In light of the recent passing of Ansonia’s latest tax increase, I have to say that this is hard to understand given the current state of the economy, including high unemployment and an abundance of taxpayers on fixed incomes, especially senior citizens. As a life-long resident, Ansonia business owner, involved citizen and family man, I can’t help to notice that the taxpayers find themselves in the same situation every year.
We struggle with tax and fee increases, cuts in the wrong places, not enough funding in the right places, and less money in our pockets, not to mention outrageous WPCA fees that give new meaning to the phrase “poor planning.” Most people’s incomes are not keeping up with the rate of increased city spending. The city doesn’t seem to get that. It doesn’t appear that we ever make any real headway and just hear more excuses about less state money, increases in wages and health benefits that the same people who have been in office for over a decade say they have no control over it. That’s unacceptable. It makes me wonder why we keep electing them when they obviously have no solutions to our problems and no new ideas to help us out. It’s time to clean house.
If Ansonia is going to be successful, we need officials who have not been collecting dust in office since gas was $1.82 per gallon. I would encourage people to look ahead to November to get a jump on who will influence next year’s budget. Get involved. Speak out. Are those same old folks going to make our situation any better?
Now it seems we have a June referendum for capital improvements. Why is it on a special ballot at additional expense instead of being on the November ballot? Bonding is much better than raising taxes to pay for necessary items but that doesn’t excuse, yet again, the poor planning that City Hall seems to excel at. Proper planning, including contingency operations and funds, would have allowed the bonding issue to be on last year’s ballot or even this year’s November ballot.
Ansonia needs to be run like a business. Businesses look out at least five years into the future to try to predict upcoming expenses. They plan. They reduce costs. They implement new practices. This type of foresight eliminates the piecemeal, last minute attempts to fix problems by throwing taxpayers’ money at them. The city should be looking for every possible way to reduce taxes to alleviate the burden on the residents and attract new businesses.
An economic development study for Ansonia was completed in February. Why aren’t its findings being released to the public? What are we still without an Economic Development Director? Can we really afford not to put economic development into motion now?
Another important change that may help ease our increasing financial burden is a city charter revision. The Charter Revision Commission has been meeting since December and will present proposed changes to the Board of Aldermen and to the public in time for the November ballot. It’s time to pay attention to what is going on there and implement new approaches that give the citizens a say in being more fiscally responsible and holding the line on property taxes.
David S. Cassetti Ansonia