From: Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
(FCTO)
Website: http://ctact.org/
email: fctopresident@aol.com
860-524-6501
January 6, 2008
"..it
does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless
minority
keen to set brush fires in people's minds.." - Samuel Adams
Welcome
to Tax Talk 112
*******
Tax Talk 112
Includes:
- FCTO Calls for Audit of State Slush
Funds
- Jan 7 at 5:15 PM – An Opportunity to Protest the Reappointment of William DiBella as Chairman of the MDC
- 2008 - The Year to Vote on a State
Constitutional Convention
- GASB 43 and 45 – A Financial Tsunami
for Ct Taxpayers
- Connecticut General Assembly Session
Begins Feb 6, 2008
- Federalist Society Meeting Jan 30,
2008
- Concerned Southington Citizens hold Forum Jan 24,
2008
- DCF Workers Waste Money: Audit Finds
Phone, Gasoline Abuses
- News from the National Taxpayers Union
- Where Do Your Taxes Go? Find Out
Online!
- Governor Rell
Announces Dates, Times for Economic Strategic Plan Meetings to include Jan
17 in Hartford
- Retire the Property Tax by John Brady,
a former chairman of Madison’s
public library, and retired executive and owner of the Web site www.Topretirements.com
*******
FCTO IS
WORKING TO MAKE 2008 THE YEAR OF THE TAXPAYER!
Flo wrote: Let me
understand this - Gov. M. Jodi Rell, House Speaker
James Amann and Senate President Pro Tem Donald
Williams each get $2 million in discretionary funds to play with every year of
their term [Connecticut
section, Dec. 17, "Group Questions Budget Items"]. They are free to
determine who's been naughty or nice, dole out favors and magically turn pork
into filet mignon for a few lucky recipients. All this while
the state auditors and General Assembly stand idly by. No oversight? No
accountability? Come on, Connecticut,
not again. Please say it isn't so. What
else will ooze out of that scandal-ridden place on the hill? Amann is gearing up for a possible gubernatorial run. Our
governor will undoubtedly seek another term.
Well, Santa Baby, that's our money you're handing out and you can bet
we're making a list and checking it twice. On it are candidates who understand
the meaning of ethical behavior. Stop this travesty now. Florence Stahl
- Nov, 2008
Connecticut
voters will have an opportunity to vote YES for a Constitutional
Convention. FCTO will promote statewide Initiative and Referendum, protection of
property rights through the elimination of Eminent Domain for private use,
and more.
- FCTO will
continue to promote providing the public with greater transparency of
municipal union contracts, which are funded by 75% to 85% of local
property taxes.
Here is one good reason why.
A financial Tsunami is coming to Connecticut! CT town officials will soon be forced to
disclose under GASB 43 and 45 http://www.gasb.org/st/index.html
the taxpayers’ financial obligation to
retired town and board of education employees for medical, dental and life
insurance. Towns with annual revenues of $100 million or more
are required to include a Statement in their financial statements for
periods beginning after December 15, 2006; towns with total annual revenues
of $10 million or more but less than $100 million the reporting
requirement is for periods beginning after December 15, 2007; towns with total annual revenues of less than $10
million the reporting requirement is for periods beginning after December
15, 2008. While taxpayers pay for
the healthcare of government retirees, few, if any, workers in the private
sector can expect a similar benefit when they retire. In fact, many CT workers have no
healthcare benefits while they are working. The long term liability of retiree
healthcare costs, once disclosed, could ultimately impact the costs
associated with municipal bonding.
FCTO is asking
taxpayers living in towns with revenues exceeding $100 million to contact their
local officials to obtain these figures and to in turn report them to us at fctopresident@aol.com. If your town has
revenues of less than $100 million, please provide FCTO with the figures upon
the required reporting dates as noted above.
FCTO is compiling a list of the long term healthcare liabilities per
town and will include this information on our website as they are
received.
*******
AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROTEST THE REAPOINTMENT OF
WILLIAM
DIBELLA AS CHAIRMAN TO THE MDC COMMISSION
MONDAY, JAN 7, 2008, 5:15 PM
MDC Headquarters
555
Main Street, 2nd
Floor
Hartford, CT
Two articles at the end of Tax Talk provide
explanations of why DiBella should not be reappointed
as Chairman to the MDC Commission.
*******
GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION BEGINS FEB 6, 2008
The Regular Session of the State’s General Assembly begins on February 6,
2008 and ends May 7, 2008. FCTO
recommends that you frequently access the following link … Welcome to the Connecticut General Assembly … which will
provide you with the calendar of our state legislature. In this way, you will have an opportunity to
attend the meetings and public hearings on issues of importance to you.
