A letter to the editor written by WRTC Chairman Len Walker and submitted to the Windsor Journal August 17, 2024 that was not published:
August is an interesting month for residents in Windsor and across the State. Many residents are complaining about the burdensome costs of utility bills. One source of many complaints is the public benefits portion of our Eversource electric bills. The blame for this cost lies with the democrats in the State legislature, because they agreed to put the cost of those mandates on consumers. To add insult to injury, PURA just approved more increases to electric bills. We are now forced to pay a new increase for improvements to the electric grid to charge electric vehicles. I have never agreed to make our energy sources all electric, so why am I paying for electric vehicle usage?
Added to this deduction from household budgets is the very high cost of living increases. Everyone has increased costs for basic food items, and many in our neighborhoods are having to make decisions between buying food or paying for prescription medicines.
While some Windsor residents may be able to afford these rising costs, there are many residents who are struggling to make ends meet. We have seniors on fixed incomes who cannot afford these increases. There are also many households who are cutting back on their budgets to meet increasing household costs.
The big question we should be asking ourselves is, what alternatives do residents have when faced with these increases? Some folks have decided to sell their homes and move to smaller condos, but that choice is not their preferred option. Others go into debt and are soon overwhelmed by maxed out credit cards and maxed out lines of credit. Others in our town have defaulted on their mortgages and they are struggling to get current on payments.
None of these alternatives to huge debt are favorable to our residents, but these are the realities our residents are facing. To be fair, high cost of living is not only a Windsor problem, but high cost of living is a national problem.
In contemporary society, government has overreached its authority too often. In many instances, we are told what we must pay for and we have no choice. The public benefits portion of the Eversource bill is a good example of government overreach. In this “land of the free” we should be able to decide where we want to make charitable donations. My family has the right to use money we saved by working hard and we should decide who we want to help. Connecticut voted to use our taxes to reimburse hospitals for unpaid medical care totaling many millions of dollars, but many working families don’t qualify for help with their medical bills.
Americans are a kind and giving people and Americans donate to many charitable causes. However, we cannot support everyone else while we struggle to put food on the table and we struggle to keep a roof over our head. If you have doubts, look at the increase in families using the food bank in Windsor and Hartford. Our residents are working longer hours but many are falling behind on their bills. If we force working families out of Windsor, who will pay for increasing property taxes?
If all this is very intolerable, there is more stress from other living expenses. You recently got your tax bills from the town of Windsor and reality has set in. I know this because I am getting calls from constituents. Next year tax increases will be worse. We cannot decrease the Board of Education budget and we already started using reserve funds for their budget. There was a time when elected officials respected your taxes, but not today. Some elected officials are paying for pet projects such as all electric plans, and they are paying for plans to stop using fossil fuels. Based on the results of those plans, I would say they are treating our taxes like monopoly game money. We need common sense in government and we need legislators who will question a lot of party line votes. The Republican minority on the council put up a good fight to reduce the budget and we had ordinary citizens helping us to try and defeat the budget. Thanks to all the residents who joined us in trying to defeat this budget. Our friends were residents from different political parties; Democrats, Independents, and unaffiliated. Remember who is relieving you of your hard-earned money next time you are voting.
WRTC Chairman Len Walker, August 17, 2024
Added to this deduction from household budgets is the very high cost of living increases. Everyone has increased costs for basic food items, and many in our neighborhoods are having to make decisions between buying food or paying for prescription medicines.
While some Windsor residents may be able to afford these rising costs, there are many residents who are struggling to make ends meet. We have seniors on fixed incomes who cannot afford these increases. There are also many households who are cutting back on their budgets to meet increasing household costs.
The big question we should be asking ourselves is, what alternatives do residents have when faced with these increases? Some folks have decided to sell their homes and move to smaller condos, but that choice is not their preferred option. Others go into debt and are soon overwhelmed by maxed out credit cards and maxed out lines of credit. Others in our town have defaulted on their mortgages and they are struggling to get current on payments.
