FCTO recognizes the efforts of all
who are working hard in response to FCTO’s initial
Resolution which we disseminated to the 169 towns in 2003 (located on our
website) encouraging change to the State’s antiquated Binding Arbitration Laws
which are having a deleterious effect upon municipal budgets and
taxpayers. Please read Mike’s
comments below.
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Mike Guarco, BudgetGuru06035
Chairman, Board of Finance, Granby
Subject:
Organizing Municipal Boards of Finance; Report on Municipal Consortium for
Fiscal Responsibility
Susan (Jan 19, 2005) I am forwarding an
update to you on two related developments: the evolution of a statewide
organization of Board of Finance Chairmen to seek common ground in tackling
issues of major concern, and, most importantly, an allied effort to
network and coordinate groups of towns and their advocacy agencies to form
a united front around a short common agenda..primarily focusing on the labor mandates of binding
arbitration and prevailing wage. All across this state, the laments from the
local elected officials are the same, in that significant ability to
control the expenditure side of local budgets is taken out of the hands of a
town's elected officials (and its taxpayers) by binding arbitration as malpracticed in CT. Minimally, we seek parity with the
state management rights...in returning to the local legislative body the
ability to reject a negotiated or arbitrated labor contract...thus sending it
back to negotiations. Now, it returns to arbitration reviewing the facts and
process...with virtually no change in any decision. As roughly 80% of the budget in a typical
town is composed of salary and benefits, this would restore a measure of
balance to a system that is out of control...and like a cancer...growing
unreasonably at the expense of programs...and the people those programs were
instituted to serve. Unchecked, binding arbitration and prevailing wage
provisions are two prime examples of why property tax increases have averaged
some 5-5.5% in the past couple of years...while overall statewide CCM reports
municipal employment is continually dropping.
Last summer a group of local elected officials, observing
our apparent presiding over the demise of our own local services and program,
felt that we needed to act to change the course being taken. Hence, two
efforts, that go hand in hand to challenge the status quo, and union domination
and control of the CT State legislature. A group
of us have begun organizing the approximately 118 Board of Finance Chairmen
into a network that can effectively work for change that we feel will benefit
the people of our towns, and our state. There is no statewide organization of
Finance Chairmen or Boards....yet. But we now have over half of them
loosely organized throughout 5 of the 8 counties (the Eastern CT group
with some 36 towns participating, 17 in the north-central Hartford
County area, and a dozen north of Waterbury) We seek to have all BOF chairs
participate...and welcome any leads from your membership to get their towns to
join
us.
Hand in hand with this recruitment of the Finance Chairs
has been the genesis of another network of the municipal advocacy agencies
- such as the Council of Small Towns, Conn Conference of
Municipalities, Ct Assn of Boards of Education, etc - and many towns, thru
their boards, in framing a common agenda for major labor mandate reform.
The network - the CT Municipal Consortium for Fiscal Responsibility - seeks to
unify not only the message of bringing expenditures under control, but also to
coordinate and promote actions designed to help return some fiscal sanity to
state and local government. We are asking for support from towns in this endeavour, and from interested allied parties, such as FCTO
and its affiliates. We believe that the broader and deeper the support, the
more credibility we will have in making our case, and the more strength we
will have in making our presence known. Therefor, we
seek endorsement: minimally the endorsement of a town's BOF chair,
better yet from the full Board of Finance, ant optimally from all 3 boards in a
town (BOF,BOS, and BOE). Engaging them all in that
same discussion tends, to some degree, to merge their interest in pursuing
these issues collectively.....and gives us an advantage in delivering a
rationale, consistent message that is soon to be,...across the boards...across
the parties...and across the state. Tonite the 3rd board in Granby backed the
consortium effort. That will occur week after week where we have
penetrated...raising conscious levels and picking up local press. Next
efforts include a press conference at the capitol...well-represented. As
more towns join us...and your members are encouraged to ask their own town
board members to support us by endorsement...we will begin shortly meeting with
the local legislators...stressing the need for change. Given the state budget deficit..tho they can't come up
with more state funding to meet their past commitments to the towns, they can
untie our hands by helping drop the slope of future cost increases...thru major
reform of binding arb and prevailing wage laws. The
support of FCTO, and its underlying taxpayers, is another key element in
spreading the word....in getting town boards to support the efforts of the
consortium...in getting finance chairs to join and support the network...and in
getting people to the capitol when appropriate bills are to be heard. Thank you
for your verbal support, and I trust we can count on your endorsement of our
efforts on behalf of the people of our state.