Legislation Effective
January 1, 2008
See also current legislation
effective from passage.
The following is information on the State’s
Constitutional Convention.
Article 13, Section 1 – Constitutional convention: http://www.iandrinstitute.org/New%20IRI%20Website%20Info/I&R%20Research%20and%20History/I&R%20at%20the%20Statewide%20Level/Constitution%20and%20Statutes/Connecticut.pdf
FCTO Believes a Vote on the Constitutional Convention Should have been held in 2006. The following is an article to this
effect.
Timing of constitutional
vote questioned, By Tom Breen, Journal
Inquirer, 02/22/2006 http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16175459&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=6
Some History on the Constitutional Convention
follows:
New York Times Article from 1894 on Connecticut’s Proposed Constitutional
Convention. 
*******
The
Federalist Society's Connecticut Chapter
INVITATION
TO ATTEND
Wednesday, Jan 30, 2008, 12:00 – 1:30 PM
Quinnipiack Club, 221 Church
Street, New Haven
http://www.qclub.org/
Luncheon and Informal Q&A/discussion
with Judge Stefan
Underhill of the United States District Court, District of Connecticut
http://www.ctd.uscourts.gov/bio_sru.html.
Lunch will be served. To offset costs, there will be a
charge of $10 (students $5).
RSVP to Joseph Solimene, Esq., Joseph.Solimene@wilsonelser.com.
Message Sent by: Brian Freeman, Chair, Connecticut Chapter
860-275-8310
*******
The following is a message to Southington
residents from Sandra Feld csc@feldclan.com of Concerned Southington Citizens and a FCTO Board Member.
FCTO congratulates Sandra for taking this approach and suggests that other
Taxpayer Groups should
consider a similar forum for their areas.
From Sandra Feld:
As we wish you a Happy, Healthy New Year, we are pleased to
invite you to an informative meeting with the public officials on 5 of the
critical
Boards in Southington
in order to understand how they function, how they interact and how your involvement
can bring about change to your
local government. We're hoping this will inspire those who don't
vote to do so and those who do vote to continue. Admission is free.
THE BOARD OF CONCERNED SOUTHINGTON
CITIZENS
presents
TOWN
GOVERNMENT 101
Thursday, January 24, 2008
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Southington Library
Meet
Members of Southington’s
TOWN COUNCIL
BOARD OF FINANCE
PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION
BOARD OF EDUCATION
INLAND/WETLANDS-CONSERVATION COMMISSION
GET INVOLVED - INFLUENCE ACTION - BE COUNTED
*******
A special thanks to Arlene Lucien of Waterbury for sending the following to FCTO
which highlights another example of the waste of our tax dollars.
DCF Workers Waste Money: Audit Finds Phone, Gasoline Abuses
By COLIN POITRAS | Courant Staff Writer
December 29, 2007
Clients have long complained about being
unable to reach Department of Children and Families social workers on their
work or cellphones. Some don't have voice mail.
Others never call back. `A recent state audit of the agency discovered that
workers were using their cellphones plenty — just not
necessarily for work-related calls. When
auditors took a closer look at 275 instances in which workers' cellphone use exceeded 1,000 minutes a month during the
2005-06 state fiscal year, they found that 50 percent
of the calls were made on days when employees were not at work. The same audit revealed that social workers
were unnecessarily buying premium gasoline for their state-owned vehicles and
often using commercial filling stations, even though a free state-run gas pump
was available to them.
The report from the state auditors of public accounts said the department could
save $87,000 annually if it monitored cellphone use
more closely. It could save another $34,000 if it stopped paying for 258 cellphones that the auditors said aren't being used. The
agency would save more than $16,500 if workers used the free state pumps,
the report said. The money may not seem
like much to a state agency whose annual operating budget is expected to exceed
$900 million this year. But if the same reckless spending pattern is being
replicated across dozens of state agencies and departments, the loss of
taxpayer funds would quickly add up.
….The audit also found that DCF continued to pay thousands of dollars to a
guardian caring for two foster children — even though the children had been
returned to their biological mother and had been living with her for a
year. In a different area, the auditors
said the agency could provide no proof that $110,335 it spent on emergency
services for 35 clients in the Manchester-Hartford area resulted in those
services' being delivered. The auditors
could not find any invoices for 25 of 68 payments made in the local DCF offices
they checked. Where there was documentation, the auditors found that the agency
inadvertently paid for the same service twice on 21 occasions. State Auditor Robert G. Jaekle
said some of the findings were particularly troublesome because DCF had been
alerted to problems with cellphone use, gasoline purchases
and proper documentation in prior audits.
