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Back To The Drawing Board
June 14 2007
West
Hartford
residents have a reputation for intelligence, by and large. Even if the local
taxpayers' association misled some voters into casting ballots Tuesday
against the town council's $203 million budget for 2007-08, misinformation
alone could not have produced such a lopsided result.
Almost 73 percent of the 10,832 residents who showed up at the polls voted to
reject the spending plan. The proposal called for a 3.48 percent increase in
expenditures and a rise in homeowner property tax of nearly 2 percent, or 6.6
percent when revaluation is factored in.
The council will have to adopt a new budget that contains enough cuts to
alleviate voter discontent and avoid another referendum in September. Most of
those reductions, unfortunately, will have to be drawn from education
services, which incur most of the town's costs.
Town officials should do a better job next time of selling their budget
proposals and countering the kinds of disinformation campaigns that sunk this
one.
High-quality education is a major part of West Hartford's
appeal. It's what keeps property values high and props up the town's triple-A
bond rating. But voters who dumped the budget overwhelmingly on Tuesday must
have thought spending went beyond what was needed to protect the town's
enviable schools.
Town officials can't let this happen again.
Copyright 2007, Hartford Courant
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