Woodstock CT Café

See and update on visitation to WoodstockCtCafe for the month of April

“I disagree with Mr., pardon me, Dr. Goodkind about the issue of “Trust�.

I read Mr. Goodkind’s Letter to the Editor of the Villager entitled “Trust, not Prop 46, problematic in town.â€? Putting aside the bad title, I was intrigued by the idea that “Trustâ€? is the problem. In addition, I was skeptical about his mindset in signing the article, “Thomas B. Goodkind, Ph.D.â€? What does having a Ph.D. have to do with his letter or his political position? In some regions of the country, PHD stands for “post hole diggerâ€?, so I’ve been told. So, Mr. Goodkind probably turned some readers off by invoking the apparent fact that he has a Ph.D, a title that should only be invoked in a profession. What does his use of “Ph.D.â€? mean? Does it mean that he should be automatically viewed as smart and that his ideas are always on target? I don’t think so. Read the rest of this entry »

“I became dizzy…almost puked…temporal artery almost blew…lost bowel control…”

Personally it was just another reminder to me why I shouldn’t go to meetings… I lost a good night’s sleep over nothing. Perhaps I am just a sore loser. Although there were some bright points made, there was also much grandstanding. The moderator appeared smart and sassy, but I think she forgot to drink her coffee. She was one sided at times and was condescending to Mr. Rapoport. I almost puked when Barbara Rich quoted “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.� I became dizzy when Mrs. Snow stood up and began evoking sympathy for her great husband Charlie. My temporal artery almost blew when we were blessed with the philosphy of Mr. McCrillis who to sum it up stated “what’s right isn’t always right�. I almost lost bowel control when it was implied that human error was natural and shouldn’t be confused with unethical behavior.

It amazed me to watch everyone actually believe all their Bull*&#! and walk away patting themselves on the back. There was little acknowledgemnt that perhaps, just maybe, there was something unethical that happened. Marjorie Wholean tried hard, God bless her soul, but she comes across as a mix between a 2nd grade teacher and the absent-minded professor. P.S. She raised her hand both times to vote down the motions. Oh, did anyone get the same feeling I did about Dan Very? No, not that he looked like he ate 10lbs. of old stale pastries before the meeting, but that he seems to be positioning himself, hhmm…do you think that just maybe he wants to run for the First Selectman in 2007??? Who wants to make a bet?

Despite my sourness and negativity which I apologize for, I want to congratulate members of the IWWA, builders and the other good ‘ol boys who manage to find the time to bring themselves and their spouses to the meeting. Despite my differences in opinion from theirs, Read the rest of this entry »

See Ken’s comment below, Admin.

“For our system to continue to work and improve… we (should) maintain a sense of appreciation for the willingness of those who serve, to serve.”

In the wake of all the tumult over the past several weeks - which will likely continue forward into the next few months as the annual budgets are worked through - the report on the left by “Lone Citizen” is an encouraging account and reminder of how Town matters can be civilly addressed and resolved in the Town Meeting format that has served the Town for many, many years. Read the rest of this entry »

Every day a Town meeting occurs at this website. The number of commentors is a low percentage of the number of actual visitors who read the articles at this site. There are no harangues and no glaring stare-downs. Consider the possibilities.

“…lets maintain a civil environment within (Woodstock).”

Last night, in Woodstock, we had a town meeting to consider (1) establishing an Ethics Ordinance, rather than having just a Code of Ethics, and (2) establishing the IWWA as an ‘elected’ body, rather than a committee formed by appointment. Both motions failed. As town meetings go, this meeting was well attended. There were at least 117 people present (as evidenced by the number of votes tallied), but I think it was probably closer to 130-145 people in attendance. I marveled at the process and the behavior of the participants, sensing the hard feelings in the room. People in attendance were respectful and the shouting, characteristic of the CPS’ers, was not there.

It was pretty clear from the beginning as the room filled with familiar faces, with long-time ties, that the eventual result would be to keep the status quo. On the face of it, the items on the agenda seemed to be somewhat innocuous. The town already had a ‘Code of Ethics’ as a policy, so it would have been a small step to make this “Code� into an “Ordinance.� Likewise, changing the IWWA from appointed members to elected positions would not have changed very much. One would guess that many of the current members of the IWWA would be elected anyway.

