The legislature is currently debating Governor Rell's proposed car tax elimination and property tax credit cut (see "Rell Bid to Drop Cart Tax Hits Rut" in today's Hartford Courant). We are beginning to analyze the potential impact on our budget planning in Meriden, not only for now, but future years. I know our state delegation has been reading this blog, I'm sure they'd be interested in this forum's feedback.
What do you think about the state tax cut proposals?
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15 comments:
I believe the elimination of the car tax is a great proposal.
While we can debate the nuances of it as long as everyone is made "whole" then it is a good idea. As a retired city employee I can assure you tha tMeridne's collection rat eis well bleow tha tof real property. Additonally the governor proposed a 100% collection rate.
Also tax staff spend an enormous amount of time handling car tax issues and the elimnation would offer us the opportuniyt to downize that dept.:another plus!
I know the dems are hesitant to suppoort a Repub;lican guv in an elction year but let's do what is right for the majoirty of tax payers.
One aother comment on falcon filed is the possilbe widespread vandalism tha toculd occur becaus eof it seclusion form the road. Just a thought!
Ha snayone thought of making Ceppa a mutli use facility for all sports?
ED897
I don’t favor the elimination of the car tax. It’s nothing more than a shell game.
For those of us who own homes, we were able to deduct that car tax on our income tax return. Now that the governor has removed the car tax, she has also removed the deduction. Once again the home owner gets the shaft. I’d like to see Meriden get a system like New Haven where car’s license plates are scanned and checked for over due taxes. New Haven collected nearly a million dollars by implementing the system.
Meriden has too much section 8 housing and our taxes keep going up as a result of it.
We have a reputation as a free ride town while surrounding towns next to us don’t provide their fair share for low income families.
Many drivers in this town think they don’t need to register their cars. I see it everyday I drive around town. I will get behind someone at a light or stop sign and their plate has no sticker or an expired one.
Look around our neighborhoods. There are unregistered junk cars everywhere. There are loud car stereos booming around our neighborhoods, loud motor cycles with straight pipes rattling our windows at night. The quality of life in this town is headed in the wrong direction and is one of the reasons why people move out.
My roots are here, I grew up here. I won’t leave but I am powerless to correct the things I mentioned above.
Dear Mr. Zerio,
Anonymous has a point. The car tax elimination might be a problem. More of problem, however is the idea that Meriden is a lousy place to live. It isn't, and that's perhaps not what he meant, it probably wasn't.
I'm very glad to know that the writer doesn't want to move, that means that he or she wants to help. The quality of life issue is on everyone's mind (well, everyone who is paying attention, anyway), and the quality of life is always an issue. But you see, Meriden is growing and changing and maturing as a post-industrially-based City. It is poised to become a leader in CT in the arts, education, sports, journalism, and the quality of life is an intangeable for which we are all responsible. Meriden simply isn't the little industrial town it was. It has 60,000 people, 10,000 of whom are in the public school system and to bring them up to speed with eduational resources automatically brings up 1/6 of the City, and factoring in just two more people for each student,(parents, for instance), that is one half of the population. That is not counting the people who work in the school system,so with a few more thousand, you have over half of the population, by numbers. By investing in our schools, we follow the natural demographic trend of the City, (rather than fight against it), we DO take care of our own, which is all anyone can do (more education raises all boats). Leadership, which is what Meriden is poised to be demonstrating- we certinly have it in the State Legislature-should be encouraged. For the folks who wish Meriden could be 'better', pick a place and start making it better. To write is wonderful; to DO is even better! Meriden is on a 'tipping point' and we have enough great people and resources in the hopper to see that Meriden IS in many areas of "Quality of Life", improving. People just have to get involved in improving it...
Dear Katrina,
I can assure you I am very involved in making this town a better place to live. I have lived here for 46 years and I am very proud of my town even when former residents I know bad mouth it. We do have a lot going for us.
I coach baseball in one of our youth leagues in town. I clean trash from the field were my team plays on a regular basis only to see it double or triple the following day. It’s very sad.
