From Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Website: http://ctact.org/
email: fctopresident@aol.com
860-841-8032
October 3, 2006
WELCOME TO THE 87th EDITION OF
TAX TALK
Proverb
for Taxpayers from Jim Hoover of Vernon
A fine is a
tax for doing wrong.
A tax is a
fine for doing well.
**********
AMBER ALERT:
The following was received from donnellyjohn@sbcglobal.net. Everyones help is
needed!!!! Please send this to everyone
you know ASAP. This little girl was abducted by what they thought was a family
friend. We need to get the word around so we can get this sweet little girl
back to her family. Follow the instructions at the bottom to report any
information and to forward this message please!!
http://www.pr.com/press-release/11122
**********
Doug Schwartz, thedougschwartz@gmail.com
New London
Citizens Guarding the Henhouse
September 27, 2006
President Bush recently signed the Federal Funding Accountability
and Transparency Act http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060926.html
This is what I have been advocating for the state
level. We will get this sooner or later,
it might as well be sooner. Every contract and expenditure in CT - state
and local - above a minimal amount, needs
to go online so citizens can monitor all of this. This
announcement get little press, but it is a watershed accomplishment.
It is an attack on the corruption in the Legislative branch, designed to help
address the practice of hidden earmarks. This is not that difficult to
implement, since all of this data now resides in spreadsheets anyway. At
minimal expense citizens could gain massive amounts of info we now have to
wrestle out of the govt. using FOI. The question should not be why we
need to enact this, but why not? We need to be able to follow the money,
both for campaign finance and for where it goes
after we submit it in taxes.
Doug’s
comments are certainly relevant when we read the following ….
I-84 project plagued by defective drainage system
October 2, 2006
Associated Press WATERBURY, Conn. -- State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal
said Monday he is conducting an investigation, with the cooperation of the
state Department of Transportation, into constructive defects plaguing a
massive Interstate 84 improvement project.
Blumenthal's confirmation comes a day after The Hartford
Courant reported that federal investigators are looking into why hundreds of
storm drains are defective in the $52 million project in the Waterbury area. Fixing the problems could
cost the state millions of dollars and require newly paved parts of the highway
to be torn up, the newspaper reported, citing state documents and people
familiar with the project. Blumenthal
said his investigation began several months ago "as a result of apparent
failures in quality and timeliness of work done by various contractors. It is
an active and intensive inquiry that will support claims for monetary recovery
and other remedies as appropriate," he said in a written statement. The project involves a 31/2-mile section of
the highway between I-691 in Cheshire and Exit
25-A in Waterbury. Authorities with the FBI and other federal
agencies are investigating the problems, which could also add months to a
project that was supposed to be completed a year ago. Many of the drains lead nowhere, some are
clogged with debris and others were apparently connected with substandard,
cracked and leaking pipes, the newspaper reported. In a memo written two weeks ago, a top DOT
engineer blamed the defective drains on a "complete breakdown" in the
inspection process. "The numerous
types of deficiencies, the particular as well as the general defects and
omissions in the work, were and are stunning," Arthur W. Gruhn, chief engineer at the DOT's
bureau of engineering and highway operations, wrote in the memo. Gruhn said last
week that it remains a mystery why the work is shoddy and why the inspection
process failed. "We may never know
what was in somebody's mind as they were doing this," Gruhn
said. "It just is so far beyond the norm that appropriate action had to be
taken." The DOT on Sept. 16 fired
New Britain-based The Maguire Group Inc., which had the $6 million contract to
inspect work on the project. The company that had the $52 million contract to
rebuild the highway, L.G. DeFelice Inc. of North Haven, went out of business after last year's
construction season, citing financial reasons.
The drains, also known as catch basins, and related underground piping
are designed to remove water from the roadway. Gruhn
said improper drainage can create a hazard for motorists and damage roads
through erosion and other forces. The
highway project includes about 300 catch basins. Inspectors have taken another
look at about 280 of them, and all but 10 need additional work,
Gruhn said. As many as 100 of the drains will require
major reconstruction, Gruhn said, including some that
are below new pavement. Gruhn said there was no estimate yet on how much it will
cost to fix the problems, but he said it could cost more than the liability
insurance coverage provided by the contractors.
No one has stepped forward to accept responsibility for the problems.
