Newtown’s Real ‘Catastrophe’

To the Editor:

It seems like every time I read the letters to the editor in The Letter Hive, I keep seeing this word “catastrophe” that refers to what will happen to the quality of education in Newtown if the budget increase is cut from 10.9 percent to 9 percent.

Let me redefine what I think the word “catastrophe” should be in terms of several significant facts.

*Ten percent of families in Newtown are making under $25,000 a year. Some of these families are retired couples who have lived in Newtown all their lives and are on fixed incomes.

*The following cost of living increases have dramatically impacted their lives: Health care premiums up an average of 20 percent; energy costs for home and transportation, 25 percent; medications, 20 percent; Newtown property tax increase, 10–25 percent.

These double digit increased costs are supposedly going to be offset by various sources of income to pay their monthly bills.

*Social Security –– up 1.4 percent. For those receiving benefits of $1,000/month this represents an annual increase of $168 a year.

*Investments –– Passbook savings accounts, money market funds, and one-year CDs are paying between one percent and 1.5 percent. This represents an income of $1,300/year for every $100,000 invested which does not even keep up with inflation that increased 2.4 percent in the year 2002.

After analyzing the data it appears that these families will experience a shortfall of thousands of dollars, and this does not take into account other expenses such as car insurance and repairs, home improvements, food, etc.

The sad result of this shortfall is that many families will be forced to move from Newtown. Consider also, for example, that many of these people are not placing any financial burden on the school budget and have a very small impact on the selectman’s budget. Who will be replacing the retirees, for example? Will it be families with children attending the public schools?

Perhaps the following comparison will illustrate my concerns (this information is based on a family who pays $4,500/year in property taxes):

*A family whose average age is 55 or older creates no financial burden on the school budget plus they contribute $3,000 in taxes.

*The same family would have limited use of town facilities such as the town park, the ball fields, etc, thus minimizing their costs to the town to maintain these facilities.

If a family of four that includes two children replaces the above family who has been forced to move away, the financial impact on the town is considerable because two students cost $9,300 per child to educate.

It is important, therefore, to understand the financial burden placed on the town every time a family without children is replaced by a family with children. It would also be interesting to research how many retirees sit on various volunteer committees and organizations in town that make Newtown a better place to live.

One solution to this problem would be to restructure the tax system to make it affordable for retirees to continue to live in Newtown. This could be done by increasing substantially the present deductions for families whose income is under $35,000 a year ($600) and $55,000 a year ($1,000), this should be doubled to $1,200 and $2,000 to offset the revaluation increases that have been incurred this year. I also feel that there should be some tax relief offered to all residents in town without children, especially those moving into town in the near future.

I would rather have more couples in their 50s without children moving into all these new $500,000-plus homes because this would result in a positive cash flow of $6,000 on a property tax of $9,000/year.

I, like most people in Newtown, want future generations of children to have only the best education just as my children did, but the costs cannot continue to escalate and negatively impact retirees.

It is time for the majority of people in Newtown to start receiving more for their money than an increase in their tax bills –– that is the real “catastrophe” facing Newtown residents.

Sincerely,

Frank Gardner

6 Surry Trail, Sandy Hook                                             May 6, 2003