From Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Website: http://ctact.org/
email: fctopresident@aol.com
860-841-8032
September 20, 2006
WELCOME TO THE 86th EDITION OF
TAX TALK
FCTO Extends a
note of sincere appreciation to all who participated in our
Sept 9, 2006 forum to include Armand Fusco,
author of the book,
School
Corruption – Betrayal of Children and the
Public Trust; Mike Guarco, Finance Chair of Granby and leader of The Connecticut Municipal Consortium for Fiscal
Responsibility who informed us that
public officials from 100 towns have now signed on to challenge State
Mandates; Arlene Lucian of Waterbury who
spoke on The Impact of Group Homes on Residential Neighborhoods; and David Cronin of Naugatuck who spoke on
the Impact of Tax Incremental Financing on Local and State Taxpayers.
Armand’s book is a valuable tool in
understanding the impact of corruption on our tax dollars. Those wishing to purchase Armand’s book can
visit the following websites - http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-36557-4
or
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780595365579&itm=1
********
FCTO
also extends a special thank you to Susan Malinoski of Manchester
for sharing with us her editorial on Illegal
Immigration which appeared in the Journal
Inquirer Newspaper of Manchester. Please refer to Susan’s editorial below.
********
From: Marvin Edelman,
marvined@earthlink.net
Windham Taxpayers
Association, FCTO Board Member
Subject: Dr.
Armand Fusco will appear on Sept 20 on Charter Communications at 9 PM - Call in
to (860) 456-9150 to speak with Armand
From Marvin Edelman ….. Dr. Armand Fusco,
former Branford, CT, superintendent of schools, will be the featured guest on
Charter Communications cable television Channel 14 program “Eye on Windham” at 9 p.m.,
Wednesday, September 20, 2006. This is
the inaugural program in a series in which “Eye on Windham” will focus on the problems
confronting the local and national public school system, their causes, effects,
and remedies. Dr. Fusco is the author of
the recently published book, “School Corruption: Betrayal of Children and the Public Trust,” in which he charges that there is no school
district in the country that is exempt from financial waste and mismanagement,
fraud and stealing, and cheating and deceit by school board members,
administrators, teachers, and state and federal education officials.
********
TAKE ACTION TODAY
From: MikeTelesca, Teleman2@aol.com
Waterbury, FCTO Board
Member
If you haven't seen this yet. Check
out New Jersey
Eminent Domain Law Blog: Eminent Domain: Property Rights
Eminent Domain: Property
Rights Act of 2006
Just in the
nick of time, and two weeks before the United States Senate will adjourn, Senator James Inhofe (Republican, Oklahoma) introduced the "Property Rights
Protection Act of 2006" (S3878). The bill is the same as H.R.
4128 which was passed by the House of Representatives in 2005 (325 affirmative votes to 38). H.R. 4128 has been
dormant in the Senate Judiciary Committee, despite the efforts
of many property reform groups to see some
action.
The new
bill, S3878, will go directly to the floor of the Senate, requiring Senator
Majority Leader Bill Frist to put eminent domain reform on the agenda. Other
Republicans, including Arlen Specter, Bill Frist
and President
George Bush are missing in action on this
issue. Eminent Domain reform is an important issue nationwide and will not go
away.
To write or
email your senators on this issue click here. You have less than 10 days to act.
Continue to read the full text of the bill. Click
here: New Jersey Eminent Domain Law Blog: Eminent Domain: Property Rights Act
of 2006
********
A MUST
READ …
Soaring property taxes elicit backlash among homeowners http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-08-24-property-taxes-idaho_x.htm
States
attack property taxes
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-08-24-states-property-taxes_x.htm
********
From Pat Snyder, Snyderpate@aol.com,
Arizona
WASHINGTON - A Minnesota district court has been asked to
order U.S. Bank to release $2 million of bond proceeds from a 2002 Manitowoc,
Wis., Community Development Authority deal to settle one of the most abusive
arbitrage schemes unearthed by the Internal Revenue Service in recent years,
according to documents filed in the case.
http://www.bondbuyer.com/article.html?id=20060913724Z3KSY&from=newsmail
********
Click to View Article - Stafford
voters, on fifth try, approve 2006-07 budget
STAFFORD - Voters at referendum Wednesday approved the
town's latest 2006-07 budget proposal by a vote of 1,140 to 983. Turnout was
roughly 28 percent, according to town officials.
********
From: Doug Schwartz, thedougschwartz@gmail.com , New London
Business as Usual, September 13, 2006
Rell Receives $175,000 from more than 200
individuals employed by State Contractors……
(click to read) Rell
campaign defends fundraising pledge
By Don Michak, Journal Inquirer - Gov. M. Jodi Rell - whose
office only last weekend issued a statement declaring that she wasn't accepting
campaign contributions from state contractors and lobbyists - has received a
total of at least $175,000 from more than 200 individuals employed by state
contractors and two others identified themselves
as lobbyists, state records show.
