Legion building trial to resume

According to a story printed in the Record Journal on Thursday the 11th Wallingford is set to go to trial on March 24 at 10AM with respect to the town’s right to demolish the Amer­ican Legion building since it decided against selling it.

It will be interesting to see the final ruling on this.

Certainly there would be a minor cost to demolish the building since it’s will probably collapse on its own in a short period of time since no funds at all have been committed to maintaining the building.

There would be the cost of removing the materials and any time and fees spent in court.

I’d love to get the final cost of the bills on this once all is said and done.

Technorati Tags: American Legion Building,Wallingford,Trial,Court

FROM WALLINGFORD - ‘It ain’t the money!’

This week’s edition of FROM WALLINGFORD was written by my counterpart Stephen Knight

“If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”

This quote, attributed to President Harry S Truman, could also serve as good advice to those who serve on some of the boards, committees and commissions of local Wallingford government.

An interesting February 26th Record-Journal article on these local bodies begs for elaboration. The article focused on the few whose members receive some finan­cial compensation, and referred to mem­bership in others as patronage positions. I suppose that’s fine as far as it goes, but those are isolated aspects of a much larger subject. I want to expand on why these people serve and how they are chosen, and then include a discussion of other committees serving the town govern­ment.

1) Why do they serve? Well, it ain’t the money. If the people serving on these town boards were paid by the hour, the town would have to request exemption from state minimum wage laws. That in­cludes Town Councilors, who receive $6,000 in annual compensation. The Board of Education works gratis, a strange anachronism of state law, by the way. Of the twenty-five boards, committees and commissions, only eight have compensa­tion of any kind, and much of that is for reimbursement of expenses.

Patronage? Webster’s defines that as “the power to make appointments to gov­ernment jobs especially for political ad­vantage.” Consider the contentious mosque-on-Leigus-Road issue at Planning & Zoning, the potentially hundreds of tax appeals coming up in this revaluation year, or the recent fun of being a political football as a member of the Board of Ethics. I’m not sure what you would call it, but it isn’t political patronage. And even though the Town Council and Board of Education are elected positions that of­ficeholders actually ask the voters for, you have to say that the hours spent at the fun ­filled Wooding-Caplan Town Council meetings or the recent Board of Educa­tion elementary school reconfiguration deliberations are not exactly rewards for doing anyone’s political bidding.

2) How are these folks chosen to serve on all these boards? Obviously, the Town Council and Board of Ed members are elected. Of the other twenty-three, twelve are Mayoral appointments and eleven are Council appointments. And even within those, only a handful of people are actu­ally chosen with input from the political parties. Many are chosen because they have become well known as community volunteers; others because of their inter­est in the subject of concern to that board. Yes, you certainly have a leg up if you par­ticipate in local politics, but that is hardly the only avenue. But the old adage “If you want something done, ask a busy person” fits. Many get asked to serve for that rea­son alone.

3) Lastly, the discussion of those serv­ing on Town of Wallingford boards and committees would be incomplete without mention of the ad hoc committees, espe­cially building committees, formed to oversee a specific project or study a particular issue. Space does not allow for list­ing them all, but the three School Building Committees of the past fifteen years and the Library Expansion Building Commit­tee will serve as the best examples. In each case, a relative handful of individu­als provided the town with expertise which would have otherwise cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to procure, and spent thousands of man­ hours overseeing huge and complex con­struction projects to a resoundingly suc­cessful conclusion. And, at the same time, answering to public officials, some of whom had lost sight of the fact that they were dealing, not with contracted vendors, but unpaid volunteers — if you get my drift.

So of the 150 or so individuals serving on twenty five boards, committees and commissions, 39 are compensated. And that compensation has no relationship to the responsibilities borne, the hours spent, or the javelin catching, chainsaw juggling work that these public-spirited people are often called on to perform. Ku­dos to them all.

