Politics & Government
Citizens at Budget Hearing Told That Increase Is Now Under 3%
Several residents say anything more than zero is unacceptable.
Residents who came to speak at a hearing on the town budget got the news from Mayor Scott Slifka that the 4.6 percent tax rate increase proposed for 2011-12 has been whittled down to under 3 percent by Town Manager Ron Van Winkle.
Slifka didn't offer any details about Van Winkle's efforts, but one of his proposals has involved increasing the hours of parking meters in the town center to increase revenue.
Several of those who spoke at the hearing on Monday afternoon said the town council should keep the budget to a zero percent increase, others asked for fiscal restraint on the increase, and one supported the budget as it was proposed.
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Resident Francis Dilion said that the budget process didn't allow for enough public input.
"The public is left out of the decision-making process," Dilion said. "This council has regularly imposed increasing tax burdens upon us."
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Minou Roufail, who mainly addressed the school budget, said it was a "maintenance budget" that supported the same programs approved in last year's referendum. She said the increase in the overall town budget was lower than she had expected given the economic issues faced by the country.
"The drivers of our budget are hardly local," she said.
Leslie Sanders, a town resident who manages , asked the council not to extend the parking meter hours or to add hours on Sunday, which is now free.
"I'm consistently fighting off angry guests saying 'I have to come back out and feed the meter,'" she said. "To be perfectly honest, it's taking away from business."
George Kennedy, president of the West Hartford Taxpayers Association, said the council should strive for a zero percent budget increase.
"Folks, the cupboard is bare," he said. "This budget is beyond our means — we can't afford it. We are building a financial house of cards. ... It is time to aggressively plan and manage our financial future."
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