Hartford Courant

West Hartford Residents Could Face 7 Percent Hike In Taxes

By JOSH KOVNER

The Hartford Courant

January 7, 2009

If no programs or personnel are cut and state aid doesn't increase, residents will likely be facing a tax hike of about 7 percent in fiscal year 2009-10.

The town council and school board will host a community summit Jan. 28 to begin identifying which services to preserve and which to cut, and to spell out what local officials can and cannot do with respect to union contracts, property revaluation and other issues.

"We think that 7 percent is unacceptable, but it's going to take significant program cuts to lower it," Mayor Scott Slifka said Tuesday. "The changes could be dramatic, and the community needs to be part of that discussion."

In addition to soliciting ideas, the summit at town hall is an opportunity "to try to gain a community consensus on the facts — what we're facing, what we can afford, what's in our local control and what isn't," Slifka said,

Hoping for a large turnout, officials are seeking participation from business owners, parents, union members, the Exchange and Rotary clubs and other fraternal groups, the West Hartford Taxpayers Association, which has opposed the last several budgets, and West Hartford FIRST, which has supported those budgets, particularly in the area of education funding.

In an open letter to Slifka this week, residents George Kennedy and Judy Aron of the taxpayers association urged the town council to reject the new teacher contract at its meeting next Tuesday.

Ratified by the union and approved by the school board, the two-year pact contains raises of 1 percent and 1.25 percent. Slifka, who heads the council's Democratic majority, and interim Town Manager Ronald Van Winkle have said the contract benefits West Hartford. Had the teachers declined a settlement and held out for binding arbitration, they probably would have been awarded higher raises, the officials have said.

Republican Minority Leader Leon Davidoff said Tuesday that he supports the contract.

"I thought the negotiated raises were excellent; with arbitration, we could have done a lot worse," Davidoff said.

In an interview in December, Kennedy said the agreement was a "step in the right direction." In their letter dated Tuesday, he and Aron wrote that the contract shouldn't be increased when cuts in programs, services and staff are possible.

The formal budget process starts in March, with public hearings on both the town and school spending plans preceding a budget vote by the council on the last Tuesday in April.