Charlie Stowe is not usually the type to get involved in city government.
“I like to be in my house minding my own business, not causing any trouble,” Stowe said Monday afternoon.
But a proposed 8.4 percent tax increase has spurred Stowe and a handful of other Ansonia residents to start a public campaign against the proposed tax hike.
“The audacity to raise taxes in this kind of economy is really unprecedented,” Stowe said in a phone interview.
Stowe and the other upset citizens are calling themselves “Axe the Tax,” and have planned an organizational meeting for 7 p.m. Wednesday night to talk with other concerned residents about the proposed tax increase. The meeting will be held at the United Methodist Church on Franklin Street.
The goal: Show up in large numbers at the May 10 public hearing on the proposed budget to let the Board of Apportionment and Taxation know that residents don’t want a tax increase.
“We don’t want the taxes to go up,” said co-organizer Terry Burns. “And we’re hoping we can get them to reconsider and have fiscal restraint.”
Resident Ken Plavnicky is the third co-organizer of the group.
The three men say they span political parties and are working for the singular goal of financial responsibility.
Axe Release
The Proposal
The Board of Aldermen in January put forward a budget proposal that would increase the tax rate by 8.4 percent.
The budget proposal calls for about $58.64 million in spending — which is a $3.68 million or 6.7 percent increase over current spending.
If approved, the tax rate would be 27.36, compared to the current 25.25 mills. That means a house assessed at $150,000 will receive a tax bill of $4,104 — an increase of $316.50 — if the budget proposal is passed.
A Big If
Acting Mayor Stephen Blume said that the proposal will likely be trimmed substantially.
“It’s not going to be close to that (increase),” Blume said. “The same thing happens every year. The Board of Aldermen go through all the budgets, then we send it to BOAT (The Board of Apportionment and Taxation) because BOAT is the one that sets the budget. So it’s always high when the Board of Aldermen hands it over.”
Blume said BOAT is able to trim down the proposal each year because the board spends hours with each department head pouring through budget requests and finding possible cuts to make.
For the past three years, the tax rate has not increased as a result of that detailed review, Blume said.
The proposal includes several contractual agreements for increases, Blume added.
Tax board member Ed Norman said BOAT has just about finished hearing from every department head and will begin Monday looking for places to make cuts.
“Our process is to evaluate the entire budget first before we go and make any changes,” Norman said.
Norman said the proposed 8.4 percent increase has attracted more members of the public to budget meetings than in the past.
There are a handful of people who have come to the night meetings where department budgets are discussed in depth, Norman said.
“I really enjoy, and I’m impressed, that people are taking the responsibility to come around and see what’s going on,” Norman said.
Axe the Tax
Stowe said once the budget is passed, the group plans to dissolve.
“We are the public,” Stowe said. “We want to be the identity of the public in Ansonia. We started this group to really just go express our feelings with the town hall.”