Technorati Tags: FROM WALLINGFORD,opinion,committee,appointment,boards and commissions

Republican Selectman John Szewczyk exploring run for state representative

This story ran in the Middletown Press titled Durham selectman exploring run for state rep

John is a Republican Selectman in Durham and is exploring a run for state representative for the 100th District, which covers all of Durham and Middlefield and part of Middletown.

Democrat Matt Lesser currently holds the seat for the 100th District and was elected to a two-year term in 2008. Lesser said that he is currently exploring a run for re-election according to the story.

Technorati Tags: 100th District,State Representative,Durham,Middlefield,Middletown

Wallingford Democratic Town Committee endorses Dan Malloy for governor

The full story on this can be found online at MyRecordJournal.com in a story titled Wlfd. Democratic Town Committee endorses Malloy

Vincent Avallone, the newly reappointed chairman of the Democratic town committee, offered his own individual endorsement for Malloy as did State Representatives Mary Fritz and Mary Mushinsky according to the story by Dave Moran.

In addition to these personal endorsements, the committee in attendance voted to endorse Malloy for governor.

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,election,governor,Town Committee,Democrat

Wallingford Democrats re-elect all officers back to lead Town Committee

The Wallingford Demo­cratic Town Committee unani­mously re-elected all officers back for another two-year term at a special meeting.

Vincent Avallone was once again elected as Chairman, Peter Gouveia and Robin Hettrick were elected as vice chair­men, Samuel Carmody was elected as sec­retary and Mario Di Natale was elected as treasurer.

Read the full story in the Record Journal written by Dave Moran - Wallingford Democrats re-elect leaders

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,Town Committee,election,Democrat

NONPARTISAN JOKE THAT SPEAKS THE WHOLE TRUTH

As found circulating on the Internet…

 

While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the man.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do
is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you
can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the
senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St . Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes
down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself
in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse
and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians
who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar
and champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who
has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a
good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator
rises...

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter  is waiting for him.

“Now it's time to visit heaven."

So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing.

They have a  good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now
choose your eternity."

The senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would
never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but
I think I would be better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a 
barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.

"I don't understand," stammers the senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable.  What happened?"

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning…

Today you voted."

POLL RESULTS - What action would you prefer the Wallingford Board of Education make regarding Wallingford Public Elementary Schools?

Redistrict Schools - rebalance the current population across the eight elementary schools - 17 (20%)

Reconfiguration - doing away with K-5 schools for a K-2, 3-5 structure - 26 (31%)

Stand-by - take no action for the 2010 - 2011 budget and make plans for the 2011 - 2012 budget - 28 (34%)

Take whichever action that keeps the budget as low as possible - 11 (13%)

Votes so far: 82
Poll closed

Technorati Tags: budget,expense,finances,taxes,Wallingford,Board of Education,schools,reconfiguration

Wallingford - Contact information for the Mayor and the Town Council…

MAYOR - ELECTED OFFICIAL

• William W. Dickinson, Jr. (203) 294-2070

TOWN COUNCIL - ELECTED OFFICIALS

• Robert F. Parisi Chairperson -the2parisis@sbcglobal.net
• Gerald E. Farrell Jr. Vice Chairperson -gfarrelljr@att.net
• John LeTourneau - shadeone@sbcglobal.net
• Rosemary Rascati - roscati@sbcglobal.net
• Vincent Cervoni - vcbluzman@hotmail.com
• Craig C. Fishbein - attycraigfishbein@yahoo.com
• Nick Economopoulos - eco22@sbcglobal.net
• Vincent F. Testa, Jr. - vtesta@comcast.net
• John Sullivan - CouncilorSullivan@snet.net

Town Council Secretary - towncouncil.wlfd@sbcglobal.net  (203) 294-2155

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,Town Council,contact information,email

Summary of Wallingford’s budget outlook

As published in the Record Journal Wednesday February 17, 2010

2009-10 budget: $140,379,896
2009 grand list: decreased by 0.04 percent to $4.3 billion
Approximate loss of tax revenue: $300,000
School system budget, 2010-11: Expected to request $89 million, a 4.7 percent increase

Technorati Tags: finanaces,expense,budget expense,Wallingford,taxes

Teachers’ wages

An editorial written by By Richard P. Harkawik P­resident, Wal­lingford E­ducation Association – as published in the Record Journal on Saturday February 20, 2010

A common misconception concerns the salary increase Wallingford teachers received as a result of the last contract nego­tiations. The belief that all teach­ers received a 4.2 percent in­crease in salaries this year is not accurate.

