Hartford Courant

Petition Drive Succeeds In Bringing Budget To Vote

By DANIEL P. JONES
Courant Staff Writer

May 11 2007

WEST HARTFORD -- Town voters will get a chance next month to vote on a proposed 2007-08 budget that would raise virtually all homeowners' property taxes by 6.6 percent.

To no one's surprise, the local taxpayers' organization has surpassed the number of signatures needed to force a referendum on the budget, adopted last month by the town council.

Petitions submitted so far by the West Hartford Taxpayers Association contain more than 2,300 voters' signatures, exceeding the threshold of 2,280 to trigger the townwide voting, Town Clerk Norma Cronin said Thursday.

"The group has submitted signatures more than sufficient for the referendum," she said.

A June referendum date will be set by the town council at its May 22 meeting Cronin said.

Theresa McGrath, president of the taxpayers' group, said her members were excited that there will be a referendum. "Everyone worked so hard and we've had tremendous support from people of all ages from all over town," she said.

Mayor Scott Slifka said he encourages voters to learn about the budget and take part in the referendum.

"It's a very significant vote and we hope residents will pay attention to the details, make an informed decision and, most importantly, participate in the vote," he said.

The last time West Hartford had a budget referendum was in September 2004, when voters approved the budget. There were two budget referendums that year. The first was in June, when voters overwhelmingly defeated a budget. Under the town charter, the town can hold no more than two referendums per annual budget.

Town officials usually try to schedule referendums so they don't conflict with the start of summer vacations or significant events such as graduations. The Conard and Hall High School graduations are scheduled for June 19.

The council voted 8-0 on April 24 to adopt a budget that includes an overall tax increase of less than 2 percent but will raise virtually all homeowners' property taxes 6.6 percent because of the recent revaluation. The $203.3 million budget calls for a 3.48 percent spending increase over the current town budget.

Under the spending plan adopted by the council, the effect of the revaluation, which shifted some of the tax burden from commercial to residential properties, will be phased in over five years, with 25 percent of the effect phased in the first year.

Motor vehicle taxes will drop.

The council set the tax rate at 39.39 for every $1,000 of assessed value. But that rate will not apply to the full assessed values set in last October's revaluation. The first year phase-in means that homeowners will pay about 6.6 percent more in property taxes in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The tax rate is artificially high in the first year because it applies to only 25 percent of the revaluation effect and will drop over the five years, to approximately 29.17 mills, according to the mayor.

Without the revaluation phase-in, the budget adopted by the council would increase property taxes 1.94 percent.

Contact Daniel P. Jones at djones@courant.com.

Copyright 2007, Hartford Courant