None of these alternatives to huge debt are favorable to our residents, but these are the realities our residents are facing. To be fair, high cost of living is not only a Windsor problem, but high cost of living is a national problem.
In contemporary society, government has overreached its authority too often. In many instances, we are told what we must pay for and we have no choice. The public benefits portion of the Eversource bill is a good example of government overreach. In this “land of the free” we should be able to decide where we want to make charitable donations. My family has the right to use money we saved by working hard and we should decide who we want to help. Connecticut voted to use our taxes to reimburse hospitals for unpaid medical care totaling many millions of dollars, but many working families don’t qualify for help with their medical bills.
Americans are a kind and giving people and Americans donate to many charitable causes. However, we cannot support everyone else while we struggle to put food on the table and we struggle to keep a roof over our head. If you have doubts, look at the increase in families using the food bank in Windsor and Hartford. Our residents are working longer hours but many are falling behind on their bills. If we force working families out of Windsor, who will pay for increasing property taxes?
If all this is very intolerable, there is more stress from other living expenses. You recently got your tax bills from the town of Windsor and reality has set in. I know this because I am getting calls from constituents. Next year tax increases will be worse. We cannot decrease the Board of Education budget and we already started using reserve funds for their budget. There was a time when elected officials respected your taxes, but not today. Some elected officials are paying for pet projects such as all electric plans, and they are paying for plans to stop using fossil fuels. Based on the results of those plans, I would say they are treating our taxes like monopoly game money. We need common sense in government and we need legislators who will question a lot of party line votes. The Republican minority on the council put up a good fight to reduce the budget and we had ordinary citizens helping us to try and defeat the budget. Thanks to all the residents who joined us in trying to defeat this budget. Our friends were residents from different political parties; Democrats, Independents, and unaffiliated. Remember who is relieving you of your hard-earned money next time you are voting.
WRTC Chairman Len Walker, August 17, 2024
Windsor Republicans comment on the 2024-2025 town budget:
A majority on the Windsor Town Council, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to ignore the will of the people who voted down the proposed budget on May 14. Those Council members did NOT reduce spending but instead are resubmitting the same budget for a second vote hoping that this time it will pass.
Property values have increased due to the recent revaluation. Some have increased dramatically which means that property taxes will increase proportionately. Your property taxes!
Many people are already having a difficult time making ends meet. Food, gas, and utility prices, to name a few, have increased substantially. Electric rates are also due to increase again this summer. More people are seeking help from food banks to feed their families and now, for many, property taxes will also increase dramatically.
For those who can afford the higher cost of living, I ask that you think of those whose cannot and vote to help reduce their property tax increase during these difficult economic times.
We need to send a message to the Windsor Town Council. We need to tell them to reduce the tax burden on Windsor families that has resulted from increased property values due to revaluation and increased town spending. How? By voting no on the upcoming budget referendum.
Please get out and vote and please vote NO on June 18.
Ruth Fahrbach
On May 14, 2024 Windsor residents went to the polls and rejected the current town budget. I stood outside the polls for a few hours and many voters came up and talked to me about how they cannot afford any more in taxes considering the high cost of groceries, gas, housing, etc. It just confirms what I said at the BOE budget vote that people are hurting and are being forced to cut back on expenses and now they expect their town government to do the same. To send the same budget back without reducing it is a slap in the face disrespecting every voter who came out to vote on the referendum.
The Board of Education budget needs to be reduced again by the Council. The budget was passed 5 to 4 along party lines and it was made clear by the Democrats on the BOE that they were not open to any cuts instead they shoved a 6.40 percent increase down our throats which was later reduced by the Town Council by a million dollars but still we need to go further. I’m in full support of Councilor Pelkey’s motion where he proposed to cut the Board’s budget by 1.3 million dollars. It’s time the Board starts living within their means. Voters also need to know once you raise the Board’s budget you can never go back. The increase is there forever and 60 percent of the town budget is spent on the school district, that’s 64 cents on every dollar we spend. The notion Republicans don’t care about educating our kids is completely false. The Democrats are using this as a scare tactic to trick voters into voting for a tax increase.