The 4.2 percent represents a percentage of last year’s salary account.This “pool” of money is then used to first pay the cost of increments that are part of the contractual salary schedule; the remainder is then applied to all teachers as an increase. Thus, a 4.2 percent increase does not add 4.2 percent to all salaries. In fact, the majority of teachers re­ceived a 2 percent increase this year, as opposed to the national wage increase average of 2.8 per­cent. Much time was spent dur­ing negotiations in determining how we could “fix” the salary schedule so that it would be more evenly balanced between the different steps, and to make Wallingford more competitive in attracting and retaining quality teachers.

In fact, Wallingford lagged be­hind almost every other town in New Haven County when salary schedules were compared. In or­der to make Wallingford’s salary schedule more equal with the other towns, the 4.2 percent in­crease was necessary. Addition­ally, the teachers also made sev­eral concessions to help this happen: a step freeze this year, and the addition of one step in the schedule. Teachers now have 13 steps; other town unions have between 3 and 5 steps.

The contract itself was ap­proved by the Board of Educa­tion and the Town Council, dur­ing the worst of the economic crisis. Both had the opportunity to reject it; neither chose to do so. It was not long after this con­tract was passed last year that teachers were asked for give­backs. This year, again, we have been asked to make concessions. One has to wonder why agree­ments are made if the intent is not to honor them.

The process of negotiating a contract involves give and take. Wage increases are negotiated in the context of other components, such as insurance co-pays, premium shares, and other ben­efits. Aiming for this balance,the contract was negotiated in good faith, and we now look to the mayor and town council to honor their commitment to the education of our town’s children at the level of excellence they have always received from the teachers of Wallingford.

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,opinion,schools,wages,salary,contract,union

Wallingford’s grand list shrinks by 0.04%

So here is the five minute summary:

• The grand list has decreased by 0.04%
• This is a decline of about $300,000.00
• For the purposes of budgeting, the practice has been to assume that the grand list will generate between $700,000 and $1 million of new revenue from taxes alone for the town

The view from here is even dimmer; what this means is that an increases in costs and expenditures which include capital purchases as well as increases in salaries are going to come 100% on the backs of the tax payers as there is a loss of revenue instead of an offsetting gain from growth.

With revaluation coming up it will be interesting to see how much of that is going to land on the backs of Wallingford’s businesses and the residents of town.

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,taxes,budget expense,finances,grand list

AGENDA – WALLINGFORD TOWN COUNCIL

TOWN OF WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

Town Council Chambers

February 23, 2010

6:30 P.M

AGENDA

Opening Prayer – Father Gary Simone, Most Holy Trinity Church

1. Pledge of Allegiance

2. Roll Call

3. Consent Agenda

3a. Consider and Approve Tax Refunds (#563 - #596) totaling $9,025.60 Acct. # 001-1000-010-1170 - Tax Collector

3b. Consider and Approve a Transfer in the Amount of $2,000 to Fuel Crisis Community Acct # 001-3070-600-6810 from Contingency-General Purpose Acct # 001-7060-800-3190 - Mayor

3c. Consider and Approve a Resolution authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with Capital Community College, 950 Main Street, Hartford, CT and the Wallingford Fire Department and designate Peter Struble, Fire Chief, as the administrator for the EMT-Paramedic internship program for the purpose of furthering paramedic education of students – Fire Chief.