Nothing has been found to suggest DOT workers were partly to blame, Gruhn said. A
former vice president at DeFelice who ran the
now-defunct company's cost department said he was not aware of the drainage
problems. "As far as I know, the
work was installed correctly and it was inspected," said Stephen Hallberg. Other
representatives of DeFelice could not be reached for
comment. The Maguire Group is not
conceding it was responsible, but a lawyer for the company said it intends to
help the state correct any problems.
"Obviously we are in the process of reviewing the findings of the
Department of Transportation," attorney Richard R. Brown said. "We
absolutely want to cooperate in terms of correcting the situation at no expense
to the state of Connecticut." The DOT has clashed with The Maguire Group
in the past. In 1992, then-DOT Commissioner Emil H. Frankel cited Maguire's
"serious disregard for standards of professional ethics" in
suspending the company for two years from doing work for the Transportation
Department.
**********
KUDOS TO FLO STAHL
AND THE AVON TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION in their effort to defeat an October 11 Referendum for $4.7
million which represents costs in excess of the previously approved $26 million
referendum to expand and renovate the high school. In addition to being the President of the
Avon Taxpayers Association and Board Member of FCTO, Flo
is a former member of the Avon Town Council and Avon
Board of Finance.
The following are Flo’s comments
on this issue:
The Avon Taxpayers Association is not against the renovation
of Avon High School. Without question, an
expansion project will happen whether this particular referendum passes or
fails. Our position is as follows:
- Either
a referendum means something or it doesn’t. Last year, $26 million was approved to renovate and expand Avon High School. This amount was
determined by a firm familiar with Avon
schools and with years of experience involving escalation and contingency
safeguards. We have since learned that at least two other towns in Connecticut were
faced with multiple referendums because they, too, relied on estimates by
the same architectural firm that turned out to be wrong. These “under
estimations” occurred well before the Hurricane Katrina impact. It’s bad precedent and poor management to encourage
referendum “add-ons.”
- $4.7
million is not insignificant. It is nearly 20% more than the
original referendum. It could pay for badly needed Town Hall renovations
or be allocated to help fund many other programs.
- Now
is the time for a course correction. Although it’s too late in this instance to change the practice of
developing and presenting school construction projects with no financial
parameters, we can at least hold those accountable to the $26 million
already approved. Or, if necessary, quickly proceed to negotiate with
others to achieve that objective.
- The
portable classroom double standard. When the project was delayed a year, there was no mention of
portable classrooms. When a completion date of 2008 was announced, there
was no mention of portable classrooms. This issue, like so many other
threats, is applied selectively to neutralize any challenge. Ironically,
if conditions are as bad as reported at Avon High School,
portable classrooms should be installed immediately.
Let’s complete a project in 2008 that is fair to everyone.
Please vote “no” on October 11th.
Flo Stahl
**********
From: Marvin Edelman,
marvined@earthlink.net
Windham Taxpayers
Association, FCTO Board Member
Subject: Eye on Windham Cable Show, Wednesday, October 4 at 9 PM, Subject:
“Achievement on Connecticut Mastery Tests in Reading: Myths and Realities.”
Tune into Charter Cable Channel 14 at 9 PM on October 4,
2006 where veteran teachers Barbara “Bunny” Popeleski
and William Powers will be participating in a panel discussion on “Achievement on Connecticut Mastery Tests in
Reading: Myths and Realities.” The program
will be live and telephone call-in questions and comments will be taken by
calling (860) 456-3000 during broadcast time.
**********
The following announcement is from Brian Freeman of the Federalist
Society
DEBATE – October 19, 2006 from 12
noon to 1:30 pm on
Fixing a Broken Immigration System: National Security, Migration, and Jobs.
State Capitol, Hartford - Old Appropriations Room (Rm. 310)
Free and open to the public - complimentary
lunch served
RSVP: Brian
Freeman, bfreeman@rc.com
The Hartford Lawyers'
Chapter of the Federalist Society, together
with the Connecticut Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association,
is pleased to announce a timely panel discussion and debate: Fixing a Broken Immigration
System: National Security, Migration,
and Jobs.