The referendum has become more than just dollars and cents. It’s about respecting the will of the voters.
I respectfully ask Windsor voters to vote No on the budget referendum on June 18. Send a clear message to Windsor Democrats to respect the democratic process. Together we can keep Windsor an affordable place to live. -Jeremy Halek
No Reduction in Spending? On Tuesday, the 14th of May, the voters went to the polls and voted on the Town of Windsor budget. The vote was 1,023 Yes vs. 1,027 No. Over the past five referenda the results were typically lopsided meaning 2/3rds or more of the voters said Yes. This year's results were a message in itself.
What is the issue? It is the same issue in almost every community in Connecticut. The TEMPORARY CoVid -- Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds or “ESSER”, as it is called -- gravy train has ended! Boards of Education (BoE) are demanding increases to cover the temporary ESSER money. These demands are being reduced or rejected. Hartford and New Haven are well publicized examples. The ESSER funds, like all Federal grants, went to the BoE directly, and are not part of the BoE or Town budgets. See the Grants page in the BoE budget book.
Most state grants are paid to the Town, if the State reduces them, as they have done, the Town is prohibited from budgeting less for education than it did the previous year. Understand we can’t cut the BoE budget. It’s called the Minimum Budget Requirement (MBR). For Windsor there can NEVER be a BoE budget CUT. We can only reduce the INCREASES in the amounts asked for. A very important difference.
For FY2025 the Board wants us to replace the temporary ESSER money in the same year we have real estate revaluation that is causing tax bills, even after phase-in, to rise 10%, 20%, and more. Next year you will see the full reval increase which is almost double this year’s increase.
These increases are hitting all residents, from seniors on a fixed income, to working moms and dads that have to worry about groceries, gas, and utilities with the pending 20% increase in electric rates and other increases. A house on Park Avenue is looking at 34% tax increase with phase-in or over $1,200 the first year! That might mean an approximate $225 per month (my estimate) if that person has a mortgage, however next year there will be another increase and every year there- after.
Since the May 14th referendum, an accounting error was found related to the phase-in calculation of the Great Pond Improvement District (TIF). The error was $355,900.
Monday, at a special meeting with no public comment, the Democrats put forth a $355,000 reduction. This reduction is not a reduction in spending but the acknowledgment of the accounting error. There are also increases to the Senior Tax Relief and Veteran’s Tax Relief that will total about $145,000. The net reduction will be $210,000 or a little more than 1/10ths of 1%! If you believe the budget needs to be reduced by more than $210,000 send an email to the Town Council before Monday.
This inconsequential reduction means the Park Avenue property still has to pay 68% more in taxes! The Democratic Councilors clearly believe the voters are ignorant and made a mistake, and are giving them a second chance to approve almost the same budget as previously presented. I will be voting NO and I am asking you to Vote no as well June 18th.
Ronald Eleveld
Property values have increased due to the recent revaluation. Some have increased dramatically which means that property taxes will increase proportionately. Your property taxes!
Many people are already having a difficult time making ends meet. Food, gas, and utility prices, to name a few, have increased substantially. Electric rates are also due to increase again this summer. More people are seeking help from food banks to feed their families and now, for many, property taxes will also increase dramatically.
For those who can afford the higher cost of living, I ask that you think of those whose cannot and vote to help reduce their property tax increase during these difficult economic times.
We need to send a message to the Windsor Town Council. We need to tell them to reduce the tax burden on Windsor families that has resulted from increased property values due to revaluation and increased town spending. How? By voting no on the upcoming budget referendum.
Please get out and vote and please vote NO on June 18.
