From: Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Website: http://ctact.org/
email: fctopresident@ctact.org
860-524-6501
May 5, 2004
Review
Previous Tax Talk Issues on our Website at http://ctact.org/
WELCOME TO THE 49th EDITION OF
TAX TALK
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ANOTHER SPECIAL THANK YOU TO
DONNA
MCCALLA
A
sincere thank you to Donna McCalla
of Hebron
Dollars and Sense for updating the
comparisons of tax increases throughout Connecticut. Please read Donna’s comments below. The attached worksheet is in Excel. Susan Kniep
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WASHINGTON, DC
Websites to Help you Research Congressional
Information
Senators of the 109th Congress http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Learn All About Congress and What
they have done and are doing in Washington http://thomas.loc.gov/
Research Congressional Happenings by Day http://clerk.house.gov/floorsummary/floor.html
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FCTO
CONGRATULATES GOVERNOR RELL!
Governor Rell is to be
congratulated in her endeavor to curb the corruption in our State government
through implementing the following procedures for securing state and municipal
contracts.
State’s Contract Portal Continues to Grow
State Agencies, Towns and Schools Are Posting
Bids Online;
Process is Saving Money and Time
Governor Rell announced today that
all of Connecticut’s state agencies,
along with 77 municipalities, 27 non-profit agencies, and 34 public schools and
Boards of Education have enrolled to post bid information on the state’s
Internet site for public contracts. The move to online posting of
contract information is expected to save taxpayers at least $300,000 a year
through reduced costs for copying, mailing and legal notices. The state’s
contract portal, located on the Department of Administrative Services’ (DAS)
website at http://www.das.state.ct.us/, was created in December by Governor Rell’s
Executive Order No. 3. “We are making
steady, solid progress toward transparency and fairness,” Governor Rell said. “Having contract details out in the open
is critical if we truly want universal availability and accessibility.
What we are striving for is an even playing field for everyone. The
bottom line: More bidders mean more competition and that means better prices
for Connecticut taxpayers. “The purpose of my Executive Order was to
eliminate corruption and favoritism in the awarding of state contracts, and I
am pleased to see state agencies posting their contract information for
everyone to see,” Governor Rell said. “Over
200,000 e-mail notices are sent monthly to the 17,000 suppliers registered to
receive bid notifications. The previous process, which could take up to
two weeks, is now accomplished in a mere 30 minutes.” To date, DAS has trained employees
at all state agencies to post contract information on-line, including employees
of the Department of Transportation, Department of Labor, Department of Public
Health and the Department of Social Services. “We now automatically send e-alerts to
registered bidders as soon as bid opportunities are posted,” Governor Rell said. “Bids remain accessible on the site from
the day they are posted until the bids open – typically three to four weeks –
resulting in a completely open and public procurement process. This compares to
the previous method of publishing a legal notice in newspapers for each
contract for just one day.” Another
feature, believed to be unique to Connecticut, is the promotion
of the state’s Supplier Diversity Program to newly registered bidders.
“As new Connecticut-based firms register, they receive an on-line message
describing the Supplier Diversity Program and inviting them to certify,”
Governor Rell said. “Since the Supplier
Diversity Program feature was introduced in January 2005, more than 275
suppliers have requested application materials and many are in the process of
becoming certified.” More than 200
entities, including state government agencies, municipalities, schools and
not-for-profits, are currently using the portal for bid posting and notification. “We in the Department of Environmental
Protection have been using the DAS bid portal from its inception and have found
it to be an invaluable tool,” state employee Vic Massi
said. “We are able to post bids immediately, it is very user-friendly and
we are receiving a greater response than using other forms of advertising.
In the future, we anticipate using this portal for all contracts and
personal service agreements in the agency rather than just for procurements as
we do now.” Interested bidders can view
all open contracts and contact DAS’ Procurement Office with questions on how to
bid on state contracts.
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Ed Stedman, Steddot@aol.com
Monroe Taxpayers and
Voters Association
Re:
Budget Defeated
April 26, 2005
Hi Susan,
We had a referendum vote on our budget on Tuesday, April 26, 2005 and it was
defeated by a vote of 2336 NO, l664 YES. The voter
turnout was 31% which was the usual. The
high costs of the Bd. of Ed along with lack of control and complete autonomy is responsible for the defeat. We
will be going for a third referendum. Ed
Stedman
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From: Pgagnon01@aol.com
Keep up the fantastic effort!