Continued at following website: http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-dcfaudit1229.artdec29,0,6610060.story
*******
NATIONAL TAXPAYERS UNION
Click to read the
following:
http://www.ntu.org/main/index.php
Bush
Should Ring in New Year by Wringing Out "Earmarks" in Spending Bill,
Taxpayer Group Says
NTU Rates Congress
Who Pays Income Taxes? See Who Pays What
History of Federal Individual Income Bottom and Top
Bracket Rates
NTU Files Amicus Court Briefs
Where Do Your Taxes Go?
Find Out Online!
The federal
government has announced the early launch of USASpending.org, an online portal to help you find out how your federal tax
dollars are being spent. The website was mandated by last year's NTU-backed
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act. Better known as the
Coburn-Obama bill, it ensures that information about
all federal grant and contract spending above $25,000
is published online for ordinary citizens to review.
This is a
monumental achievement for transparency in government. You now have the ability
to go online and look at nitty-gritty details about where more than $700
billion of our tax money is going. You can search by recipient name, by agency,
even by location down to the city level.
NTU was instrumental
to getting that bill passed, including organizing a broad coalition letter with
more than 70 organizations signing on, and now we urge you to log on to the
website and put it to use!
If you are
interested in transparency and accountability in government, visit USASpending.org today and let it start
with you.
*******
Governor Rell
Announces Dates, Times for
Economic Strategic Plan Meetings
Governor M. Jodi Rell
announced that a series of regional forums will be held around Connecticut, providing
the public with an opportunity to share their views on the future course of the
state’s economy. Click this link to
learn more to include dates, times and locations. There will
also be a forum held at the Legislative
Office Building
in Hartford on
Thursday, January 17, 2008, 5:00–8:00 pm, in room 2C.
http://www.ct.gov/governorrell/cwp/view.asp?A=2791&Q=398336&pp=12&n=1
*******
By John Brady, a former chairman of Madison’s public library, is a retired
executive and owner of the Web site http://www.topretirements.com/
.
*******
MDC's Shameless Obstinacy
Rick Green, Hartford,
CT , January 4, 2008
What would you think if
federal lawyers had this to say about your mayor's behavior:
"Conduct in this case involved intentional fraud, deceit, manipulation and
deliberate disregard of a regulatory requirement ... his conduct in this matter
was not an isolated incident, but involved a series of discrete actions over
the course of several months."
If your mayor got a $374,500 payoff, arranged by a corrupt state treasurer for
performing "no meaningful services" related to a sham investment deal
that ripped off Connecticut taxpayers, would that affect your vote?
If a jury agreed with federal lawyers, would that make a
difference in your view?
If not, then congratulations. You may already be an elected or appointed
official.
Unbelievably, it's apparently a foregone conclusion that a majority of the 29
members of the Metropolitan District Commission — a regional, politically
partisan government agency that keeps your water clean with 550 employees and a
budget bigger than most municipalities' — will vote Monday to re-elect William DiBella as chairman for another term.
As chairman of the appointed, Democrat-controlled panel
governing the MDC and its $111 million annual budget, DiBella,
a former majority leader in the state Senate, functions like an influential,
unpaid mayor presiding over a town council. In coming years, DiBella — if re-elected — will play a key role in a $1.6
billion sewer expansion that the MDC is planning with your money.
Last may, a federal jury found that DiBella violated
federal securities laws. The U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission charged that DiBella
earned the $374,500 in bogus fees arising from a "fraudulent investment
scheme" masterminded by former state Treasurer Paul J. Silvester,
who pleaded guilty to corruption charges and went to jail.
DiBella's critics say that this alone makes him
unsuitable for leadership of a government agency that handles hundreds of
millions of dollars in public money. SEC lawyers are more blunt: DiBella, who earns a living as a lobbyist and consultant,
"will continue to have opportunities to use his political influence to
commit securities fraud."
All of this makes no difference to the MDC's
Democratic majority. Only 11 MDC panel members will vote against DiBella, according to Jeffrey Wright, a commissioner and
mayor of Newington
who leads the opposition.
Viewed from the outside, there is no rational argument why DiBella
should keep this job. His supporters on the inside — vested, respected and
experienced members of the political establishment — told me that I don't know
William "Billy" DiBella.
"He's doing a good job," said Pasquale J. Salemi,
an 18-year MDC commissioner and chairman of the Democratic town committee in East Hartford. "As far as the other stuff is
concerned, it's still a civil suit. Anybody can get sued. He's said a number of
times he didn't believe he did anything that violated any rules."
DiBella's actions were "never anything
substantive," said Adam Cloud, another commissioner and real estate
developer in Hartford.
"We need steady leadership."
