2007 Budget

Soon you will be asked to vote on the budget for New Milford. Below are some charts to help you quickly see where your taxes are being spent.

63% of your taxes are going to education . If you include the portion of the Debt that is paying for education-related items such as the high school, then two thirds, or 66%, of your taxes are going to education.

Not all of the $89 million budget is coming from property taxes. About 29%, or $25 million, is coming from other sources such as fees and the state government. Over half of the $25 million comes from the state government which, as you know, gets its money ultimately from one place: your wallet.

So $63 million of the town budget must be raised via local property taxes.

The vast majority of the budget is related to people. Teachers or town employees who provide the services of the town. So short of cutting back on people there is little opportunity to significantly cut the budget.

What never seems to be talked about is how to increase revenue other than property taxes. Our town pension fund, which is close to $25 million, has investment returns which are well below its peers. Each percentage point of increased investment returns means $250,000. Other towns in our same economic situation get much more money from the state. Why?

Every year we hear the argument, "I don't have any kids so why should I pay for education." I think that is the wrong way of looking at it. I was the youngest of six kids. There is no way the taxes my mother and father paid made up for the cost of six educations. I think if you look at your yearly taxes as payment for the education you received as a child, education taxes might seem more palatable. You might not agree with the dollar amount spent on education but at least you can agree that you should pay some amount towards education.

Robert Kostes

Chairman - New Milford First

Republican Monopoly
Robert Kostes - Chairman

The Republican monopoly pushed through more cuts before approving the budget. They marched in to the Town Council meeting with a list of cuts and didn't even bother to have copies for their Democratic colleagues.

The Republicans made heartfelt pleas for the working families who have to work two jobs to pay their mortgage. It is hard for me to disagree with the desire to cut costs but not at the expense of quality of life. However, it was the way in which these cuts were done which was disturbing.

Councilman Szendy refused to give a reason for the cuts. Perhaps he didn't want to divulge the real reason. Herein lies the dilemma for the monopoly.

The monopoly answers to the developers in town and no one else. Some level of development is necessary in a healthy community, but when it is the sole focus, problems arise. Lower taxes make homes more competitive versus other towns further south.

Building a house has a certain amount of economic benefit; however, there are also costs which include an increased demand on town services (roads, schools, police, etc.). A child in the school system costs about $9,000. A typical home pays $6-8,000 in taxes. Every new home puts an upward pressure on the cost of town services. A small group reaps the economic benefit but the additional costs are borne by all homeowners.

The monopoly is the very cause of the higher budgets they are cutting. I expect that the plan is to keep taxes artificially low until there are no more homes to build. Then taxes will jump dramatically to reflect the true needs of the town. At that point, they won't care if you can afford to live here or not. Voters must decide if this is the path they desire.

Welcome

Welcome to the New Milford First blog. New Milford First is a local political party in New Milford, Connecticut. Visit our web site at www.newmilfordfirst.org.

Here you will find letters and articles that have appeared in the local papers as well as discussions on topics suggested by NMF members and members of the New Milford community.

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