The passion that the attendees felt about the matters before them became very clear. This was not a hypothetical exercise about differing philosophies - it was personal. Some individuals in the room felt some had been attacked, their personal integrity challenged, and their place in the community besmirched. But, there was almost no mention of these unhappy thoughts in the debate of the motions before the assembly. A few comments (unrecognized by the moderator) leapt uncontrollably from the lips of some, revealing how close to the surface the emotions were in the room. There was an undercurrent in the room detectable from the strain in the voices of some participants that spoke volumes about how deeply injured some participants felt. However, the participants support of the status quo was never combative or offensive. Read the rest of this entry »

On the subject of “You Can’t Fix Stupid” - The Villager’s Monty Python-style article on the new sport of ‘Javel Throwing? (back page, picture caption) shows that the paper is striving to reach new heights in cowpie dropping. For profession-minded students like Nathan, there’s a real need to develop one’s ability to throw the javel far and accurately, especially if one seeks a career as a Town executive or Judge. Just think about the prospects - if someone mis-behaves in a Town meeting in the back of the room, one with the skill of javel throwing can just throw the javel to the back of the room to quiet disruptors (bonk).

“Could it be that they have aspirations of being in the Selectmen’s office?”

Lately I have run across quips like these almost on a daily basis. They resonate in my mind for reasons that must be obvious to the readers at this site. Just drive by Petey Racine’s house on Route 169 and see the sign that essentially says, ‘Petey Racine Rules’. This sign reaffirms that ‘Right‘ has nothing to do with the real world. I’m sure that these perceptions - like ‘You can’t fix stupid!’ - are also foremost in the minds of many Iraqis. But, it would be ridiculous to compare Woodstock to Iraq in spite of shared perceptions. Woodstock is more like Bahrain as intimated previously in ‘In Woodstockistan‘ and the adversarial ‘clique’ is becoming better defined.

There is a swami at this site who claims ‘vast knowledge. But, right has nothing to do with the real world that ‘The Swami’ and Petey live in. The Swami and Petey have a lot in common, but I won’t go into that. Just as Café visitors have the liberty to express their thoughts and biases, we would not deny The Swami or Petey the right to express their views but this doesn’t mean that we should accept them as right. The Swami and Petey are the real world that those in the right just have to deal with.

‘Stupid’ will ultimately be fixed, but perhaps not quickly, although you never know. I would like to draw some inspiration from the source of ‘Our Vallydictorian‘ graduation speech. Faulkner spoke eloquently about what we must learn and what is really important. If we learn these things, we will not just survive, we will ‘endure’ and ‘prevail’ when ‘the last ding-dong of doom has clanged.’

For the time being where do we go from here? One option is explored under the article ‘Lets Not Stop Here.’ My preference is to have an optimally functioning Town that provides the best possible services to the community - a Town that is not divided by selfish people who have some personal agenda at stake. One example of a personal agenda would be the wish to pay little or no taxes at all. This point of view is illustrated in the article, ‘Cinquanta’s revenge.’ The same point of view is also expressed on Petey Racine’s sign where not only the victory in the latest Prop 46 referendum is regaled, but the ‘Selectmen’ are blamed. Sadly, the majority point of view in Town may have the selfish wish to pay little or no taxes at all. From what I have seen and heard, I don’t think I am creating a ’straw argument’ when I say that the majority would prefer to pay little or no taxes. There may be some level of taxation that this majority would be okay with, but taxation for what? I am not at all clear what ‘what‘ might be.

A second example of a selfish personal agenda at work in Town will not be spoken about here. It’s up to the readers to figure this out - and you will eventually.

There’s a strange irony in all of budget-related fighting. CPS’ers and The Swami will not speak up about eliminating the salaries for the Selectmen and other related costs. The Swami insists angrily, when one asks for his opinion on elimination of Selectman costs, as follows, ‘(you always) look in other places for money, i.e. (the) government side of the budget’ when instead you should only look at the education budget. Well, I’ll damn well look where ever I please! Read the rest of this entry »

See ‘Interested’s’ comment after the article “The Defeat of Reason…” and other like comments that he (almost certainly not a she) has left.

“Have you read any books on educational theory?”

