From: Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Website: http://ctact.org/
email: fctopresident@ctact.org
860-524-6501
July 13, 2005
Review
Previous Tax Talk Issues on our Website at http://ctact.org/
WELCOME TO THE 53rd EDITION OF
TAX TALK
TAKE A BOW JACK
WALTON
Jack
Walton of the Watertown-Oakville Taxpayers Association and Vice President of FCTO has accomplished
what no other Connecticut Taxpayer Group member has, to our knowledge, to
date.
Jack has gained
a seat at the negotiations table as Board of Education contracts are negotiated
in his town. There is no one
more qualified to sit at this table than Jack.
FCTO extends our congratulations and appreciation to Jack Walton for his
dedication to serving taxpayers in his town and our State.
Jack’s
success is highlighted in the following news article as it appeared on 30 June 2005 in the Republican-American daily newspaper (Waterbury)
Unprecedented. Ground-breaking. About
time.
Those are
the types of words being used to describe a surprising development in the
school district's pending teacher contract negotiations that could have
far-reaching ramifications throughout the state. The Board of Education on Monday announced it
would extend an invitation to the Watertown-Oakville Taxpayers Association to
place an advisory member on the board's negotiating team for contract talks
that begin Aug. 3. Superintendent Joseph Erardi Jr.
delivered that message in writing to a group of four WOTA representatives
Wednesday morning in his office. Jack
Walton, WOTA's media spokesman, appears the most
likely choice to fill the position. He said he was given a thick binder
containing guidelines and ground rules, the current three-year pact and other
documents to peruse in making his preparations for the talks.“I will not have
a vote, but will have a voice," Walton said. The seating of the
WOTA member is being challenged, however, by the Watertown Education Association, the
teachers' union. The taxpayers'
association has been highly critical of town spending, particularly school
budgets, the past several years and has been blamed for the defeat of numerous
budget referendums. While it rarely sends members to openly speak at public
meetings, it has not been shy at castigating the education and teaching
establishments in newspaper letters to the editor and advertisements. Walton said WOTA has clamored for years to
have some type of representation in teacher contract negotiations, but nothing
ever came of its request. But for anyone
normally out of the loop to get a foot in the closed door of contract
deliberations is highly irregular.
"Phenomenal,"
was the reaction of Susan Kniep, president of the
Federation of Connecticut
Taxpayers Association. "We as a taxpayers' group will make sure the news
gets out, and hopefully next year it will be a concept to be embraced." Kniep said she is
unaware of any taxpayer organization in the state having previously landed a
member on a school contract negotiating team.
"If nothing else, this is a step toward that process," she
said. The state group, formed in the
1980s as the Connecticut
Association of Taxpayers Associations, has among its laundry list of goals
requiring union contracts and disputes to be negotiated and resolved publicly,
according to the organization's Web site (www.ctact.org). Frank McHale, WOTA president, said his
association will convene a membership meeting soon to draft recommendations
stating WOTA's positions that will be forwarded to Erardi. Walton had
previously stated the group would press for no pay increases for at least the
first year of a new pact. "The
taxpayers are fed up with the large (budget) increases year in and year
out," McHale said. The group wants the town to use $2 million from its
approximate $3 million fund balance to plug into the proposed 2005-06 budget to
offset tax increases. A combined $50.2
million town and school spending plan was soundly defeated at a second
referendum Tuesday. Asked if the offer
by the school board to WOTA was a subtle attempt to soften its opposition to
the budgets, McHale simply responded, "They're finally recognizing WOTA
with a seat for the teachers' contract, which is about time." WEA President Marcia Moriarty said a
"lose-lose" situation would develop with WOTA's
inclusion. "I don't know how they
will add to the collective bargaining table," she said, adding other
special interest groups, such as students, were not offered a seat but perhaps
deserve just as much consideration as WOTA.
"I don't get it," Moriarty continued, saying loyalty and
confidentiality will be compromised during the negotiating process. The legality of the development is being
looked into, she said. Erardi said his morning session with the WOTA
representatives lasted about 90 minutes. "The design was not to talk about
Jack's role, but to hand deliver the letter," he said. The new superintendent, who began work in the
district May 31, said the meeting gave him an "opportunity to understand
the landscape" of the community. "There
isn't one that I met that doesn't want the best for our children," Erardi said. The
three-year teachers' contract, which cost an additional $2.4 million more than
the contract before it, expires in August 2006. The last two contracts have
gone to arbitration. Phone messages left
with town attorney Randall McHugh, school board attorney Joseph B. Summa and Connecticut Education
Association union representative Jeff Mockler seeking
comment were not immediately returned.