Ruth Fahrbach
On May 14, 2024 Windsor residents went to the polls and rejected the current town budget. I stood outside the polls for a few hours and many voters came up and talked to me about how they cannot afford any more in taxes considering the high cost of groceries, gas, housing, etc. It just confirms what I said at the BOE budget vote that people are hurting and are being forced to cut back on expenses and now they expect their town government to do the same. To send the same budget back without reducing it is a slap in the face disrespecting every voter who came out to vote on the referendum.
The Board of Education budget needs to be reduced again by the Council. The budget was passed 5 to 4 along party lines and it was made clear by the Democrats on the BOE that they were not open to any cuts instead they shoved a 6.40 percent increase down our throats which was later reduced by the Town Council by a million dollars but still we need to go further. I’m in full support of Councilor Pelkey’s motion where he proposed to cut the Board’s budget by 1.3 million dollars. It’s time the Board starts living within their means. Voters also need to know once you raise the Board’s budget you can never go back. The increase is there forever and 60 percent of the town budget is spent on the school district, that’s 64 cents on every dollar we spend. The notion Republicans don’t care about educating our kids is completely false. The Democrats are using this as a scare tactic to trick voters into voting for a tax increase.
The referendum has become more than just dollars and cents. It’s about respecting the will of the voters.
I respectfully ask Windsor voters to vote No on the budget referendum on June 18. Send a clear message to Windsor Democrats to respect the democratic process. Together we can keep Windsor an affordable place to live. -Jeremy Halek
No Reduction in Spending? On Tuesday, the 14th of May, the voters went to the polls and voted on the Town of Windsor budget. The vote was 1,023 Yes vs. 1,027 No. Over the past five referenda the results were typically lopsided meaning 2/3rds or more of the voters said Yes. This year's results were a message in itself.
What is the issue? It is the same issue in almost every community in Connecticut. The TEMPORARY CoVid -- Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds or “ESSER”, as it is called -- gravy train has ended! Boards of Education (BoE) are demanding increases to cover the temporary ESSER money. These demands are being reduced or rejected. Hartford and New Haven are well publicized examples. The ESSER funds, like all Federal grants, went to the BoE directly, and are not part of the BoE or Town budgets. See the Grants page in the BoE budget book.
Most state grants are paid to the Town, if the State reduces them, as they have done, the Town is prohibited from budgeting less for education than it did the previous year. Understand we can’t cut the BoE budget. It’s called the Minimum Budget Requirement (MBR). For Windsor there can NEVER be a BoE budget CUT. We can only reduce the INCREASES in the amounts asked for. A very important difference.
For FY2025 the Board wants us to replace the temporary ESSER money in the same year we have real estate revaluation that is causing tax bills, even after phase-in, to rise 10%, 20%, and more. Next year you will see the full reval increase which is almost double this year’s increase.
These increases are hitting all residents, from seniors on a fixed income, to working moms and dads that have to worry about groceries, gas, and utilities with the pending 20% increase in electric rates and other increases. A house on Park Avenue is looking at 34% tax increase with phase-in or over $1,200 the first year! That might mean an approximate $225 per month (my estimate) if that person has a mortgage, however next year there will be another increase and every year there- after.
Since the May 14th referendum, an accounting error was found related to the phase-in calculation of the Great Pond Improvement District (TIF). The error was $355,900.
Monday, at a special meeting with no public comment, the Democrats put forth a $355,000 reduction. This reduction is not a reduction in spending but the acknowledgment of the accounting error. There are also increases to the Senior Tax Relief and Veteran’s Tax Relief that will total about $145,000. The net reduction will be $210,000 or a little more than 1/10ths of 1%! If you believe the budget needs to be reduced by more than $210,000 send an email to the Town Council before Monday.
This inconsequential reduction means the Park Avenue property still has to pay 68% more in taxes! The Democratic Councilors clearly believe the voters are ignorant and made a mistake, and are giving them a second chance to approve almost the same budget as previously presented. I will be voting NO and I am asking you to Vote no as well June 18th.
Ronald Eleveld