‘Interested’ I’d like to answer your question and ask you a few in return. You ask why parents of school children did not support the Amendment. I’m sure parents did support the amendment- the question really is, why does it appear as if some parents voted “no” at the polls? Part of the answer to that question is that parents have limited information. The only newspaper in town is littered with inaccuracies. Both sides of an issue are never explored in any depth. Parents can’t get accurate Minutes to town meetings because they are not posted on web sites or easily obtainable. All the parents I know work for a living and can’t attend meetings that run to midnight. They hear (or hear about) uninformed ranting citizens at Town Meetings who have a questionable level of understanding of what Prop 46 actually says. This is about communication; this is not about parents sharing your opinions and questioning accountability. Read the rest of this entry »

“…lets elimininate (some) costs…”

Here’s an opportunity for all of us to unite on one cause - shouters and non-shouters, CPS’ers and non-CPS’ers alike. There is one significant cost of the Town of Woodstock that we can do away with without any loss in services. We need to put together one more petition - not one of those puny 25-signature petitions, but a 200-plus (why not 400-plus) signature petition. I would sign my name at the top. This petition is intended to cut as much as $200,000 from the town budget thereby reducing the mil rate and lowering the tax burden of the tax-paying citizens of Woodstock.

I propose that we circulate a petition to convert the three Selectman positions to non-salaried Board positions just like the positions on the Board of Education and Finance. When you look at the hefty work of the Board of Education with a budget three times that of the Town operation budget, one has to wonder why our Selectman positions are salaried and the BOE positions are not. Furthermore, during the reign of our last First Selectman, her salary was raised 40% but I never heard anything about this until it was a done deal. It seems to me that there should have been some public discussion of these significant increases in compensation of all three Selectmen. This dialogue might have elicited some interesting discussion about what these people actually do. It also seems to me that all we really need is a Town Clerk, a Treasurer preferably with strong financial expertise, a Town Assessor, and the remaining miscellaneous positions that we have to manage the day-to-day business of the Town.

I say lets eliminate these costs - the Selectman salaries, their fringe benefits, and the position of Executive Administrative Assistant, their office supplies, and the cost of the useless Town web site that is an embarrassment to all and save the taxpayers as much as $200,000. By doing this we may also avoid expensive pet projects like reduction of taxes for the elderly (yikes, that’s me!), the Town cop, the Town planner, bird feeders, and bird feeder supplies, etc. Who knows… we may even save more than $200,000. Read the rest of this entry »

Election Results – The amendment fails 673 YES, 1536 NO!

The failure to amend Proposition 46 is a stain on Woodstock.

Since no other Town in Connecticut has a similar Proposition, Prop 46, itself, is also a stain on Woodstock. The Proposition should not exist for the simple reason that the Town Budget ultimately has to be approved by the electorate. Now, valued teachers will lose their jobs and others will lose funding for classroom supplies that will be less than adequate… without any debate over the specifics. Why don’t we put the laid off staff in a horse-drawn cart and parade them through town like the witches of Salem - after all, they are inherently evil as one well known nay-sayer has intimated. We might add carts for the school age children as well. We will now continue our slide into the third world below towns like Eastford, Killingly, and Brooklyn that rank higher in standard test scores and that are willing to donate more to their youth than Woodstock.

Who do we have to thank for the defeat of this amendment? One person that stands out is our First Selectman, Margaret Wholean, who provided no support for the amendment… although stating that she supported this amendment. I noticed that she had a YES sign tactfully positioned upstream from her house as though she wished to disassociate herself from the sign. I wonder how she actually voted? Ms. Wholean also failed to show up on the WINY talk show with Steve Adams and Everett Shepherd.

I don’t know how anyone else in town feels about this, but I would like the citizens of the Town to demand a First Selectman who stands for something. For that matter, I would like to have three Selectmen that are willing to let their positions be known; then follow up with clear-cut advocacy one way or another. If a Selectman is willing to take a position, any position, and state their reason for their position, then one can respect them for doing so even if one doesn’t agree with their position. However, Woodstock has three Selectmen that hide in City Hall remaining mute on the issues to the populous of Woodstock. This is about as low as an elected official can sink – mute to the citizens who elected them.

Why do we pay these people? We do not pay the members of other Boards and committees. Delpha orchestrated a very large raise for herself and her successor, in spite of the well-known fact that she saw herself only as an administrator (of what, I don’t know). Given their non-performance over the issue of Prop 46, we must work hard to remove all three of these people from office in the next election. We need to start now to expose these losers by educating the citizens of the Town about what should be expected from town officials (I use the term loosely). We can start by pointing out their shallow performance at every instance, and do everything possible to squash their pet projects like tax relief for the elderly, the town cop, etc, that only create problems like further loss of needed tax revenues, initiation of a crime wave, and, oh yes, those ridiculous bird feeders. And, why have a Town Planner if there is nothing to plan?