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Donna McCalla, ctjodi@sbcglobal.net
Subject: Connecticut Tax
Experiences FY 2005-06
Hi, all. I am attaching the updated Budget
Adoptions Spreadsheet, as well as the CT Tax Increase Comparisons spreadsheet,
up to date as of last Friday, July 8.
There are now 9 unapproved budgets in Connecticut, although a
couple are up for vote again this week, and one approved budget
(Killingly) faces a recall vote. As you can see on the second tab of the Budget
Adoptions spreadsheet, municipalities (on average) who defeat a proposed budget
on the first referendum reduce the proposed tax increase by 2 percentage
points. For a third referendum, budgets are reduced by an
additional .5%, but interestingly, budgets going to a fourth round are (on
average) about 1.25% less than Round Three, and 3.5% less than Round One.
Since the statewide average tax increase remains at the
4.41% number, it is interesting that residents of those municipalities willing
to go to Round Four are making a significant impact on
the final tax rate set for FY 2005-06. Round Four continues to be the
"ceiling" this year; Killingly, as their
history for the past 4 years would indicate, remains the current holdout.
We wish them luck, as they are facing a number of financial issues. This information will hopefully prove useful
as budget season for FY 2006-07 begins in just 5 short months, especially given
recent news about reduced federal education funding, companies pulling out of
Connecticut (and resultant job losses), increase in "interest only"
mortgages, significant increase in consumer debt nationwide, slight reduction
in CT housing starts, etc. Thanks to
Edie Duncan of Granby's
help, we have been able to close out all other towns with the exception of the
9 unapproved budgets with detail on approved tax rates. A couple of the
towns have blanks in the "Approved Tax Increase" column because of revals and those towns are not able to provide that detail. Any corrections,
please let me know. Thanks, Donna
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Join with others who are attempting to defend their property
rights which have been affected by the recent Supreme Court decision. Visit FCTO’s
website to learn what you can do.
Governor Rell offers her comments below….
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Dennis Schain,
860-524-7313
July 11, 2005
dennis.schain@po.state.ct.us
Statement of Governor M. Jodi Rell on
Call for Legislative Hearings
on Eminent Domain
Governor M. Jodi Rell today
issued the following statement after legislative leaders announced a plan to
hold public hearings on the use of eminent domain for economic development
projects:
This issue is the 21st century equivalent of
the Boston Tea
Party: the government taking away the rights and liberties of property owners
without giving them a voice. But this time it is not a monarch wearing robes in
England we are
fighting it is five robed justices at the Supreme Court in Washington. I support the idea of public hearings on how
and when eminent domain should be used, especially for projects when blight is
not an issue. I believe firmly that the rights of property owners come first. The recent U.S.
Supreme Court decision in the Fort
Trumbull redevelopment
case has rightly created enormous concern among homeowners. I have heard from
people who worry that their rights might be superseded by a municipality's
desire however well-intentioned to create new opportunities for
growth and revenue. Home ownership is often referred to as the
American Dream. Our homes are the places where we raise our families and
build our lives. When government intrudes on our homes, it must have a
defensible reason. In the New London
case, the reason was not defensible. Defining
the right reasons for using eminent domain is properly the task of the
Legislature. That is one reason why I have supported Representative Ward's call
for the General Assembly to convene a special session to discuss this issue.
Public hearings are the first step to establishing those critical definitions.
We should do this right but we should not let the matter drag on for months. The Governor also said she supported asking
municipalities to forestall any eminent domain proceedings until the
Legislature has acted.
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NEWS LINKS WORTH READING AND SAVING
Websites to connect you to the political news
of the day…
http://www.politicsnationwide.com/
http://politicalwire.com/links.html
http://politicalwire.com/
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Another excellent website to keep you current on the news….. http://watchdog4pop.blogspot.com/
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For the
honest law abiding citizen who has no health insurance, here is how our tax
dollars are being spent for the criminals.
Jailhouse Medicine: A Million-Dollar Patient
May 15, 2005, By ROBERT A.
FRAHM, Courant Staff Writer
When the University
of Connecticut Health Center's
budget tipped into the red this year, officials blamed the cost of a single patient - a prison inmate whose pharmacy bill topped
$1 million. Read on…. http://www.uchc.edu/ocomm/features/stories/stories05/feature_jailhouse.html
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Remove The
Tax Blindfold
Dan Haar,
Hartford Courant, 6/26/05
The state legislature continues its special session
this week, but it won't consider two common-sense reforms that would have given
the public valuable information about who's paying taxes and where taxpayer
dollars are going. So
much for the Year of Accountability.
Read on http://www.courant.com/business/hc-haar0626.artjun26col,0,4317433.column?page=2&coll=hc-utility-business
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