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Residents
Call For Reduced Budget
By DANIEL P. JONES
Courant Staff Writer
April 6 2007
WEST HARTFORD -- Residents fearing major property tax increases as a
result of soaring assessments after revaluation implored the town
council Thursday night to cut the town managers' proposed budget for
2007-08.
"The tax increases are just way out of control," said Ray Ferrari,
a Ravenwood
Road homeowner.
He was one of about 20 residents who spoke during the second of three
public hearings on Town Manager Jim Francis' proposed budget.
Earlier this week, the board of education trimmed nearly $2 million
from the proposed school budget. The board adopted a $120.1 million
budget and sent it to the council for consideration. The overall town
budget would include the school spending plan, $70.7 million for
municipal operations and $16.5 million for capital projects.
The proposed budget, before school spending was reduced, would have
decreased the property tax rate from 46.19 mills to 31.43 mills. The
drop in the tax rate, however, comes as most properties' assessments
have surged because of revaluation last October, the first since 1999.
The council is expected to reduce the proposed budget and will vote on
a spending plan April 24.
All but one of the residents who spoke Thursday night criticized the
proposed spending plan and several of them complained about what they
viewed as unfair property assessments resulting from the revaluation.
George Kennedy, a Waterside
Lane homeowner, said the revaluation was
done at the height of the housing market and houses now for sale in his
neighborhood are not selling well. He said assessments were based on
subjective, inconsistent and incorrect judgments that led to properties
being overvalued or undervalued.
"Some homeowners got gored," he said. "It pits neighbor
against neighbor."
Some of the residents who spoke during the hearing erroneously assumed
that Francis, the town manager, would get an 18 percent salary increase
in the proposed budget. He is not set to get any increase, according to
town officials.
After the hearing ended, Mayor Scott Slifka
stayed at town hall and spoke with several taxpayers for about 90
minutes to answer questions and to clear up incorrect assumptions about
the budget, such as the town manager's salary.
Joseph Arbuglio, a Grassmere
Avenue resident and a leader of the Independent Tax Group of West
Hartford, said during the hearing that taxpayers will go forward with a
referendum on the budget unless the spending plan is reduced
significantly.
The final public hearing on the proposed budget is scheduled for
Tuesday at 5:45 p.m. in town hall's Legislative Chamber, Room 314.
Contact Daniel
P. Jones at dpjones@courant.com.
Copyright
2007, Hartford Courant
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