3d. Acceptance of Grant Appropriation of $2,399.40 to Revenue Highway Safety Acct # 001-1050-050-5883 and to Police Overtime Acct # 001-2005-101-1400– Police Chief

3e. Approve Minutes of Regular Town Council Meeting of February 9, 2010

4. Items Removed from the Consent Agenda

5. PUBLIC QUESTION & ANSWER

6. Consider and Approve a Transfer in the Amount of $75,000 to Materials and Supplies Acct # 001-5015-401-4100 from Contingency-General Purpose Acct # 001-7060-800-3190 - Public Works

7. Discussion and Possible Action regarding the Board of Education requests for proposals for strategic plan, transportation analysis, facility use/redistricting – Superintendent of Schools

8. Discussion regarding outside advertising on Board of Education property – Councilor Economopoulos

9. Discussion and Action with regard to the Town Council Procedures – Chairman Parisi

10. Executive Session pursuant to §1-200 (6)(E), 1-210 (b)(5)(B), 1-210 (b)(7) and 7-232a of the Connecticut General Statutes to discuss the possible acquisition of transmission assets by CT TRANSCO – Director Pubic Utilities

11. Executive Session pursuant to §1-200 (6)(D) of the Connecticut General Statutes with respect to the purchase, sale and/or leasing of property – Mayor

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,Town Council,Board of Education,budget,taxes

The FROM WALLINGFORD that wasn’t – Choate and a piece of the town budget

by Jason Zandri

NOTE – This was my submission for this weeks FROM WALLINGFORD article. The Record Journal could not use it the way I had submitted it so I have presented it below as originally submitted and in its entirety.

They explained the reasons to me and I understand their position and their decision.

Since there’s not enough time for me to create a new submission ahead of the publication deadline I believe the paper is going to run something else in the place of FROM WALLINGFORD this week.

With all the discussion lately regarding the Board of Education budget, reconfiguration, and what the Council and the Mayor will or will not approve there had been a number of different questions that have come up in the different discussions at some of the meetings and online.

Should we fire all torpedoes and raise the taxes?

Should we cut here and fund there?

Should we tap the rainy day fund and if so how much?

What are we planning to do about next fiscal year's costs?

One of the questions that came up from one of the parents that I found interesting and that I followed up on personally was with respect to the number of students that are housed on the Choate campus and attend schools in the Wallingford Public School system.

I thought there was a logical question in this topic.

There are some housing units (a few) on the campus that ARE taxed and ARE feeding into the town’s tax base, so the families that live there and are using the school services are, in effect, paying in (regardless of who is footing the actual tax bill).

There are also other housing units to consider. These are other buildings on the Choate campus that also house Choate students and their families where that real estate is not assessed for tax purposes. In some of these other housing units there are younger siblings and they are students that go to the elementary schools in town.

In an effort to find out what the cost impact was to Wallingford's bottom line with respect to this situation, I decided to contact Superintendent Menzo to see if he had these numbers or perhaps just the number of students that attended Wallingford public schools that lived in these untaxed housing units. As it turned out I needed to follow up with Headmaster Shanahan at Choate to get this information as Superintendent Menzo did not have this data.

I emailed Headmaster Shanahan and asked: how many students attend Wallingford Public Schools and live in housing belonging to Choate that are not assessed for tax purposes?

I didn’t expect the number to be really high (I was figuring about 20 to 24 students – guessing off the top of my head).

I thought it was a simple sounding question but it really wasn’t because there is a little more to it than just what I was asking.

Here is the response that I received.

OUR RECORDS INDICATE THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE 12 CHILDREN FROM 7 TAX-EXEMPT HOUSES ATTENDING WALLINGFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

BUT CHOATE IS CURRENTLY PROVIDING A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION FOR SOME 56* WALLINGFORD CHILDREN, 50% OF WHOM  RECEIVE SUBSTANTIAL (I.E. $2.4 MILLION) OF SCHOOL FINANCIAL AID.

[ONLY 30% OF NON-WALLINGFORD CHILDREN RECEIVE FINANCIAL AID.]

*CHOATE THEREBY IS RELIEVING WALLINGFORD PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE COST OF EDUCATING THESE 56 STUDENTS EACH YEAR.

