Information about the
Petitions
The
Petition drive has begun. A copy of
a blank petition form is here. You can
print it out and collect signatures.
We are looking to collect 2,600
signatures by July 31st. If you
have time, please work to get signatures from your friends and neighbors and
then turn the completed petitions into Judy Aron (phone: 523-7257, address: 40
North Quaker Lane). Other people co-ordinating the effort are Linda
Dinapoli (phone: 561-8008, address;
Again, here is information regarding the petition effort:
-
Petition holder must be a registered voter.
-
Petition signer must be a registered voter.
-
Make sure names & addresses of petition signers are printed clearly on the
petition in indelible pencil or ink.
-
If you cannot read the names and addresses of the petition signers, the town
won't be able to read it, which will cause them to cross it off.
-
You can print their names and addresses for signers - but the person must sign
their own name themselves.
-
The petition signer can only sign the petition once, and they cannot sign for
someone else.
- Drop off petitions at either location above.
Please call Judy Aron - 523-7257, with any
questions you may have, and what times you might be available to go to
different places in town to get signatures.
Thank you in advance for all your work! We can do this quickly if
everyone pitches in.
Why are
we doing a second referendum?
On
June 25th, WHTA members met and voted to gather petition signatures to force
another budget referendum. The reason is that people are still not
satisfied with the new budget that was adopted on June 24. Clearly our members
felt that Town Management has to do more to offer meaningful tax relief to our
residents who are struggling with higher energy and food prices. We feel that
the reductions that were made do not adequately address the underlying problems
of spending in our budget. The cuts that were made (leaf collection, selling
two parcels of land, raising certain fees) really only reduced the operating
budget by a relatively small amount.
This will do little to stave off future budget increases which are forecast to be in aggregate
of 42% in only 5 years. We will need to increase taxes that much just to
sustain current employee compensation (like fringe benefits) and other programs
in town if we do not get overall Town spending under control. We also had to deal with an enormous deficit
of $615,000 because of money the Town thought they were getting from the State
in PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) Funding. The WHTA has been demanding that a
management audit be done to identify areas of waste and redundancy and to see
where policy changes could be made to save us some money. So far, that idea has
been scoffed at and denied by our elected leaders. They claim we do not need a management audit,
although we have seen an expense report which shows questionable use of our
Town credit card, money spent on catering meals for the Board of Education, and
we have seen other areas in Town spending which seem imprudent, or lack
priority in these difficult economic times. Be that as it may, the Town claims
this is a “maintenance budget” and that what they are asking you to pay is
required to run the Town.
The
currently adopted budget (after the first referendum) was only reduced by $2.6
million and the resulting change is an overall spending increase of roughly 5.5%
translating into a mill rate of 37.09 and a tax bill increase of 6% for the median
residential taxpayer. Many
of us may even end up paying more than a 6% increase on our tax bill.
Calculate your property tax based on the 2008-09 proposed budget and mill rate using
this calculator (Excel spreadsheet) and the assessment of your property
from the town property records system. Just
plug in the 2005 and 2006 assessments (pre and post revaluation) shown for your
property on the town property records system, and the calculator will show you
what your tax will be with this proposed budget which is expected to tax us at
a 37.09
mill rate. The town of
Other
Information
We
also want to make you aware that according to the Town Charter, a second
referendum must be held on the last Tuesday of September. This year, this
coincides with the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana, and those observing the High
Holy Days may have to vote via absentee ballot. Please keep this in mind.
For
your information too, West Hartford Taxpayers Association has also
amended/extended our PAC (Political Action Committee) in order to properly take
a position on this second referendum. You are welcome to make donations
to our PAC by printing out the form
and sending it in.
Here
was a letter to the editor
that was printed in West Hartford News (07/03/08) with one person’s opinion as
to why we are doing a second referendum.