Berlin Property Owners Assn Meeting Today at Noon

Berlin's Board of Education and Berlin's Town Government has proposed budgets that will raise your property taxes this year.  Budget hearings are underway.  Town Councilors have a choice:  they can reject the proposed budgets and demand no increase in Town spending this upcoming fiscal year; or they can do what they have been doing for years--hand out raises, increase spending, and make you pay more taxes.

The budgets contain salary increases for virtually all department heads and other municipal employees.  If department heads insist on salary increases, the only viable alternative to prevent higher taxes is layoffs of other municipal employees.

Three police officers are scheduled to retire.  There are approximately 50 employees in our Police Department here in "Mayberry".  Why not freeze any new hirings?  Has not even the Federal and Connecticut governments implemented freezes on new hirings?  Can we not do with three less employees in the Police Department?  Are the Taliban here?  Is there another masseuse in Town?

If there are salary increases for all municipal employees, property taxes will go up.  Landlords of commercial properties will increase their rents.  Small businesses may be forced to close.  Country Farms and San Remo Bakery have recently closed their doors in town.  Who is next?  Who is in charge of Berlin's Economic Development?  Is that individual aware of the effect of higher taxes on small businesses?  Is that individual in favor of tax increases?  Is that individual getting a raise, too?

If there are salary increases for all municipal employees causing taxes to increase, more homeowners will default on mortgages and property taxes.  Berlin town officials will conduct more tax sales, throwing citizens out into the streets.  Are Berlin's Revenue Collector and Tax Assessor getting raises, too?

Last year we spent $14,000 on each student in our schools.  Do we truly need 21 administrators each earning six-digit salaries at our Board of Education?  Do we really need two special ed supervisors, three high school principals/assistant principals, six elementary school principals/assistant principals?  Can anyone provide a clear, unequivocable distinction between a Director of Pupil Personnel Services and the Director of Human Resources, other than that the former earned a salary of $148,000 and the latter $120,500 last year? Yeah, we know, Berlin’s BOE has received “plaques” of distinction from CABE…but how many Rhodes Scholars have we produced after paying salaries to school administrators alone of nearly $3 million annually?  Take a wild guess.

If municipal department heads insist on raises, then demand from them cuts in their staffs and layoffs.  Refuse to pay higher taxes.  Hold our Town Councilors, Mayor, President of the Board of Education, and members of the Board of Education accountable.  Call them, attend the budget hearings, and speak up.  Better yet:  join our association; we will speak as a large group of voters and taxpayers.  Perhaps they will lend us their ears if we become big enough in numbers.

Please come to our meeting at Central Pizza, 96 Mill Street, Berlin, this Saturday, March 8, 12 noon.  We are meeting in the main room on the right.  All are welcome.  We are a nonpartisan organization dedicated to controlling taxes since Berlin's Municipal Department Heads apparently are not.

Berlin Property Owners Association