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