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Letters to the editor of the New Haven Register, New Haven, Connecticut, http://nhregister.com. Email to letters@nhregister.com.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Hamden Republican leader predicts taxes will double

This from the New Haven Register: “Hamden has roughly $56 million in its pension fund. If it were fully funded, it would have more than $400 million invested for pensioners and current town employees.”
My question is: Does anyone care? Sure, the pensioners have a major concern and they should, but what about the taxpayers?
Year, after year, after year the same people get re-elected who not only have not been able to solve the problem, but worked hard at making it worse. This problem will ultimately deal all residents of Hamden a cruel blow - from renters to homeowners to business conducting their trade in Hamden.
Should the council decide to bond the pension, the interest payments alone would eat up a big chunk of the budget. Remember, we will be borrowing money for the expressed purposes of insuring those folks who worked for promises made by this and past administration are paid in full, some of who are enjoying pensions is excess of $50,000 per year with the highest being paid over $100,000 per year.
Many members of the current administration helped craft the current calamity. They, along with longtime members of the council who endorsed this nonsense are to blame – members like Al Gorman, Jack Kennelly, Carol Nobel, Kathleen Schomaker, John DeRosa and Michael Calaiacovo have become permanent fixtures thanks to voters who haven’t been paying attention.
So what does this mean? The answer is obviously higher and higher taxes. It would not surprise me to see taxes double within 10 years. The only other solution is to file bankruptcy. Ultimately the voters will have to decide this November to continue on the path of financial ruin or maybe, just maybe, the outcome of the election will be different than what history has shown.
Ron Gambardella
Chairman of the Hamden Republican Party
Hamden

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can someone explain the downside for the taxpayers if we did
go the bankruptcy route? I have read that Central Falls Rhode
Island was in a similar situation, and Chapter 9 finally got
them on the right track. Thank you

March 15, 2013 at 1:30 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can someone explain the downside for the taxpayers if we did
go the bankruptcy route? I have read that Central Falls Rhode
Island was in a similar situation, and Chapter 9 finally got
them on the right track. Thank you

March 15, 2013 at 3:27 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Declare bankruptcy, which will nullify all union contracts. Then provide the unions with the names and addresses of all the city politicians that committed this fraud over the last few decades.

March 16, 2013 at 7:54 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hamden MUST consider bankrutpcy as one option--at the minimum to restructure contracts and benefits, which have been promised beyond the ability of the town to pay. Scott Jackson, et al., are not going to be willing to look at this alternative. Jackson, et al., will probably ask the unions for some minimal, pathetic concession, and then declare victory . . . . and then jack up taxes anyway! Hamden voters should give the Republicans a chance to solve this mess.

March 16, 2013 at 9:16 AM 

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