From: Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Website: http://ctact.org/
email: fctopresident@ctact.org
860-524-6501
April 27, 2005
Review
Previous Tax Talk Issues on our Website at http://ctact.org/
WELCOME TO THE 48th EDITION OF
TAX TALK
CONGRATULATIONS
TO FLO STAHL
President of the Avon Taxpayers
Association
The Avon Chamber of
Commerce has selected Flo for their Public Service
Award! It will be presented at their annual
luncheon at the Golf Club of Avon (Avon Country Club) on
May 25th. In addition to being an
advocate for Avon taxpayers, Flo is
also a well known businesswoman in Avon. In her message to me, she expressed her
surprise and delight at having been chosen and the recognition given the Avon Taxpayers
Association. Flo
also expressed her appreciation to FCTO- “Thanks for your guidance, deep
knowledge and hard work on so many subjects of common concern.” Having known Flo
for several years as an intelligent and compassionate woman, dedicated to
furthering the interests of taxpayers, no one deserves this recognition
more. CONGRATULATIONS FLO!
*************
A SPECIAL
THANK YOU TO DONNA MCCALLA
A sincere thank you to Donna McCalla of Hebron Dollars and Sense. It is obvious that many hours were spent
constructing the attached document which provides us with a comparison of tax
increases throughout Connecticut. Please read Donna’s comments below. The attached worksheet is in Excel. Susan Kniep
*************
FCTO
CONGRATULATES GOVERNOR RELL!
Governor Rell is to be
congratulated in her endeavor to remedy the crippling financial effects of
State Mandates on Connecticut and municipal
taxpayers!
FCTO and its members will do all we can to assist in this
regard!
Governor Rell
Blasts Legislative Management
Vote to Kill Unfunded Mandates Study
Governor Will Form Panel Through
Executive Order
Governor M. Jodi Rell today blasted the decision by
majority party members of the General Assembly’s Legislative Management
Committee to kill her bill creating a task force to study unfunded mandates,
and announced that she would create the panel by Executive Order. “It is a shame that the Legislature –
the body that places so many of these burdens on Connecticut’s schools, cities
and towns, usually without appropriating the money to pay for them – is
unwilling to even undertake a study of how to lighten that load,” Governor Rell said.
“These unfunded mandates are the real drivers of countless municipal and school
district expenses,” the Governor said. “Streamlining or eliminating unfunded mandates
would go a long way toward creating real property tax reform – the kind that
actually results in lower property taxes instead of promises and political
posturing.
“I will not stand
idly by while this burden continues or – worse still – is permitted to grow,”
Governor Rell said. “This is a not a study of whether
unfunded mandates are a problem. We know that they are. My Executive Order will create a panel charged with
identifying the steps we can take to actually reduce or eliminate these fiscal
vampires. This group will review the
mandates, find out which ones are vital and put a stake in the rest. “I
would have very much preferred to do this in conjunction with the Legislature,”
the Governor said. “My bill was passed unanimously out of the Planning and
Development Committee and I do not understand why the Democrats voted it down.
But the General Assembly’s failure to act cannot be an excuse for inaction. One
way or another, we will deal with this problem.”
*************
Donna McCalla, CTJodi146@aol.com
Hebron Dollars and Sense
Updated CT Tax
Increase Comparison Spreadsheet
April 25, 2005
A sincere thank you
to Donna McCalla. It is obvious that
many hours were spent constructing the attached document which provides us with
a comparison of tax increases throughout Connecticut. The
attached worksheet is in Excel. Susan Kniep
A Message from Donna McCalla
Hi, all. I am
attaching the updated version of the CT Tax Increase Comparison
spreadsheet. Despite the fact that last
week was “Spring Break”, and many boards and commissions didn’t meet, there was
still a lot of data that came in. We now
have data from 97 towns and all 17 regional school districts. After sending you the last version, a number
of towns came in with higher than expected proposed increases which drove the
average all the way up to 5.42%. Then
other towns reported which dropped the average back to the 5.31% level. So we’re pretty much where we were as of the
last reporting. I still expect the
number to drop to about the 5.2% level.