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John Durand, JohnD@leed-himmel.com
Tolland Taxpayers Association
RE: Tolland Budget and Donna McCalla’s
Valuable List of Tax Increases
April 27, 2005
Tolland Taxpayers Assoc. is grateful for all the hard work
and the very
valuable data. FYI, we've taken a slightly
different approach this year. Because
it's a reval year, we told the council
that we will be looking at Spending $ change and Tax Levy change. Mil
rate change is going to be ignored due to the fact that they did not produce a
mil rate adjusted for reval only in time. The
proposed budget going to referendum Tues. May 3rd is a 6.4% spending increase
and 8.3% Tax Levy increase. 1997 to 2005, ( eight
years ) Tolland has had a population growth of 24.7% and a Tax Levy growth of
100.8%. We are starting to look hard at grand list, population and Levy growth
rates as indicators of spending reasonableness or excess. John Durand
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webmaster@hebrondollarsandsense.com
Subject: RHAM and Hebron Budget Referendum
Results
May 3, 2005
The Hebron
town budget has failed by 376 votes. 520 residents voted Yes; 896 voted
No. This does not include absentee ballots, which were not yet available
at the time we left the polling station.
The Hebron
CIP budget has failed by 247 votes. 579 residents voted Yes; 826 voted
No. This does not include absentee ballots, which were not yet available
at the time we left the polling station.
The RHAM budget has failed by 622 votes.
The final vote tally, by town, was as follows:
Hebron
Yes
= 483 No = 969 ** does not include absentee
ballots
Andover
Yes = 111
No = 290
Marlborough
Yes = 358 No = 315
Total Yes = 952 No =
1,574
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Donna McCalla, CTJodi146@aol.com
Hebron Dollars and Sense
Another Update: CT Tax Increase
Comparison Spreadsheet
May 4, 2005
Again, a sincere thank you to Donna McCalla for updating the attached worksheet. I have heard from many this is a very
valuable document and relied upon for comparison. The attached worksheet is in Excel. Susan Kniep
A Message from Donna McCalla
Hi,
all. After yesterday’s numerous budget
votes, I have compiled all the results based on the information received. Based on that information, to date, we have
28 passed budgets in Connecticut, and we have 15
defeated budgets. Two of those defeated
budgets are facing Round Three (Plainville and Monroe.) Of the 17 regional school districts, we have
6 defeated budgets, and 8 passed budgets.
As you will see from the various views of the data, a few things have
changed. The average of all proposed
budgets (including those on the second or third round) is now at 5.08%. The average of all budgets (both passed, defeated and still on the table) with the five
highest and five lowest factored out is 4.97%; and the average of those same
budget numbers with the 10 highest and 10 lowest factored out is 5% on the
nose. Interestingly, if I factor out the
defeated budget numbers, the average proposed tax increase in Connecticut is now at
4.92%. Please keep in mind that the data
is based on tax increases (which factors in revenue changes, including the use
of fund balance to offset tax increases, etc.) rather than spending
increases. Of the 28 passed budgets, the
average tax increase is 4.35%, but the vast majority of those passed budgets is
correlated directly to the “method of voting”, which at this point is being
strongly influenced by towns in which the funding authority is a Town Council,
a BET, a BAT, or an RTM. Of the 15
failed budgets, the average failed budget is 6.37% increase. The failed budgets are likewise primarily in
those towns that have referendums as the charter-designated method of
voting. It appears that the magic
number this year is 5%, slightly lower than the original prediction a
month ago, although even that is not completely guaranteed as some falling
slightly below that number are failing, and some over that number are
passing. That’s to be expected, and in
those situations, the second tier of consideration is tax increase history, followed
by revaluations. Per capita income seems
to hold no significant consideration in outcome, as “wealthier” towns (as
defined by per capita income) are voting down budgets equally to “less
affluent” towns (as defined by per capita income.)
