Ansonia residents may notice new yellow yard signs sprouting up across the city this week. These signs encourage residents to vote “Yes on 7” and feature the tag line “Control Taxes.”
So what is this all about?
The signs are in support of the proposed “Responsible Referendum” revision to the City Charter. The vote on this proposal will take place at the ballot this fall, coinciding with the election of city officials.
Residents will be asked to vote “yes” or “no” for the proposal, which has been assigned to ballot question number 7. Importantly, question number 7 will appear on the reverse side of the ballot (so be sure to flip your ballot over before leaving the voting station!).
Now, you may ask: how can the Responsible Referendum control taxes?
The answer is fairly simple: it gives voters the power to vote directly on tax increases. More specifically, it requires a public referendum in the event that the city budget calls for a net tax increase of 3 percent or more. That means that taxpayers will have the ability to reject budgets that carry net tax increases of 3% or more (or, in the alternative, to approve those increases).
How much of an impact can this proposal have on taxes in Ansonia? Consider that net taxes increased this year by 7 percent and by 6 percent last year. They also increased by over 10 percent in 2008. The Responsible Referendum would have required voters to approve those budgets, or else be cut down to under a 3 percent increase.
I must stress that this is not a partisan proposal. Ansonia Republicans such as Alderman Charlie Stowe and Charter Revision Commissioners Patrick Henri and Lorie Vaccaro did first raise the idea. However, both Republicans and Democrats supported the Responsible Referendum at the Board of Aldermen.
It is my hope that both parties will join in the push to vote “Yes on 7.”
Taxes will undoubtedly be the hot topic for this campaign. The Responsible Referendum is hopefully the one tax-related proposal that all sides will agree on.
After all, who knows more about what taxpayers can afford then the taxpayers themselves?
John Marini
Chairman, Charter Revision Commission
Chairman, Ansonia Republican Town Committee
Board of Aldermen, Seventh Ward
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