Who else do we have to thank for the defeat of this amendment? There is an element in Town whose specialty is abuse. I’m not necessarily talking about the Citizens for Prudent Spending (CPS’ers) per se. They have a right to organize and express their views, and they have done so effectively. Just as I would ask Ms. Wholean to come forth and advocate her position, either way, and explain why, I would have to grant the CPS’ers their right to take a position and publicize their views – so I am not speaking about the NO’s in particular. I am talking about the ABUSERS (who may or may not be CPS’ers). They could also be called the town bullies. These people are easy to spot. These are the people who try to shout down their opposition at Town meetings. Thank goodness the voting is anonymous. You may recall the pugilistic behavior of one candidate at the last election. These same people abuse others around them obsessively for different reasons. These are people that have lost all power in town, and perhaps in their personal lives, accept for the shred of control that they hang onto through their installation of fear, through dissemination of mis-information, and through their transmission of anger and incitement among their dimwitted cadre.

One of these people persuaded our First Selectman, Ms. Wholean, to hold a referendum with a petition of twenty-five people. Ms. Wholean announced in the Villager that she preferred to have a referendum rather than a Town meeting because she did not like the negative exchanges that occurred in these Town meetings. The irony of all of this is that she was persuaded to go to referendum by the very people who incite the shouting at Town meetings. I don’t think that she is capable of realizing that she was manipulated with the singular goal of manipulating the Town citizenry. By sending the petition to repeal Prop 46 straight to referendum without the necessary number of signatures, she, more than anyone, ineptly and unwittingly undermined the attempt to amend Prop 46 before this amendment was ever conceived. Read the rest of this entry »

“…he fails to recognize that NO Towns in Eastern Connecticut have a Prop 46 except for Woodstock.�

Mr. Bird, Editor of the Villager, spoke about “loosening of the reigns (sic)� in his editorial this Friday (Apr 21st) in telling Woodstockians that they should “Keep Prop. 46 as it is in Woodstock.� He says, “…loosening the reigns would spell financial disaster.� Was he trying to tell us that we should or should not eliminate the reigning clique that has controlled Woodstock for the last decade? It’s never clear what is actually being said in the Villager articles because its articles are filled with inaccuracies, mis-spellings, and grammatical errors…not to mention ignorance of the issues facing Woodstock managers.

For example, he goes on to talk about Prop 46 as a “safeguard for wild spending� as though wild spending was a sure thing – this is the straw man for his argument that Woodstock should “Keep Prop. 46 as it is in Woodstock.� Does he even know what IS is? Stating a premise that does not exist and is not possible, then knocking it down is a downright stupid exercise, given the fact that the Woodstock electorate ultimately approves the budget.

He touts the importance of Prop 46 and the Massachusetts Prop 2 ½ as safeguards against “wild spending.â€? He is apparently ignorant of the fact that Mass Prop 2 ½ has an annual escape clause, or annual over-ride, that can be approved by the electorate whereas Prop 46 does not. He apparently does not understand that no annual over-ride exists so it’s pointless when he asserts that, “displeasure with the (inadequate) school budget can be registered.â€? The only way possible that I can think of expressing displeasure is to take a leak on the side city hall. Read the rest of this entry »

Our First Selectman, Ms. Wholean, turned down the offer to join the discussion.

An editorial in the Norwich Bulletin urges amendment of Prop 46 in the upcoming referendum

“Previous leadership on the BOE and BOS - their failure to act responsibly - has put the Town in the situation that it is in today, and divided the Town’s electorate in the process.�

I took time off from work this morning (Fri, Apr 21st) to listen to Everett Shepherd and Steve Adams on WINY talk about the amendment to Prop 46 going to referendum on Monday. I was impressed by the clarity with which Everett and Steve articulated the need to make a change in the way Prop 46 is written. I also learned things that I did not know from Mr. Shepherd’s recounting of the history of Prop 46. As a permanent citizen of Woodstock, I thank these two men for such a masterful presentation on the radio. I can only hope that most of the electorate was tuned into this discussion. Read the rest of this entry »

Woodstock ranks 164th out of 169 Connecticut towns in per pupil education expenditures.