It’s true we are evolving from industrial past. We must attract large business to come to Meriden and provide quality jobs not fast food jobs or working the mall jobs. Places like Walgreens and CVS on every corner might boost the grand list a bit but I can assure you they will bail out on us as soon as their financial numbers drop a bit.
Offer large corporations tax cuts for incentives to come here, but make sure we are covered so they can’t just leave when the tax credits are over. We’ve see this all too often.
Finish the flood control project by getting Hanover pond dredged to alleviate downtown flooding. It makes no sense to rebuild a dam if there’s not storage capacity behind it.
As for all day K and the “sports complex, those are great ideas but not at this point in time. We can barely fund our board of Ed now. When our grand list grows more we can do those kinds of things.
Dear Mr. Zerio;
But nobody seems to want to have businesses come into Meriden- witness that last few times it was tried. And while some people are upset that some big businesses are leaving, I don't hear a big hue and cry. That model doesn't seem to work for this City. Now we can change the people's ideas of what the businesses will bring through informational campaigns about the up-side, etc., but this City seems to want to become a town that has homes as its primary grand list entities. I think we should have more businesses too, but unless the residents want it, it won't happen. So, bucking the prevailing feelings of people may be a strategy, but informing them of the true alternatives seems to be a better strategy while at the same time giving the zoning and City Business-attracting enitities a whole lot more to work with. Quality of life means a lot of things to a lot of people and if residents who are on a border of a zone change want to have a nice, quiet no industry-neighborhood, shouldn't we listen to them? Sure, and tell them what, by their choices, happens to the City as a whole. No, I think a service economy is the way to go for Meriden- not fast food, but services that don't pollute. I'm sure we can think up some togther, right? I'd like to talk to Anonymous about it, maybe he can tell you his name and you can get us in contact with each other and like-minded residents in a big meeting?
Thank you again for this opportunity.
Katrina,
Please review my previous posting under "Ground Rules". I have to question the validity of your statement "But nobody seems to want to have businesses come into Meriden". How do we know this? The citizens of Meriden never seem to hear the whole story about new development proposals. Potential projects seem to be axed by Meriden officials before any of the facts can be accurately presented to all of our citizens. I certainly understand that nobody wants to have development in their back yards, but as in all cities that seem to be financially healthy, some decisions must be made for the good of the entire city. Your comment "but this City seems to want to become a town that has homes as its primary grand list entities" seems to be the thought process of many in city government. Is there room in our overcrowded schools to provide quality education to the new families encouraged to move to our city? Meriden’s public services already seem stretched to the limits, hence the poor condition of many of our streets, the deteriorating high schools, and the trash everywhere, just to name a few. The only way special projects like the new sports complex and full-day kindergarten can to be accomplished is through raising our taxes; certainly not a popular option. But I agree wholeheartedly with your comment "So, bucking the prevailing feelings of people may be a strategy, but informing them of the true alternatives seems to be a better strategy while at the same time giving the zoning and City Business-attracting entities a whole lot more to work with." We really do need to inform the public in a very unbiased fashion as to what options are available to improve the overall quality of life in Meriden. Of course, improvement and change will mean making some decisions that are not popular with everyone. But we are a democratic society that prides itself on making decisions that will benefit the vast majority of the people in the long run. Meriden is where I live so my biggest investment is here. I think we need to be more open-minded about strategically planned development of all types. The "not in my backyard" attitude can not prevail every time big business shows an interest in coming to Meriden. We can’t afford this attitude anymore, and someone (in government) needs to lead the way to the answer. Intelligent, not emotional or political, choice is the answer as I see it. Thanks for listening – again!
Karen
Dear Mr. Zerio-
I did read Karen's addition. Good stuff. Please tell Karen, I'm in- can you tell me more about what I don't know about?
Katrina,
Just another voice to say it. Thanks for the support.
Karen
It's not always the "not in my backyard attitude" that stops large corporations from coming to Meriden. That usually happens when someone in the city hall tries to ram an auto auction or Wall Mart down our throats in the wrong place. The Zoning board is not too bright when it comes to planning. Why did they have to build the new hospital across from the Meriden Square? That land could have been used for a Home Depot, Lowes or other retail stores.