Mike Guarco - Granby's BOF Chairman
**********
Robert Young, ryoung0@snet.net
Wethersfield Taxpayers
Association
Subject: How Georgia’s
Constitution Addresses Eminent Domain -
(a) Pursuant to Article I, Section III, Paragraph I of the Constitution, the
General Assembly is authorized to determine what constitutes a public purpose
with respect to the power of eminent domain. A public purpose shall be as
defined by general law as provided by this Code, but
in no event shall a public purpose be construed to include the exercise of
eminent domain solely or primarily for the purpose of improving the tax base or
the purpose of economic development. This
shall include condemning property for the purpose of transferring such property
to a private developer, corporation, or other entity solely or primarily to
attempt to expand the tax base, increase the taxable value of the property, or
promote economic development
**********
Roland Fisher, rolandfisher@comcast.net
East Hartford Taxpayers Association
Subject: Top 100 Delinquent State Taxpayer Accounts
Connecticut General Statutes Section 12-7a
requires the Commissioner of Revenue Services to prepare and maintain a list of
delinquent state taxes unpaid for a period greater than 90 days after all appeal
rights have expired.
View Delinquent Taxpayers at the following website: http://www.ct.gov/drs/cwp/view.asp?a=1453&Q=266096
**********
Robert Young, ryoung0@snet.net
Wethersfield Taxpayers
Association
Subject: $93M Bounty
for State Employees?
FCTO is indebted to Bob Young for always keeping us current
on the issues. Please visit our website where we have posted our letter to
Governor Rell asking that consideration be given to
removing healthcare issues from Binding Arbitration. The following is an example why….
$93M Bounty for State Employees? Public defender leads the way in bid for piece of Anthem
conversion payout, Thomas B. Scheffey, The Connecticut
Law Tribune
02-02-2005….Unclear writing is a gold mine for lawyers.
And for some 30,000 state employees who had Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
health insurance during 2001, it could turn into a $93 million windfall.
Read entire article at … http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1107178526874
********
No Teacher
Left Behind
Wall Street Journal Article is found at the following
website
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110006192
Readers Comments
on the Above Article are located at the website which
follows http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/responses.html?article_id=110006192
**********
TODAY’S NEWS: Understanding that our lives are influenced by
world events, FCTO provides interesting news articles
on local, state, global and national issues.
Is there an article you would like us to include in our next Tax Talk
publication? Send it to fctopresident@ctact.org.
Winchester Rejects Budget, January 30,
2005, By GARRET CONDON, Courant Staff Writer WINSTED -- Winchester voters and property owners turned down a
proposed $26,912,444 town budget Saturday. It was the sixth referendum
rejecting a town budget since May. The vote was 939 in favor of the budget and
976 against. Article continued at this website ... http://www.courant.com/news/health/hc-winchestervote.artjan30,0,3059931.story
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Budget Carries Bush Stamp
Byword Is Efficiency; State Losing $97
Million
February 8, 2005, David Lightman, Washington Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON -- By
cutting and combining dozens of popular government programs, President Bush's
$2.57 trillion budget carries the distinct, personal imprint of a leader who
can finally claim a mandate to reshape government in fundamental ways. Article continued at the following
website: http://www.courant.com/hc-fedbudget0208.artfeb08,0,3866501.story
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Bush Aides Say Budget Deficit Will
Rise Again, NEW YORK
TIMES, Washington, By EDMUND L. ANDREWS, Published: January 26, 2005, THE WHITE HOUSE announced on Tuesday that the federal
budget deficit was expected to rise this year to $427 billion, a figure that
includes a new request from President Bush to help pay for the war in Iraq. Please refer to the following website for a
continuation of this article…. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/politics/26deficit.html
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U.S. tab for war closes in on $300B, Cost is
six times original estimate, TORONTO STAR, Tim Harper, Washington Bureau,January 26, 2005: WASHINGTON
- U.S. President George W. Bush will ask
Congress for another $80 billion for the war in Iraq, bringing the price tag
for that invasion and ongoing operations in Afghanistan close to $300 billion,
six times the original White House estimate.
Article continued at this website: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1106693414836&call_pageid=970599119419target+=\
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Thousands
of French protest longer working hours
MSN, PARIS, Feb
5 (Reuters) - Article
continued at this website: http://xtramsn.co.nz/business/0,,5086-4084555,00.html
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U.S. takes
border war on the road, Boats
being sunk near Ecuador, By
Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer,
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Read the full story at http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2004/US-War-Ecuador19dec04.htm
********
Oil-food program
- Annan chief of staff heading to Washington for talks with lawmakers; deputy resigns
UN News Program, 8
February 2005 –Continued at the
following website: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=13278&Cr=iraq&Cr1=oil
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