Letter to Editor: South Windsor Resident Provides Calculations on the Budget

To Taxpayers of South Windsor

There was a council meeting Monday night to discuss the final budget. I got in an argument with one of the councilors as you can see in the video on PATCH or by viewing the meeting on your computer or on TV.

I stand by my comments about the tax increase which he denies.

Following is my information which you can confirm. The individual I had the argument with did not provide any figures, he simply said I was wrong which I did not like. My numbers were based on the information prior to the meeting. As a result of the meeting the numbers changed slightly but not that much. The bottom line is that if your house value dropped less than 8.5 percent due to revaluation then your taxes will increase by more than 9 percent, on the other hand if your house dropped in value more than 8.5 percent then your tax increase will be less  than 9 percent.    

Here are my calculations on the estimated tax increase of 9 percent. I checked with [Town Manager] Matt [Galligan] and he said correct. I checked with several other people and they said I was correct so where is the dispute? Average house value in South Windsor before revaluation-$300,000 (Source town records) Assessment at 70% $210,000. Present mill rate 29.43 Present Taxes $6,180.

Average house drop in value per the assessor 7-10 percent or average of 8.5 percent (Note: Matt says 8 percent)(Source Town Assessor) Average house value after revaluation $274,500 New assessment $192,150. New taxes based on Matts $35.05 $6,735.(Source Town Manager) Increase -$555. Percent increase 8.89 percent.

What is wrong with these numbers? What figures would you disagree with? The assessor confirmed the average drop in value on housing. As spending is going up 4.8 percent then the 9 percent consists of 4.8 percent spending and 4.2 percent revaluation. The revaluation increase is due to a shift in taxes from Commercial/Industrial property to residential property. I believe people may be only talking about the spending increase when they talk about the tax increase  which is incorrect.  

Don Gonsalves

PS: There are a lot of other very important issues concerning last night's meeting which I will write about later which the taxpayers should be aware of which have never been made public.