I regressed out the five highest proposed increases, and the five lowest
proposed increases, and the number is exactly 5.21%. This pattern has proven true over the past
four years of data collection. There are
now six passed budgets, and two defeated budgets. Monroe votes tomorrow on
Round Two (I expect there will be a Round Three); Plainville votes again next
Tuesday. Rather than send a separate
spreadsheet on funding authority approved education budgets, I have simply
added a new tab to the CT list (FY05-06 Ed.Budgets.) It is sorted alphabetically, but you can
resort as you wish for the various data views.
Right now, the average approved education budget for all school districts
by a funding authority is 5.08% (versus average BOE approved budget of 6.73%.) The average
approved education budget increase for local school (i.e., non-regional)
districts only is 5.03% (versus average BOE approved budget of 6.81%.) All regional districts have now approved a
budget number that will be brought forward for vote. Region 8 (RHAM) again takes the lead for
being the largest (and only double digit) proposed increase. The average of all regional district budget
increases is 5.91%, but this is skewed significantly by RHAM’s
proposed 12.3% increase. Without RHAM,
the average proposed increase by the other 16 regional districts is 5.52%. Any updates, please let me know. I hope to send another update this weekend in
preparation for next week, in which a number of towns are going to vote. Thanks, Donna
*************
Edward Kardus, katzrus50e@aol.com
Wethersfield Taxpayers
Association
Smarter Spending for Schools: A worthy read.
April 11, 2005
The following is from an interesting website….
It’s a simple, intuitive and responsible solution:
• Change the law in all 50 States and the District of
Columbia by the end of 2008.
• Require every School
District to spend at least 65% of their education operational
budgets in the classroom for Teachers & Kids.
• Keep local control of education, but demand statewide
accountability.
“America’s children
will enjoy a first class economy in their future only if we ensure every
student an opportunity for a first class education in their immediate present.”
Continued at the following website: http://www.firstclasseducation.org/
*************
Fred Standt, FStndt@aol.com
Brookfield Taxpayers
Association
Office of Legislative Research 2005
Legislative Issues Report
(refer to Tax Talk
47)
April 14, 2005
Dear Susan, Many thanks for this legislative heads up. We' re being
threatened with a 8.15% spending increase, (3.3 million) on top of 4 million
increases over the last 2 years based on high health insurance and fuel
increases. Fred
*************
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.
An interesting report produced by THE YANKEE
INSTITUTE
“The Value Gap: How Effective Is Your Local District?”
(PDF)
by D. Dowd Muska March 10, 2005
http://www.yankeeinstitute.org/pdf/the_value_gap.pdf
*************
State of Connecticut Produced Report
STATE-FUNDED INTERDISTRICT EDUCATION
PROGRAMS
By: Judith Lohman,
Chief Analyst
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2005/rpt/2005-R-0073.htm
*************
Health Care Drives Budget
State Struggling To Contain Costs
April 25, 2005 By CHRISTOPHER KEATING, Capitol Bureau
Chief
http://www.courant.com/hc-drivers0425.artapr25,0,6984587.story
*************
CORRUPTION:
AN INSIDERS GAME BEING PLAYED IN CONNECTICUT http://www.cottagecoalition.org/rowland.htm
*************
As GM battles surging costs,
workers' health becomes issue
By Lee Hawkins Jr. / Wall Street Journal
http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0504/08/1auto-144409.htm
*************
Bushes
& Cheneys Got $110,000 in Combined Tax Cuts in
2004
Citizens for Tax Justice 4/15/05
http://www.ctj.org/pdf/bushcheneytax2004.pdf
*************
Salaries At Nonprofit
Agencies Under Spotlight
CRT's
Chief Says It Has Become Big Business
April 24, 2005, By ROBERT A. FRAHM, Courant Staff Writer
http://www.courant.com/hc-puzzo0424.artapr24,0,6690164.story?coll=hc-big-headlines-breaking