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