I am concerned for the future of Ansonia. Either Mayor Cassetti and his administration are content with lying to residents of Ansonia, or they are ignorant when it comes to economics.
Even in their campaign mailers, which have transcended their usual propaganda and are now what residents are describing as “fear mongering at best,” the Cassetti team continues to insult the intelligence of Ansonia residents they supposedly are running to represent.
I want every person that reads this letter to look up this information. This isn’t some Democratic Party propaganda (I am not even a registered Democrat), this is not some political and factual spinning that Team Cassetti does all too well, no, these are cold hard facts.
For the most part, every budget is available on the City of Ansonia’s website. I want everyone to go to Mayor Della Volpe’s last budget, FY 2013 – 2014. In this budget, Mayor Della Volpe used $100,000 of the reserve fund balance as income. What this means is $100,000 of Ansonia’s savings was used to supplement and balance the budget. This is normal.
Now I would like to draw your attention to the FY 2017 – 2018 budget. This budget, written by Mayor Cassetti and approved by the Board of Apportionment and Taxation (BOAT) and Board of Aldermen (BOA), uses $3,490,000 of the reserve fund as income. $3.49 million, of a $61.5 million budget, was made up of finite city savings funds. That is 5.7% of an entire budget paid for by non-replenished money that Mayor Cassetti and his administration claim is being used on projects to better the city.
As I said earlier, I implore all Ansonia residents to look into these budgets themselves. Transparency is something that I absolutely strive for and it is important that residents truly know what is going on, not what City Hall is telling them.
Now, what does this mean for the future? Well, in FY 2013 – 2014, our reserve fund was at a very healthy $14 million, estimated. Today, our reserve fund is less than a third of that, at an estimated $4.5 million. Instead of taking the route of fiscal conservation, Cassetti and his administration have bankrupted the City of Ansonia in an attempt to keep taxes artificially low. Knowing this, it should come as no surprise as to why Mayor Cassetti has had to raise taxes year after year.
Even in the most recent ValleyIndy Podcast, Mayor Cassetti claims he will continue to raise taxes as the cost of running a government continues to rise as well. What Mayor Cassetti fails to mention is the consistent raises he gives to his “team,” many of them getting upwards of 10% raises last year. It is disheartening that Team Cassetti would rather raise taxes than do a true financial reconciliation of City Hall.
Team Cassetti wants residents to think that electing Phil Tripp and his team will result in a “tax avalanche.” The fact of the matter is this: Ansonia’s reserve fund is drained, top ranking City Hall officials continue to get raises, our bond rating has dropped, the State of Connecticut has named us the most economically distressed municipality, and all Team Cassetti seems interested in doing is touting this as “progress.” Does this sound like progress to you?
The writer is from Ansonia now serving in the U.S. military. His opinions are his own.
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The deadline to submit election letters expired Oct. 31.
