I just got through watching the vote on the 09/10 Cheshire operating budget. I don’t know any of the figures-and you know what-I don’t care. All I know is the mill rate is 26.
I am really SAD, because I feel the people that run this town really don’t listen to certain people-like the people who have resided here most of their lives and just did not come here “for the schools.”
I came here BEFORE I was married and BEFORE I had kids. My spouse had a house here-I was living in an apartment in Naugatuck-and we were getting married in several months-so this was the best option.
I am disappointed that not one of my suggestions was even taken into consideration, never mind any of Tom Ruocco’s or Tim White’s or the best one-the request by Councilman Sima to the Town Manager asking for an overview of what would happen in the Community Pool was reduced to a one season pool-NO RESPONSE-unbelievable.
This town needs to understand-the state IS BROKE!! The state of the economy is BROKEN!! Not that much will change-sure, most people who are unemployed will get jobs-BUT WHAT TYPE OF JOBS? Part-time-underemployed? Will they be able to make the same wage or live the same life.
Cheshire really has not seen it too BAD YET!! But what about two to three years from now when all this stimulus comes to an end? Will the present Town Council not care because maybe they won’t be on the Town Council anymore? WHO KNOWS!!
When I was a young girl OVER 50 years ago-Bridgeport WAS LIKE CHESHIRE-mostly the same socio-economic group-very little crime. I remember when I started at the Bpt Post in 1979, a murder WAS RARE-A SMALL PETTY CRIMINAL OFFENSE WAS RARE-FRONT PAGE NEWS!!
Bridgeport spent PLENTY of cash then-they had it-But then in the mid seventies, things started to change-the gas shortages, the factory closings-the economy took a nosedive. Then Bridgeport was FORCED to make changes-FORCED to cut back. And the rest is history or I should say the rest is: towns like Monroe, Trumbull, Easton, Shelton-even Cheshire.
These were little farm communities that grew because of middle class flight. Taxes skyrocketed-and that was the final blow.
But guess what-there is NO WHERE ESLE TO GO NOW!! SOON IT WILL BE PAYBACK TIME!!
Of course we cannot compare Cheshire with the surrounding towns-they have DIFFERENT ISSUES. JUST ABOUT, not everyone, but just about, everyone here is in the same socio-economic group so there is very little crime.
When you read about Bridgeport or other cities spending 10,000 or 11,000 dollars per pupil on education-you have to remember that most of this goes for things not related to education-i.e. free before school breakfast or free or reduced lunches-specialized programs like English as a second language-after school programs-these cost a ton of money. So the comparison is really not fair.
Also, many municipalities have their bus drivers as employees of the Board of Education as Westport does-WE DON’T WHICH IS SMART. It all depends on the union contracts.
But many towns DID obtain union concessions-was it an overreaction, erring on the side of caution?? I don’t know, but I would rather play is safe than sorry in the years to come, which may be the case with this town.
Just like the killer bees have made their way into the southern part of the United States from the African continent, I believe no suburban town will be immune from problems that once only plauged the cities. It just takes time to travel-but it will get here.
My recommendations: reduce the Town Attorney budget from well over $300,000 a year to $136,000 a year-as is budgeted in Trumbull-and that is the figure for FOUR attorneys-get out of Chesprocott and just have our own health director as Southington does-remember, THEY were thinking of joining Chesprocott years ago; make the pool one season in two years-thus giving the town of Cheshire time to make other arrangements-stop funding the Probate Court that is a state entity and INSIST that the State Dept of Corrections PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE OF THE SEWER USAGE-would have saved this town close to a million dollars-NOT EVEN DISCUSSED-oh wait, they did discuss the pool for 30 seconds.
So let us look at some mill rates in different towns:
To see the ENTIRE CERC listing of ALL the towns: type in www.products.cerc.com
On these CERC profiles, you have to scroll down to the second page and look on the right hand side for the mill rates.
CNN’s Top Money Earning Towns in the U.S for 2008
Now a few of you wanted to know why Cheshire’s property tax is sort of high in relationship to VERY AFFLUENT towns like Darien and New Canaan-which are the top three wealthiest towns in the United States according to CNN’s TOP MONEY EARNING TOWNS FOR 2008.
Do you see now why HARTFORD-which literally gives the bird to Fairfield County-Is now shiteing their pants literally-look at all this revenue!!!
Yeah, Hartford, the capitol of CONNECTICUT SHOULD BE IN FAIRFIELD.
You bet your ASS Fairfield County is holding up this state-without Fairfield County-Connecticut would be—-well you finish the sentence.
Well, to be honest, Cheshire overtaxes. It worked out for the better this year-maybe it is what needs to happen as long as the constituency doesn’t complain. I don’t know. But over the weekend, I will be consulting with a tax expert to further explain how the Town of Cheshire pulled off this no mill increase.
Now I did receive a few comments that these people wanted to remain private-so be it-about a tea party rally in the Cheshire area-I don’t know if it would be Cheshire or not-but supposedly on April 15, a few people in the area will be carrying signs saying they want to T-bag people.
YEAH!! I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THIS OUT IN PUBLIC-AND GUESS WHAT?? SO WOULD THE POLICE.