This information comes from the State of Connecticut. The State reported expenditures per pupil (NCEP) of $8,587 for Woodstock in the 2004-2005 school year (the Connecticut State Department of Education) and the same for all school districts in the state (combined elementary, middle, and high school). Woodstock ranks last in NCEP among the towns in Windham County and other nearby towns. Comparable data for 11 surrounding towns are as follows (state ranking):

Eastford ranks 34th (NCEP of $11,749);
Windham ranks 35th (NCEP of $11,630);
Putnam ranks 37th (NCEP of $11,562);
Willington ranks 39th (NCEP of $11,526);
Ashford ranks 81st (NCEP of $10,283);
Killingly ranks 98th (NCEP of $10,058);
Pomfret ranks 126th (NCEP of $9,479);
Brooklyn ranks 144th (NCEP of $9,179);
Tolland ranks 145th (NCEP of $9,116);
Thompson ranks 160th (NCEP of $8,768); and
Woodstock ranks 164th (NCEP of $8,587).

We extended this information to include a comparison with school rankings based upon 2005 standard Connecticut test scores and demographic information on family household income in these school districts.

Family Poverty Levels in These Towns

Woodstock was third best in families living below the poverty line at 1.9%. Tolland and Pomfret were first and second among these 11 towns with 1.1% and 1.7%, respectively. The four worst towns with regard to poverty line were Eastford, Killingly, Putnam, and Windham with 4.4%, 4.8%, 6.2%, and 12.7% of families living below the poverty line, respectively (source).

Tolland 1.1% (families below poverty line)
Pomfret 1.7%
Woodstock 1.9%
Thompson 2.8%
Willington 2.9%
Ashford 3.4%
Brooklyn 4.2%
Eastford 4.4%
Killingly 4.8%
Putnam 6.2%
Windham 12.7%

Median Incomes per Household in These Towns (same website as above)

Woodstock was forth best among the 11 Towns in median household income at $55,313 per household. Tolland, Pomfret, Eastford were higher at $77,398, $57,938, $57,159, respectively.

Tolland $77,398 (median household income)
Pomfret $57,938
Eastford $57,159
Woodstock $55,313
Ashford $55,000
Willington $51,690
Brooklyn $49,756
Thompson $46,065
Putnam $43,010
Killingly $41,087
Windham $35,087

Elementary School Rankings Based Upon CT Test Scores. (http://www.psk12.com/rating/index.php)

This ranking was determined by averaging the three test scores in math, reading, and writing of 4th grade students – level 5 only. Woodstock was 7th out of 8 for the school districts for which this number could be found (Windham, Ashford, and Thompson were not found). Woodstock’s score was 45. Only Putnam was lower at 23. The highest ranking school districts were Willington, Pomfret, and Killingly with scores of 87, 82, and 63.5, respectively. Eastford, Tolland, and Brooklyn had scores of 50, 55, and 55, respectively.

Willington 87 (average level 5 score)
Pomfret 82
Killingly 63.5
Tolland 55
Brooklyn 55
Eastford 50
Woodstock 45
Putnam 23 Read the rest of this entry »

“The lines of authority in Woodstock can be envisioned as a chaotic pile of pick-up-sticks.�

Tony Soprano quipped to his cohorts last night that “Our ‘shit’ is dragging me down!� I did not hesitate to write this down as it evoked the thought that Woodstock has accumulated a lot of political baggage over the years. In a town without a Charter, leadership has become a free-for-all of pet projects and progress has been stymied by inertia. The faces of our elected and appointed officials change occasionally but in reality they represent an entrenched bureaucracy that has changed little since the early 1990’s and perhaps long before then.

Because we are a Charter-less Town there is no line of authority or oversight other than the spinning-wheel voting that goes on every two years and with each referendum. We have had no real choices among the candidates running for top offices (except possibly with the now-disappointing tenure of Ernest Wetzel). Progress is thwarted by inertia like, for example, when desirable ‘elected’ candidates, like Mr. Breen, can not take a position on the Board of Finance due to a technicality. Mr. Breen has had a sustained career in finance unlike many, if not all, of the elected and appointed members of the BOF (F stands for Finance). And, the NO’s usually win in referenda that do not give some tangible reward to a power group in Town.