********
Illegal Immigration
By Susan Malinoski of Manchester
Editorial appeared in Journal Inquirer Newspaper of Manchester
What is it
about the word "illegal" in reference to immigration that many people
do not understand??? We live in a country of laws and rules and some of
these pertain to immigration.
After
reading the June 12, 2006 article about Sait Perez a number of questions came
to mind. Sait Perez is a brave young man who at age 14 undertook a
perilous journey from Mexico
to the United States
without his parents or siblings to a land where he probably was unfamiliar with
the language and customs. But he crossed into the United States
ILLEGALLY.
My parents
also made a perilous journey as young teenagers, alone but legally arriving in
the United States via Ellis Island. They each had a sponser that
guaranteed a job and a place to live, so that they would not be a financial
burden on the government. To assimilate into this culture, they took
English and civic classes at night long before they could become
citizens. My mother was one of the first women to vote in the 1920
elections.
According to
the article, Perez left his family 6 years ago at the age of 14 years to come
here to earn money for his family. Yet later the article quotes Gina
Mangano, his DCF social worker, that under the state's legal system and in the
custody of the Department of Children and Families, he technically has been
abandoned by his parents. Undocumented and being a minor, he incurred a
driving infraction whereby the court system placed him in the custody of DCF.
Perez was
placed in a foster home, aided in obtaining legal resident status, went back to
school, has a job at Murphy's Drive Inn in Windham
and will graduate from Windham
High School this
month. He has been accepted at Johnson & Wales in Providence where tuition, room and board is
approximately $32,00 a year. Because he is a
ward of the state, all of his expenses will be paid in full until he is 23 with
the exception of $500 a semester. Will he be allowed to send money back
to his family in Mexico
if he earns more than $500 a semester???? Johnson & Wales is a much
sought after college and one has to wonder whether his status under DCF played
a role in his acceptance. If so, Some other
deserving student was bumped.
Sait Perez
appears to be a hard working, motivated and responsible person. No one
can take that away from him. But he did enter this country
illegally. Why do our tax dollars have to educate him at the college
level when so many of our lower income and even middle income students cannot
afford to attend college bcause of the reduction in awards and grants and the
interest rate on loans has increased???? So many students that do attend
college graduate with thousands of dollars in loans. Yet here is an
example of an illegal immigrant who is receiving an almost free college
education courtesy of the State of Connecticut
using our tax dollars.
If the
playing field was as generous for our U.S. citizens, there would be no
reason to complain, but there are millions of students like Perez all over the
country tapping into our health and education resources in ways that our own
citizens cannot. We need to control our borders more securely and enforce
the immigration laws that are already on the books. Even this will not
stem the tide of illegal immigration completely, but we need to bring order
back to the way immigrants enter this country first and foremost. When
the ports and borders are secure, then we can talk about how to handle illegal
immigrants such as Sait Perez but in the
meantime,we certainly do not have to spend $32,000 a year on a college
education. If they can earn money to send back to Mexico, then
they can pay for their own college education.
********
This is Priceless - (click to read) Councilmembers
neglect to pay property taxes
abc13.com - Houston,TX,USA ...
City Hall in Liberty County was filled to capacity Tuesday night as
constituents confronted council members about a proposed increase in property taxes. ... See all stories on this topic
********
From: Robert
Green, rgreen619@snet.net, FCTO Board Member
Town of Salem
Comments on Armand Fusco’s Presentation on School
Corruption
Sept 11, 2006
Good morning, Sue. An excellent presentation by Armand. I will be
recommending to Salem's
Board of Education to have him conduct a workshop on this issue. I don't
know if it's too late to have a workshop included in this year's
CABE convention. As a sitting
member of the Board of Education in Salem,
the district has not experienced the issues that Armand spoke about for the
past nine years. We have developed policies to prevent the abuses Armand
mentioned, and the Board closely adheres to them. In fact, our new
superintendent is involving Town Hall in school issues where possible. An
example - capital expenditures outside normal school operation are now
part of the Town capital budget, making it easier to maintain and
repair major infrastructure issues.
Bob Green
********
From: Flo Stahl, flostahl@snet.net
Avon Taxpayers Association, FCTO Board Member
Subject: Armand
Fusco was Superb
Armand Fusco has a superb command of the subject of school
corruption. Having been a school superintendent, he understands the mindset and
is intimate with every twist and turn of education fraud. He is
a very entertaining and engaging speaker. Flo