Prof. Margaret Stock, U.S. Military Academy
Recipient, 2005 Advocacy Award, Amer. Immigration Lawyers Assoc'n
to debate Michael Cutler,
Fellow,
Center for Immigration Studies Advisor to 9/11 Families for a Secure America; Moderator:
Prof. John Alcorn, Trinity College
**********
CONGRESSIONAL PENSIONS
Do Members of Congress Pay Social Security Taxes?
http://www.ntu.org/main/page.php?PageID=21
Retirement Benefits for Members of Congress
http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30631.pdf
When are Members of Congress considered vested and
eligible to
receive a pension?
http://www.c-span.org/questions/weekly68.htm
**********
Again our appreciation to Judy Aron
imjfaron@sbcglobal.net of West Hartford for keeping us current
on items of interest to our members.
Schools cut back on basics to finance teacher raises, Chris Powell, Journal Inquirer Newspaper, Sept 26,
2006: Another school year has begun in Connecticut, and with
some notable service reductions. A recent Journal Inquirer survey found that
some towns have eliminated sports for high school freshmen. Others have
increased class sizes or lost full-day kindergartens, student literary
magazines, and marching bands. Others have closed alternative education
programs and are allowing fewer placements in magnet schools. Field trips have
been canceled and purchases of supplies and textbooks have been postponed.
School buildings are being closed to public use on weekends as custodian
service is curtailed. As usual, school building maintenance is being
deferred. Continued at the following
website: http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=985&dept_id=565860&newsid=17205078
**********
Cut Your Energy Bills, and
Taxes, Too, Energy-efficient purchases may help
lower bill by Rick Sauder, Sept 1, 2006
Click the following to read: http://personal.fidelity.com/myfidelity/email.html?http://myfidelity.members.fidelity.com/investorsWeekly/cms/FEAfuel060707.dyn;mfSessionId=GA321B4QP1DM4CQEFEPCFFA?keyword=taxes&sourcecd=FEA
**********
Jim Louziotis, ledgehill@sbcglobal.net
Lower our Taxes, New
London
Oct 2, 2006
Venezuela Dictator Hugo Chavez has
vowed to
bring down the U.S.
government!
Why should U.S. citizens
who love freedom be financing a dictator who has vowed to take down our
government?
Boycott CITGO Gasoline
Beginning Today!
For those of
you who don't know, the Venezuela
government owns CITGO. CITGO is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect,
wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de
Venezuela, S.A., the national oil
company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Venezuela Dictator Hugo
Chavez has vowed to bring down the U.S.
government as he recently proclaimed "Enough of imperialist
aggression; we must tell the world: down with the U.S. empire. We have to bury
imperialism this century." Chavez
is pushing a socialist revolution and has a close alliance with Cuban dictator
Fidel Castro. Regardless of your
feelings about the war in Iraq , the issue here is that we have a socialist dictator vowing to bring down the government
of the U.S. And he is using our money to achieve his
goal!
The state of
Florida is currently working on breaking their
contracts with CITGO to remove all that brand of gasoline from the Florida Turnpike.
Also, 7-11 just announced they're not renewing their contract with CITGO that
expires in the next week or so. Please,
do your part, and stop
purchasing gasoline from CITGO!
**********
From: Robert
Green, rgreen619@snet.net, FCTO Board Member
Subject: Website Link
to Governor Rell Unveils Comprehensive Energy
‘Blueprint’
For the Next Generation
Town of Salem
Sept, 2006
Governor Rell Unveils
Comprehensive Energy ‘Blueprint’ For the Next Generation
Outlines Vision for Reducing Consumption; Promotes Renewables
Proposes Cap on Gross Receipts Tax and Halt to Zone Pricing
http://www.ct.gov/governorrell/cwp/view.asp?A=2425&Q=320108
**********
Robert Young, ryoung0@snet.net
Wethersfield Taxpayers
Association
Public Input sought
at River Forum
Tuesday,
October 10, from 6:30 to 9:30 pm
Hartford, CT, 9/13/2006: - The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a nonprofit conservation
organization, invites members of the public to public discussions about the
future of the land along the Connecticut River
and in its watershed. Entitled "Listen to the River" and part of a
multi-state series, the session seeks to gain input on protecting the river
valley's land for future generations. Citizens are requested to speak about the
lands they love and want to see conserved for future generations, identifying
areas on a map and explaining why they value these places. Contact person is
Clem Clay, (413) 584-6686. The next
Forum is Tuesday, October 10, from 6:30 to 9:30 pm at the Riverfront Recapture
Boathouse in Hartford, Connecticut http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=20865&folder_id=209
**********