On February 11, 2014 the City of Ansonia’s Board of Aldermen passed a fiscal budget for 2014. I voted in favor of the proposed budget. I want to explain why I voted for this budget. The budget lowers taxes. That is the bottom line for me. It is not the giant tax decrease I would have liked for this year but it is a start.
Rome was not built in a day and millions of dollars of programs and spending does not stop overnight either.
Each department head, with the single exception of the Board of Education, was asked to come in with a 4 percent decrease, and most did. This means that the department heads were willing to examine their budget to determine where savings could be achieved. I thank them for their efforts as should we all.
This budget cuts everything on the margins. As I stated earlier, these services and benefits that citizens and workers have come to expect from the taxpayers of Ansonia cannot be discontinued overnight. However, the city cannot simply continue to add millions of dollars to our budget year in and year out as the price and expectations of these services goes up. We cannot treat the citizens of Ansonia as our own private ATM!
To lower taxes further in the future, we need to examine how we spend our money in every department including the Board of Education. We have the number one football team in the state, but our graduating seniors are unable to enroll in some universities unless they attend another year of ‘prep’ school because our high school education system is ranked so low in the quality of education it provides.
Cities all over the nation are faced with the same dilemma. Historically, government workers received wages that were somewhat below those of private industry, but received corresponding benefits that were somewhat better than private industry. Today the wage gap has decreased and the benefit gap has increased significantly. The cost of the benefits to the budget has become unsupportable.
Because municipal workers receive an excellent health care plan, it is termed a “Cadillac” plan under new government regulations. With the introduction of the Affordable Health Care Act (ObamaCare) the city will be forced to pay a premium tax to the federal government above and beyond the cost of our workers healthcare. The expense will be near $800,000 — in addition to the over $2 million per year for the basic cost of our employee’s basic health insurance.
Be advised that I do intend to cut city services and I do intend to cut city benefits within the limits of my position. I believe you can’t reduce taxes without cutting spending. I believe you can’t cut spending without cutting services and benefits.
The writer is an Alderman from the city’s Seventh Ward.
The Valley Indy accepts letters/guest columns of up to 500 words.
As an employee for the municipality I find your remark very upsetting. Yes we may have good medical insurance but as you said our wages are not at highest end of the spectrum either. As far as the employees of the city we have risen to the occasion more than once with salary freezes and no raises to help. I’m sure Alderman Evans that you and your family members expect to receive raises periodically and have medical insurance too. We all contribute to our medical insurance and our co-pays have all gone up, just like everyone else’s in the country.
While I do applaud the effort to reduce costs and cut taxes, I’m curious what services the Alderman wishes to cut in the future? We are already cutting police and EMS services. What other services does he wish to cut?
I hit recommend by mistake: I recommend that this article be put in the trash because that is all the it’s worth. It should be put in the trash just as he is trashing the municipal employees who work very hard. Shame on you Alderman Evans:
“our graduating seniors are unable to enroll in some universities unless they attend another year of ‘prep’ school because our high school education system is ranked so low in the quality of education it provides” Can you provide statistics on how many go to prep school? Yes some go to get their grades up, but others go to improve their football skills in order to play at the next level. We need to stop the negativity about the schools and show some of the positives. if the kids do the work and the PARENTS get involved everyone can get a great education and move on to colleges and universities. The options are there, people just don’t take advantage of the opportunities and work hard. You don’t get accepted if you don’t do the work to get you there. It isn’t always the school and the teachers, kids and parents need to take responsibility for the education.
Some clarification needed.
I did not intend to ‘trash’ any city or government employees. I simply am stating that the current benefit structure is unsupportable. It is unsupportable at the Federal Level, at the State level and at the City level.
Some items for cuts: Days off/comp days with pay when snowfall occurs comes to mind. Each snow day comes with a price tag of approximately 75,000 dollars. I think we have had six this winter?
School system – Perhaps I was unclear. The university turning away an Ansonia graduate is not based on the students efforts. Specifically, A student that had worked hard enough to be accepted to a Military Academy was unable to accept the appointment based on Ansonia’s poor rating. This is not ‘negative’. This is recognizing a problem so we can fix it.
My address and phone number are available on Ansonia city government website. I’d be glad to talk to anyone and hear their own views and opinions. These views are mine and I am not ashamed of them.
Mr. Evans I have no desire to discuss anything with you. Your views that you are not ashamed of are enough for me. It sounds like you have an ax to grind with municipal. If you think that taking things from us will make you look better just remember that most of us city employees were born, raised, went to school, still live here, and pay taxes too. Your article certainly is an eye opener.
If it’s that big of a problem, Rita, then win an election. That’s really what you have to do. Win an election. You stated you have no intention of discussing this with someone who was an elected official of the town, so that’s your only recourse.
Mr. Bowen you never know, what may be in my future or what my intentions are.