Give Us A Break!

To the Editor:

Three cheers for Mr Kortze and the Board of Finance for their accurate assessment of both current economic reality and the psyche of the average Newtown taxpayer as they deliberated the 2003–04 budget.

While the $1,050,000 budget reduction is certainly a good start, deeper reductions are required in my view, in order to make the spending plan more acceptable. Because $400,000 was added to revenue from a reserve account, true spending reduction is no more than $650,000, not even one mill.

As a longtime resident, I have seen my property tax double in the last ten years. I now find myself, as a result of revaluation in that top third of property owners who will experience a tax increase greater than 20 percent. A one mill or less reduction in the tax rate is not exactly what I am looking for or would consider reasonable and appropriate. Has a phase in of the revaluation been considered to lessen the impact of property value increases? Let us consider some other realities. Gasoline has increased to nearly $2 a gallon, with home heating oil not far behind. Governor Rowland has increased the state income tax retroactive to January 1, 2003, while slicing and dicing the state budget.  The economy is stalled and if you are lucky enough to be employed at all, do not count on much of an annual raise from your employer this year. Oh yeah, and by the way, here is your 20 percent increase in property taxes due to revaluation and increases in budgetary “fixed costs” negotiated three years ago. Good grief, give us a break.  How absurd is this whole picture?

While my issues with this budget do not center around an ability to absorb the tax increase personally, my concerns, similarly expressed in various local newspaper articles by Mr Kortze and Mr Rosenthal, are for those longtime residents of Newtown who are on fixed or limited incomes and are less able to handle the ever escalating tax burden. It is unacceptable to think that these folks may be forced to sell their homes and move out of town because they cannot afford the tax increase.

Nicer in Newtown –– questionable?  A “Perfect Storm” brewing, absolutely!

Dave Ruscoe

3 Steck Drive, Newtown                                              March 18, 2003