Our last First Selectman, Delpha Very, viewed herself as just an administrator (of what I don’t know) according to a comment submitted to this web site. Yet she managed to raise her own salary by about 40% with no additional responsibilities. Our current First Selectman, Margaret Wholean, had no agenda and was surprised by her election since she was only a token candidate…so that Delpha would not run unopposed. So we now have a higher paid First Selectman who furthers the inertia with pet-projects that do nothing to enhance the performance of Town services. Her initiative for tax relief for the elderly reminds me of the ‘campaign savvy’ initiative by Governor Rell to eliminate automobile taxes that towns collect even though the towns remain responsible for maintaining the roads - a major budgetary component. No wonder there is negativity in Town, at this web site, and by organizations like the ageless CPS’ers whose mission is to sap all lubricant from the Town’s machinery in order to maintain inertia.

If there is no need to fund maintenance of our roads by collecting an automobile tax, maybe this is a real justification for increasing the relative cut for our education budget … relative to the Town operating budget. Read the rest of this entry »

“Revaluation really isn’t as scary at it seems if you understand how it works.�

Revaluation (reval) is a process by which we periodically update all property values of the Town. We all live in a world of revaluation, but most of us don’t look at it from that perspective. Every time we go to the grocery store or the gas station and the prices have changed, we’re witnessing revaluation. A pound of hamburger is still a pound and a gallon of gas is still a gallon. The cost of acquiring them has (in most cases) gone up because the changing costs of raw materials, labor, production and a whole host of other supply costs – a phenomenon called inflation.

Most importantly, the actual act of reval of properties (adjustment to current market values) does NOT, by itself, change the amount of tax dollars received by the town overall. Read the rest of this entry »

Our new High School was opened this year and we is pleased to announce da first graduating senior class from Woodstock High - the class of 2010
Motto - “We does da teachin ourselves and it ain’t costing too much”
Mascot - Swamp Pig
Nickname - Swamp Yankees (see origin of the term)
High School colors - brown, yellow, & green
Superintendent - Joe Klusek
Special Facilities - The Hosmer Math Center, The Very Aviary, The Eaffy Forensic Center, The Wholean Center for Elderly Tax Reduction

My son’s Vallydictorian Speech:

“I does feel dat dis honor ain’t made me a man yet. My life’s work in da agony and sweat, not for glory or profit, is to create out of materials somethin dat did not exist before. So dis honor is only mine if I comes through life successfully. It ain’t hard to find somethin to dedicate myself for the money part commensurate (big word) with da purpose and significance of my origin. But I would like to do somethin with acclaim too. Dis moment is da pinnacle from which I might be listened to by da young boys and girls already playin da game of life with da same anguish and travail, whom is already dat one who will some day stand where I does stand today.

Until I learns things, I does write an speak as though I does stand amongst and watched da end of man. It ain’t easy to say dat we is immortal cause we endure dat when da last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from da last worthless rock hanging tideless in da last red and dying evening, dat even then there will still be one more sound - dat of my puny inexhaustible voice, still talkin. I refuse to accept dis. I believe dat we swamp yankees ain’t merely to endure but we will prevail. We is immortal, not cause we alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but cause we has ‘da voice’, capable of shouting down others. Da bloggers and da Villager writers duty is to write about things like dis. It is da writers privilege to help us yankees by lifting da yankees heart, by reminding him of da courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been da glory of all yankees past. Da voice is not merely be da record of Woodstockians, it can be da one dat props up da pillars of City Hall.” Read the rest of this entry »

“…for each $100,000 in assessed value…your property tax will rise $69…”

The Town fiscal year that we are currently in (2005-2006) has a budget that allows $18,467,083 in spending. Because of Prop 46 the Town is only able to increase its budget by $738,193. This number is determined by averaging the budget increases for the last three years. Thus, the budget is $19,205,276 for the next fiscal year (2006-2007) according to the guidelines of Prop 46.

Under the amended Prop 46, the increase in budget allowable for 2006-2007 would be equal to last year’s budget increase or the average of the last three years, whichever is largest. In this case the largest was $1,318,323 (last year’s budget). Thus, the allowable budget under the amended version of Prop 46 would be $20,117,708.

The proposed budget for 2006-2007 consists of the education budget of $14,566,120 (proposed) and the General Government budget of $5,144,489 (proposed) which adds up to $19,710,609 (proposed). Thus the increase for 2006-2007 would be $1,243,526, $74,797 less of an increase than in 2005-2006.

If the increase indicated by the proposed 2006-2007 Town budget is allowed by amending Prop 46, then the mil rate will increase from 16.45 mils to 17.14 mils. This means that for each $100,000 in assessed value of a property, your property tax will rise $69 because of the amendment of 46. Likewise, if your property is assessed at $200,000, then your property tax would increase $138. Read the rest of this entry »