This just goes to show you that sometimes there is a little more to a simple question than what meets the eye.

Where some felt there was a burden (and I admit at face value I initially thought there was too) there was actually a benefit.

Wallingford may be footing the bill for 12 additional children but we do not have to carry the burden for an additional 56 high school students. That is a net savings of whatever the cost burden is of 44 students.

I am sure that raising these points is going to have some of the nit-picky crowd coming up with a bunch of counterpoints. Some of the comments may well have some justification but the way I see things in this instance and with specific regard to the Board of Education budget, Wallingford is coming "ahead" of the game with a cost savings with respect to the net additional students.

For me, that is a little ray of sunshine in an otherwise bleak and overcast budget forecast.

Technorati Tags: FROM WALLINGFORD,opinion,Wallingford,taxes,budget,Board of Education

POLL RESULTS - Town planner files grievance over suspension, what action should the Mayor take? Linda Bush is seeking the removal of the disciplinary letter from her file and to be made whole for any and all losses.

The Mayor should keep his original judgment (suspension of Linda Bush) and deny the grievance

43 (97%)

The Mayor should change his original judgment and reinstate Linda Bush and make her whole

1 (2%)

Votes so far: 44
Poll closed

Technorati Tags: Linda Bush,Wallingford,suspension,Town Planner

VIDEO - Wallingford Town Council Meeting - January 26, 2010

Since the mayor has given the order to stop providing the Town Council and other meetings online, I have decided that in light of fact that there are other towns coming online to do this that I will provide the meetings as I am able to.

It’s your town – get informed and get involved.

Wallingford Town Council Meeting - January 26, 2010

Technorati Tags: wallingford,council,meeting,video,Town Council

VIDEO - Wallingford Zoning Board of Appeals - January 19, 2010

Since the mayor has given the order to stop providing the Town Council and other meetings online, I have decided that in light of fact that there are other towns coming online to do this that I will provide the meetings as I am able to.

It’s your town – get informed and get involved.

Wallingford Zoning Board of Appeals - January 19, 2010

Technorati Tags: wallingford,zoning board of appeals,meeting

POLL RESULTS - Should the testimonial dinner for Mayor Dickinson continue IF it is in violation of Connecticut General Statute Sec. 9-609?

My recent poll question “Should the testimonial dinner for Mayor Dickinson continue IF it is in violation of Connecticut General Statute Sec. 9-609” is now closed.

For those of you that have made comments regarding the ability to vote more than once on a poll, I have it set so that it is very difficult for most people to do this. You have to have enough knowledge to manipulate your browser and IP address settings enough for additional votes from the same system to register more than once and actually count.

The system is not fool proof but it does prevent casual voting manipulation.

Additionally, these are not meant to be scientific polls. They are meant to gather the thoughts and opinions of the participants.

There were 50 respondents in this recent poll.

9 of them (18%) felt that the event should be allowed to continue regardless of the ruling on the statute.

28 or 56% of the folks felt that the event should only occur after and ruling and it was found that the event was not in violation of the statute

13 voters (26%) thought the event should just be cancelled regardless of which way the ruling went.

I placed my own vote in the “Yes only if it is not in violation of the Statute” with the majority of the respondents. My thoughts have been if the ruling on the statute shows that it does not apply to the event, then the supporters should be able to have their event.

I also feel that if the ruling goes the other way, the event should be canceled. For all the difficulties in having to do that and some potentially lost monies, that is the right thing to do.

I find it interesting that 9 of the respondents indicated that they were OK with folks breaking a law since the first question stipulated that the event should be allowed to regardless of the Statute or any ruling on it.

The opinion of others is always very interesting to me. I would love to hear the reasoning or the justification on their thoughts on why they would support something like that.

