West Hartford News

05/17/2007
Residents to voice opinions in town-wide budget referendum
By: Glenn Shafer , Staff Writer


Residents will have an opportunity to cast their vote on the proposed 2007-2008 budget at a referendum in the next few weeks. Triggered by a petition circulated by the West Hartford Taxpayers Association, Town Council members will set the referendum date at their May 22 meeting.
In just over one week, the West Hartford Taxpayers Association gathered more than the minimum 2,280 signatures required by the town charter to bring the budget decision to referendum.
"There are a lot of people in West Hartford who are upset with the state of the budget," said Judy Aron, vice president of the West Hartford Taxpayers Association. "There are people complaining they will have to leave the town because of the taxes; people are really struggling."
To give residents some tax relief, the Town Council has decided to phase in the new re-valuations over a five-year period. The council also requested that the Board of Education reduce the proposed schools budget by $1.8 million. Currently, the Board of Education is examining potential cuts. (See related story, below, right.)
Aron said the Town Council should go back and find administrative costs to cut and make programs such as summer school, continuing education, and leisure services self-supporting. "We are at a time when we need to make some hard choices," she said. "This is not about just this year. What is coming down the pike with the MDC and energy costs are going to be a big difficulty. We can't afford 4 to 6 percent property tax increases each year."
This year, the Town Council adopted a $203.3 million budget, a 3.48 percent increase in spending. Residents will see a 6.6 percent increase in their property tax next year. Aron said the West Hartford Taxpayers Association wants spending and property taxes to increase no greater than 2.5 percent.
Already, the Board of Education is considering cuts in the number of teachers, language offerings, technology funding, and QUEST, a program for gifted and talented students.
"These are scare tactics," said Aron. "They cut in the classroom but keep administration costs in the budget."
Residents can calculate their new residential property taxes on the West Hartford Taxpayers Association Web site, www.whta.org

, using their old and new assessments.