Former West Hartford Town
Council member and current MDC Commissioner J. Lawrence Price told me that the
allegations about DiBella were "now 10 years
old."
"If I knew that Bill DiBella was doing something
unethical or inappropriate in his conduct on the MDC, there is no way I would
support him. It's not something I take lightly," said Price, a lawyer.
"I'm really happy with what is going on over there."
These people, who know far more about Connecticut politics than I, say not to
believe the evidence, the federal investigators — who are seeking more
penalties against DiBella — and the jury verdict.
If you don't understand, you don't know Connecticut.
And you certainly don't know Billy DiBella.
Rick Green's column appears on Tuesdays
and Fridays. He can be reached at rgreen@courant.com.
DiBella's
Got No Business Running MDC
Kevin Rennie | NOW YOU KNOW
January 6, 2008
Members of the Metropolitan District Commission who will
re-elect William A. DiBella as their chairman Monday
night must feel exhausted. It takes a lot of energy for some of those dim bulbs
to produce excuses for their support of DiBella.
Last year, DiBella was found to have engaged in
serious violations of federal securities laws when he squeezed hundreds of
thousands of dollars out of an investment company doing business with state
Treasurer Paul Silvester. During Silvester's
short tenure, he used his power to invest the state's
billions in pension funds to benefit his friends. The bounty he provided DiBella was among the most astonishing on the list of
outrages.
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, DiBella
engaged in "a fraudulent investment scheme" that got him $374,000 for
doing nothing other than getting Silvester to shake
down a company doing business with the treasurer's office. Silvester,
an epic bully in a business full of them, wanted to please DiBella,
so he used state employees' pension money to do it. DiBella
was both conspirator and beneficiary.
Silvester committed other outrages and went to jail. DiBella, who fell under the gaze of prosecutors, was
pursued in a civil action. The case lasted for years because DiBella devoted considerable energy to fighting the SEC on
even the most mundane issues. If DiBella's supporters
on the MDC want to see what they're endorsing, they should insist before voting
that he provide them copies of the deposition he gave to the SEC early in its
investigation.
What possible reason could DiBella have had for not
answering routine questions in what his supporters dismiss as just a civil
case? His 17 allies on the MDC board will never ask. They don't answer to the
voters and rarely answer to the officials who appoint them. They operate far
from democracy and remain contemptuous of any discernible standard of conduct.
What matters at the MDC is the $1.7 billion in construction projects that
voters in member towns authorized in 2006. That's a mighty bounty to spread
around to friends and allies. Traffic at that foul trough will be robust. And who better than DiBella, the great
conspirator, to be in charge? The licking of chops will soon register on
the hacks' Richter scale.
Eleven of the 29 members of the MDC board will engage in a futile attempt to
thwart DiBella and his supporters. Republican Daniel
E. Lilly will win the votes of 11 members. The Republicans have a one-vote
majority among the members, but four of those are with DiBella.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell, the so-called ethics governor,
should call or visit them Monday to persuade them to abandon DiBella.
The power to make bad decisions extracts a price from DiBella's
lickspittles. They sound ridiculous. MDC board member and East Hartford
Democratic town committee chairman Pasquale Salemi
told The Courant's Rick Green that it's enough for him that DiBella
says he didn't think he was doing anything wrong.
Pay no attention to the jury who whacked him or the judge who upheld the
verdict. MDC member Adam Cloud of Hartford
told Green there was "never anything substantive" in what DiBella did. That must be why, on the wings of its trial
victory against DiBella, the SEC is seeking a penalty
that could go over $1 million.
Figuring out just who is getting rewarded will take some scrutiny as the MDC's $1.7 billion is spent over the years. In state
government, however, gratitude is announced, celebrated and deployed to raise
money.
Speaker of the House James Amann will enjoy an evening
of warm tributes for combining a costly December special session of the House,
his annual Christmas party, and a fundraising event for St. Vincent's Medical
Center of Bridgeport and its charity Swim Across the Sound.
You may recall that Amann's December session required
the dismantling of scaffolding in the Hall of the House at a cost of $55,000.
He banged lobbyists and others for $250 a ducat to attend his Christmas party
the same day. Swim Across the Sound grossed $35,000.
No word on how much it cost the organization to pick up the tab for Amann's party.
On Jan. 16, Swim Across the Sound is feting its
"Legislator of the Year" at a $100-a-ticket sports-themed event. This year's recipient? Amann, of course. Lobbyists who thought they'd already done
enough should check their e-mail. They're not through with you.
Kevin Rennie
is a lawyer and a former Republican state lawmaker. His column appears Sundays
on the Other Opinion page. He can be reached at kfrennie
@yahoo.com.