In next year’s data, I want to provide a mill rate history
tab, and have just received the final [missing] piece of the puzzle today from
the state; otherwise, I would have included this year. I have yet to figure out an efficient way to
present the Yes Vote/No Vote data history (which is in
the "Notes" column). The margins are acutally quite important, and are used in an algorithm
to predict success or failure of subsequent budget votes once a budget has been
defeated. I will also be tracking the "VNTL"
("Vote No Too Low") campaigns as I've done in the past two
years, but expect no significant difference from previous results. Bethel and Plainville (and perhaps to a
small extent Hebron and Region 8)
have VNTL campaigns going on now. Any
questions or corrections to the figures, please let me
know. Thanks, Donna
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Dowd Muska, dowdmuska@cox.net
Yankee Institute for Public Policy
Philip Gressel Center for Tax and
Budget Policy
May 2, 2005
Subject: Tax Freedom Day Arrives -- Finally
Think Tank Comments on State's Immense Tax Burden, Issues New Guide to Connecticut Taxation
Hartford, May 2, 2005 -- On the eve of Connecticut's Tax
Freedom Day -- the date on which the Tax Foundation estimates state residents
stop working for government at the federal, state, and local levels -- D. Dowd Muska, the Yankee Institute's Philip Gressel
Fellow for Tax and Budget Policy, offered the following statement: When the Nutmeg State's taxpayers head off to
work tomorrow, they'll finally start earning income that they can keep for
themselves. Over 120 days into 2005, Connecticut's Tax Freedom Day
has finally arrived -- later than it did in the other 49 states. Our state's tax burden is a bipartisan
scandal. For decades, elected officials from both major political parties have
raised taxes and fees to the point where the Nutmeg State faces the
heaviest tax burden in the nation. Politicians in Washington, Hartford, and your home
town have consistently chosen to make government bigger and broader, and then
passed the bill on to you. The lateness
of Tax Freedom Day in Connecticut is not due merely
to the confiscatory federal income taxes assessed on Connecticut's high-income
earners. The combined state-local tax burden for Connecticut is now the 12th
highest in the nation. It's outrageous
that Connecticut, a wealthy state where problems such as poverty, crime, and
lack of health insurance are all well below national averages, taxes its
citizens to support a state budget that in inflation-adjusted, per capita terms
has grown by more than 440 percent since 1970. But let's not forget the local level. Connecticut's property
taxpayers are burdened by both unfunded state mandates that drive up the cost
of municipal government and local officials who constantly search for new ways
to boost their towns' budgets. Unjustified
school spending, absurd bonding commitments, generous compensation packages to
government employees, massive corporate welfare, and outrageous subsidies to
the arts are rampant at the state and local level. Until unnecessary spending
is curbed -- and unneeded programs and agencies eliminated -- tax freedom in Connecticut will continue to
arrive far too late in the year. If Connecticut's economy were
booming, our heavy tax burden might be easier to bear. Unfortunately, Connecticut suffers from the
worst of both worlds: an unfair tax burden and a sluggish economy. That should come as no surprise. Research
consistently shows that high taxes retard economic growth and drive companies
and residents into other jurisdictions. onnecticut's
tax burden is not the result of evil people, but bad policies based on
misguided ideas and assumptions. Happily, there are alternatives to the Nutmeg State's high
taxes and stagnant economy. Free-market,
pro-growth policies have proven their effectiveness in other states and around
the world. It is possible to lower taxes and reduce government spending, while
maintaining the necessary and legitimate functions of the public sector. The
Yankee Institute exists to document these ideas and reforms, and apply them to
the Nutmeg State. Connecticut's hardworking taxpayers deserve
fundamental reform of the way governments at the local, state, and federal
levels fund their activities. It's a disgrace that our state faces the heaviest
tax burden in the nation. Today the
Yankee Institute announces the release of its first "Fiscal Focus," a
new and easy-to-use tool for taxpayers, elected officials, and members of the media.
"Fiscal Focus" is designed to describe, in simple language and
numbers, the tax and spending policies that damage economic freedom in Connecticut. To download a copy of the Fiscal Focus "Connecticut's Tax Burden: An
Overview," visit the Yankee Institute's website at www.yankeeinstitute.org. D. Dowd Muska can be contacted at (860) 729-1262 and dowd@yankeeinstitute.org.
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TODAY’S NEWS: A
brief summary is offered below.
Understanding that our lives are influenced by world events, FCTO
provides interesting news articles on global and national issues. Is there an interesting article you would
like us to include in our next Tax Talk publication? Send it to fctopresident@ctact.org.
Report slams cities, towns for poor ethics
codes
April 27, 2005, Associated Press
http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/local/state/hc-26172820.apds.m0705.bc-ct-xgr--apr26,0,7917020.story?coll=hc-headlines-local-wire
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For those who follow Ralph Nader,
the following website will be of interest
http://www.citizen.org/about/
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2 Bills To
Close Ethics Loopholes Advance
Adjustments Required Before Full House Acts
April 30, 2005
By BILL LEUKHARDT, Courant Staff Writer
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-judic0430.artapr30,0,7748224.story
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Horror Of Depleted Uranium Not Limited To Iraq
By James DenverMARIN COUNTY'S NEWS MONTHLY - FREE
PRESS
(415)868-1600 - (415)868-0502(fax) - P.O. Box 31, Bolinas, CA, 94924 April, 2005
http://www.coastalpost.com/05/04/09.htm
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U.S.
agents seize files at city offices
More than a year after federal officials began investigating
Chicago's
scandal-ridden Hired Truck Program, the probe has reached the office of Mayor
Richard Daley.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0505010303may01,1,413625.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
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