Well, it’s a new year and with it new attempts at addressing the budgeting crisis facing Connecticut and soon the municipalities – including in particular Woodstock.  Governor Rell vetoed the latest pitiful proposal by state democrats to address the shortfall in the current budget and is asking for authority to make more significant cuts on her own.   Based on the struggle going on to address the “meager” half billion dollar shortfall in this budget year, it’s hard to image how they are going to find ways to address the 3.2 billion dollar shortfall projected by the General Assembly’s Office of Financial Analysis for the 2012 budget.  While no one wants to address the politically hot issue of aid to municipalities, cuts are inevitable.  As a reminder; education equalization along with Medicaid, personnel services, and debt service are the top four expense line items at the state level and account for roughly 60% of the total budget. 

For those who have been paying attention none of this is new.  For those who have been asleep, time to wake up because it’s about to hit home.  To further illustrate the point; during the December Woodstock Board of Finance meeting, chairman Dave Hosmer distributed proposed letters to the BOE and BOS concerning the upcoming budget year in which he stated, “ Preliminary projections indicate that there will be no allowable increase in Proposition 46” and so “the best case scenario is a budget equal to last year’s budget” and that “if the taxpayers fail to approve a mil rate increase sufficient to cover a budget allowable under Prop 46, additional cuts may be necessary”.   Mr. Hosmer goes on to suggest, “I urge you to request no salary/wage increase from your personnel”.  All this exactly one week after a referendum approving a 3 million dollar upgrade and cleanup of the town highway garage, roughly three times what was actually necessary.

Keep in mind that a flat, no increase budget, assumes taxpayers accept a mil rate increase – a tax increase – and there are no cuts in state funding.  Any cuts in state funding would mean further increases in the mil rate to compensate or real cuts in education funding and town services.  You can thank your elected representatives in Hartford and town officials for this New Year’s gift – the vicious cycle of tax and spend, or I guess now it’s spend and tax as borrowing seems to be the way continues, and you can be sure it will as long as you let it.

If this sounds familiar perhaps it’s because you read my last post/letter to the editor.

Dave Richardson
North Woodstock