Why build a Wall mart on the Hall farm when the Ames plaza is sitting there dormant?
These are just a couple examples.
Flooding is another reason we recently lost another business considering Meriden. I think we are finally going to finish the flood control project. This will help.
One point I'd like to make. Before you look at tearing up pristine woodland or farmland, use the open abandoned brown fields first. The old New Departure building is a great example of that success.
As for all day kindergarten, it’s not the right time, we don’t have the money, and it’s a free daycare for those parents that don’t want to pay for it. Another words, it’s another hand out by the city of Meriden. The board of ED can’t raise your kids for you, but we seem to be headed in that direction.
The sports complex would be nice, but again, not the right time and no money for a project that will not benefit all off Meriden. Don't believe everything in the Record-Journal. Most people in this town don't want to pay for it. The poll on this site is not accurate. I've voted on several computers.
Same thing with paving the Quinnipiac trail, another waste of taxpayer money. Who will plow it in the winter? Who will patrol it to keep ATV’s and dirt bikes off it? It will increase the litter, broken glass and increase runoff in a sensitive area. Leave it alone.
Spend that money on more important issues facing the city.
Dear Mr. Zerio- Just out of curiosity, is there a difference in tone of the letters from people who sign their names and people who don't?
Not sure if there's a tonal difference. I think people who post anonymously may have fewer inhibitions because nothing can be attributed to them personally.
I don't mind anonymous posts, because at least people are thinking and writing. But I'll admit I respect and appreciate when someone puts their names to their opinions.
Dave,
“Ram” may have been too strong a word, but if you ask the people that live in the former proposed auto auction site I doubt they'd agree with you.
I agree it is always easier to build on undeveloped land than on a brownfield. No one wants to be on the hook for remediation costs.
We must be careful about our existing natural resources new development in those areas.
Mr. Zerio,
First a word about anonymity: I remain anonymous for my own personal reasons, but try to do so in a professional and respectful manner. I would like my comments to be judged on their own merit, not for who I am.
I still think the “not in my backyard” attitude gets in the way long before any intelligent decisions can be made regarding a potential development project. Seems to me there should be proactive planning for sites available to businesses, whether they are already existing or undeveloped sites. Any interested developers should know all the options available to them in Meriden, not be pointed in the direction of only those less than choice sites that sit abandoned. The Ames Plaza is dormant for a reason; most of the businesses in that plaza have found little success and there has been substantial turnover during the past twenty or so years. There is obviously a problem with that site that isn’t readily apparent to most of us. We chance to lose opportunities to build our tax base by not presenting businesses with prime locations that can compete with those presented by our neighboring towns. Why not put some of our tax dollars to good use to explore the best use of all available sites in Meriden? We would definitely need someone from outside the city to do an impartial and dispassionate study. Maybe people are afraid the results of such a study may not fit their own concept of what should be done or how it will impact some or all of the residents of Meriden. Maybe there is already such a study, and if so, I would be interested in reading it.
Karen
Dear Katrina,
Just because someone posts anonymously doesn't mean their opinions should be valued any less than yours.
If they are using this blog inappropriately, then their post can and should be deleted. So far, I have not seen an abundance of that tone.
All of these posts are great feed back for the council to consider when making decisions that will affect the city as a whole and not a select few.
This great forum for those who cannot attend committee meetings or council meetings,
I hope it stays the same and in time becomes more popular.
I just read in the Record-Journal that Mary Mushinsky wants to sponsor a bill to spend millions to construct sound barriers for housing next to highways. This is a fine example of an elected official blowing our tax dollars away on a stupid project. Just because someone decides to buy a house next to a highway is not my problem or the rest of the taxpayer’s responsibility to pay for sound barriers.
It is not fair we spend money to do this.
No one forced them to move next to a highway. In 99% of the cases, the highway was there first.
Make the developer pay for the sound barrier if they decide to construct new homes in close proximity to a highway.
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