House passes reval bill...but is this a good thing?

While I spent the day covering a number of events at the Capitol, I was able to watch the House join the Senate in approving the reval bill.

The House joined the Senate Tuesday in giving final passage to a bill that would allow municipalities to delay their property revaluations until 2011.

The bill passed the House Tuesday 125 to 18 and was immediately transmitted to Gov. M. Jodi Rell for her approval.

Rep. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, said as chairman of the legislature’s Planning and Development Committee he reluctantly came to support the legislation.

Once the Governor signs the bill Mayor Boughton will stop this year's phase-in of the reval.

...sounds great right? Well, not so fast. Remember, don't think of this as a tax break but rather a deferment...you'll still have to pay the piper NEXT year!]

ALSO, residents need to understand that the determining factor in tax rates is SPENDING...and when it coems to that subject, Danbury's current mayor's spending habits are killing us.

For example, let me point you to an exchange readers at CTNews Junkie are having on this very subject. Although the focus on this conversation is New Haven, in this case, you can easily substitute references to the Elm City (and DeStefano) for the Hat City (and Boughton).

Many local leaders would like nothing better than to portray themselves as the hapless victims of state law, rather than what they are: elected representatives refusing to make difficult budgetary decisions.

The driving force in determining tax rates is spending. This is expressed through a town's mill rate. Property valuations are a footnote. Focusing taxpayer attention on the phase-in (or a freeze of it), is irresponsible, in that it distracts from the real issues facing our towns and cities.

New Haven has approximately $1.5 billion dollars in debts and unfunded liabilities. Our mayor and aldermen seem to be ducking the issue. Unless this is addressed, it seems to me that taxes are going to go have to rise steeply sooner or later, services are going to be cut, and the city will have limited options at a time when pursuing new options is critical.

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People must know that assessed values are not the basis of taxes, instead as Tim so rightly points it is spending. To illustrate, had New Haven frozen spending and continued the phase-in the mill rate would haven been lowered. They didn't want this since a lower mill rate would generate less revenue from personal property and motor vechicle. New Haven will continue to operate on the verge of bankruptcy, but the mayor hopes this recent misleading of the tax payers will keep him in office.

Food for thought when you think about the out-of-control spending habits of Boughton...but I'll dig into that later. For now, since you've read this piece, go back and watch Councilman Warren Levy's comment regarding the problems with this year's budget in the post below.