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,testimonial,statute,complaint,poll

Dinner for Dickinson postponed

By Dave Moran
Record-Journal staff
dmoran@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224

As published in the Record Journal Saturday January 30, 2010

Follow all the news directly on the Record Journal Website for the most up to date information. www.myrecordjournal.com

Write a letter to the editor letters@record-journal.com

WALLINGFORD — Organizers of a dinner to honor Mayor William W. Dick­inson Jr. say the event will be delayed at least a month, now that a complaint has been filed with the State Elections En­forcement Commission, “We’re giving the elections commission a chance to look at this,” said Craig Fish­bein, a Republican town councilor who spoke Friday on behalf of the organizers of the event but is not involved in plan­ning it.

“We don’t think we’re doing anything il­legal. We’re giving (the commission) a chance to look at this,” Fishbein said.

Democratic Town Chairman Vincent Avallone filed the complaint Tuesday be­cause he said the dinner violates a state law that bars testimonials for elected offi­cials while in office.

The organizers of the event, a handful of local Republicans, have repeatedly stated that any profits from the dinner would be donated to a local charity, but the organizers’ first choice to receive the money, the Wallingford Center for the Arts, was not registered as a nonprofit charity, complicating the issue.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Dickinson said of the postponement. “I think it’s a wise course, rather than have something occur with some cloud hanging over it.”

When informed of the postponement Friday, Avallone offered little comment.

“I did what I had to do, so I really don’t have any reaction to what they’ve done,” Avallone said. “I’m sure they felt they did what they had to do.”

The $40-a-ticket dinner was originally scheduled for Feb. 6 at Villa Capri on North Colony Road, but has now been postponed to March 13.

Fishbein said the new date was chosen because it was the first date that Villa Capri had available, but the event could be postponed again or canceled if the elec­tions commission has not ruled on the complaint.

“We don’t want to break the law, but we don’t think the event is illegal,” Fishbein said. “You allow the process to occur by law, but if they dismiss the complaint then we’re going to have a grand old time.”

Nancy Nicolescu, a spokeswoman for the elections commission, declined to dis­cuss the complaint Friday. When asked if the dinner’s outright cancellation would negate it, she said, “I don’t know what the commission would do.”

The commission investigates more than 200 complaints a year, according to its Web site, and imposes sanctions in about two thirds of those cases.

The potential fine, according to Nico­lescu, would be $2,000 per offense against any person the commission finds to be in violation, or twice the amount of any im­proper payment or political contribution, whichever is greater.

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,testimonial,statute,complaint

GRAND LIST - No-growth grand lists mean facing up to ‘sobering reality’

Wallingford’s inventory actually declines, a sign of hard times

WALLINGFORD — The town released its 2009 grand list Friday, showing a decrease of $1,676,759, or about 0.04 percent, in the value of the town’s taxable property and real estate.

Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. termed the surprising drop a “sobering reality” of the tough economic times the town, state and nation are facing.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen this,” said Dickinson, who has held office since 1984. “I would say it’s a more troubled fiscal situation for the town go­ing into the 2011 budget than it was for the 2010 budget.”

The town’s current budget of $140.3 million grew by less than half a percent from the previous year, but from 2007 to 2008 the grand list grew 1.02 percent, giv­ing the town with an additional $1 million in tax revenue.

Dickinson said the new grand list, at $4.3 billion, means the town will enter the next budget year about $300,000 short in tax revenue, making an already tight budget even tighter.

“The bottom line is there will not be revenues generated beyond what we received in the current year for budget purposes,” Dickinson said. “So every budget that requests an increase, there is no new money generated to cover that increase ... there is no new money except for asking for higher taxes.”

Two of the list’s three categories, real estate and motor vehicles, actu­ally increased, at 0.62 percent and 0.95 percent, respectively; but per­sonal or business property saw a sharp decrease, of almost 8 percent. Assessor Shelby Jackson attributed the drop in personal property to two major factors: more businesses al­lowing equipment to depreciate without replacing it, and a new state law that exempts some machinery and equipment that had previously been taxable.

“It’s sort of like getting hit dou­ble,” Jackson said. “The assets are going down and we’re exempting more of what we would normally tax.”

