Windsor: A Good Template for Annual Budgets

I sincerely applaud the residents of Windsor for “rejecting the town’s proposed budget for the third time Tuesday by a 1,881 to 1,750 vote” as reflected in Steven Goode’s article in the June 24th Courant publication. Noted was a cut totaling $400,000 which included trimming from safety services, general government and public works. Without these reductions, the result would have been a 1.67 percent tax increase and a 1.93 percent spending increase over the current year. With a fourth vote to come, Democratic Mayor Donald Trinks said “There will be more cuts on the town side. Everything is on the table.” Granby should have taken a leaf out of Windsor’s page to get as close to “zero” increase as possible. Spending, in the long term debt column needs to cease, at least until greater revenue is achieved from new areas, either from an increased base of new residents or commercial ventures without shaking the pockets every year of the existing resident base. Granby’s population of11,000 has plenty of room within their 40.7 square miles to welcome some new contributors to the bottom line.
Susan Regan, Granby, CT Host of CT Valley Views