Thomas MacMillan Photo
As the mayor prepared for a rare appearance at an aldermanic budget meeting, aldermen gathered on the steps of City Hall to issue a “no tax hike” call.
Meanwhile, budget watchdog Jeffrey Kerekes announced his organization has gathered 1,000 signatures for a petition to trim the city budget and avoid increasing taxes.
The maneuvering took place as the the Board of Aldermen’s Finance Committee prepares to gather Wednesday night to deliberate on Mayor John DeStefano’s proposed $476 million budget for the coming fiscal year. The budget calls for a property revaluation phase-in that will result in an average tax increase of 8.8 percent.
That has provoked some loud protest and criticism, which DeStefano plans address when he makes an appearance at the meeting.
If you can’t attend the meeting, you can follow along here at the Independent, where we plan to live-blog the event.
Over the past weeks, the Finance Committee has heard from city departments seeking to claim their piece of the budget. Last week, members of the general public got their chance to speak, and hundreds of people turned out to decry the proposed tax hike.
The taxpayers’ message has been heard, said West Rock Alderman Darnell Goldson (second from left in photo), as he stood on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday evening. With him were (from left) Aldermen Claudette Robinson-Thorpe, Gerald Antunes, Jackie James-Evans, and Michael Smart. The five aldermen called for the Finance Committee to find a way to avoid any increase in taxes.
Goldson said the call was supported by two other aldermen who couldn’t make the press conference: Dolores Colon and Alfreda Edwards.
“This time, in this economy, is not the time to add to the burden” of taxpayers, Goldson said.
“People spoke loud and clear last week,” said James-Evans, referring to the public budget hearing.
Goldson said he and his fellow zero-percent-increase aldermen are not yet offering specific suggestions about how to trim the budget to avoid a tax hike. “We’re going to allow the Finance Committee to do its job,” he said. If the committee can’t find the money to avoid a tax hike, Goldson and his colleagues will step up and offer recommendations, he said. “We don’t want to take away from their process.”
In terms of what can be cut, “everything is on the table,” Goldson said.
Something has to be done to prevent people from moving out of town because of high taxes, James-Evans said. “We’re losing our middle class.”
Asked if the zero percent stance was a firm position, or if there is middle ground to be found, Goldson said, “That’s not how you negotiate. Our position is a zero percent tax increase.”
Moments later, upstairs in City Hall, the mayor reacted to the aldermen’s call. He said he is open to any plan that would prevent a tax hike. “The goal is no tax increase.”
Mayor DeStefano said he wants a budget that will ensure school reform moves forward, public safety is adequate, and economic development continues.
“I’m open to doing cuts,” DeStefano said. However, cuts come with consequences, he said. “You’ve got to reconcile taxes and services.”
For instance, people sometimes say the fire department budget should be cut. But no one said that a few weeks ago when firefighters were able to quickly douse a big fire on Dixwell Avenue before it could spread, the mayor said.
DeStefano said he has made tough cuts before — closing schools and senior centers — and faced a lot of angry taxpayers. If there are more cuts to be made, there will be anger again. “People will feel this,” he said.
Goldson, speaking later on the first floor of City Hall, said he’s willing to speak to his constituents and own up to any loss of services that might result from a zero percent tax increase budget. If they don’t like it, “they can vote me out,” he said.
1,000-Strong
Earlier, on Tuesday afternoon, Jeffrey Kerekes of New Haven Citizens Action Network sent out a press release announcing that his organization has gathered 1,000 signatures to a petition calling on the “city’s political leaders to reign in flagrant excessive spending” in next year’s budget.
The petition was presented to the Finance Committee at its meeting last week. It asks for a 10 percent budget cut for all city departments, including police, fire, and the Board of Education.
“The financial path we are on is simply unsustainable in either the short or long term,” Kerekes said in the release. “This is the worst economy since the Great Depression and still the mayor is attempting to borrow another $100 million and keep the rest of the city’s expenditures at unreasonably high levels.”
An Olive Branch
Mayor DeStefano said Tuesday he plans to make a rare appearance Wednesday night before the Finance Committee.
He said he doesn’t plan to announce any changes to his $476 million budget proposal.
Rather, he’s there to extend an olive branch in a fractious year, he said.
His planned message: “Let’s work together to get this done.”
DeStefano said he wants the aldermen know his administration is ready to discuss proposed changes to the budget. Also, by Wednesday night the city should have a good sense of how the new state budget will turn out, a crucial piece of information in crafting th city budget.
“It’s been an extraordinary year because of the economy” and because, unlike last year, his administration is raising taxes, he noted.
Paul Bass contributed reporting.