Among the town’s top 10 taxpay­ers there was little movement, with Bristol-Myers Squibb far outpacing the other nine on the list with $126.95 million in taxable property and real estate.

The town’s seventh-highest taxpayer, Work­stage Connecti­cut, owners of the 325,000­ square foot Campus at Greenhill on Leigus Road, owes more than $750,000 in back taxes and is be­ing foreclosed on by the town. Comptroller James Bowes said it was wrong to as­sume that the town would not recoup that money. “The law office is all over it,” he said. Dickinson called the grand list a “critical tool” in fashioning the town’s annual budget, which by Town Charter he must complete by April 1.

“This is one of those indicators that really tells you what is going on with the economy and what will have a direct effect on our delivery of serv­ices,” Dickinson said, adding that it appears the town will have to face “a lot of tough decisions” in the coming months.

The grand list is not officially ac­cepted by the state until May 1. Be­fore that, the town’s Board of As­sessment Appeals will consider appeals from property owners who want to dispute assessments. The grand list will affect tax bills due in July 2010 and January 2011.

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,Grand List,taxes,budget

FROM WALLINGFORD - A cavalier attitude

JASON ZANDRI – FROM WALLINGFORD

Clearly, quite a bit of interest has spun up over the supporters of Mayor Bill Dickinson, wanting to honor his service to the town.

People that know me well enough know that I give the mayor his credit where it's due and have gone after him on issues where I feel he is not being open, objective and proactive with respect to our fine town.

It's also fair to say I do more of the latter than the former.

If the mayor's supporters wish to collectively pull together their own resources in order to have a testimonial for him and to celebrate his 25 years of service to the town, they should be allowed to do so - provided it is kept above board and does not consume tax dollars, I see no issue.

There is of course the matter of statute 9-609(b) that needs to be ruled on. (It can be found on my blog as cross-posted from the Connecticut General Assembly website.)

One lawyer has viewed it as not applicable to this testimonial and another has. As you can imagine, these views are not without the possibility of bias as one came from the Republican camp and one came from the Democrats.

Personal opinions on this abound, so we'll need an actual, legal ruling to be definitive.

My biggest concern comes from Robert Prentice, the chairman of the Republican Town Committee and his comments as quoted from the Record-Journal regarding cancelling the event:

"It would be very difficult to do that. Plus, the money we put out to Villa Capri already for down payments, that's money out of our own personal pockets," he said. "We got 200-plus tickets sold. You know what? We'll go through with it because what are they going to do to us, fine us?"

It concerns me when anyone is so full of bravado that they might willing disobey a law/statute/ordinance and boast of it in the newspaper.

To be fair, this hasn't been ruled on yet, so he may not be in violation of anything. If you read the quote, it certainly comes across as if it doesn't matter which side the ruling falls on. He's willing to move ahead, regardless.

People in a the place of public view such as celebrities, sports figures, politicians and so forth should understand that every-day Joe and Jane will hold them to at least an equal, if not higher, standard than themselves.

When they see this kind of cavalier attitude, how do you think they are going to respond? "If the law/statute/ordinance doesn't apply to them, why should it apply to me?"

Why should someone shovel their walk? "All they can do is fine me."

Why should they clean up their property? "The town doesn't self-police on the blight rules."

Why should they mind the parking regulations? "There are town cars illegally parked; they don't get ticketed so I don't expect to either."

I could go on, but my point is made.

You can't expect every-day people to follow laws/ordinances if public figures can't be bothered and are brazen enough to be quoted in the newspaper to that effect.

Laws, statutes and ordinances need apply to everyone equally.

There are two weeks to the testimonial; I would think a ruling could be had by then.

If the ruling on the statute shows that it does not apply, then the supporters should be able to have their event. If the ruling goes the other way, the event should be canceled. For all the difficulties in having to do that and some potentially lost monies, that is the right thing to do.

The mayor has been quoted as saying he is a reluctant participant to this event. I hope he doesn't end up in the category of "guilt by association."

Technorati Tags: Wallingford,testimonial,statute,complaint