Rossi Says: 'This is Not a Time to Implement a New Tax

Today, Republican candidate for Mayor of Naugatuck, Tamath K. Rossi, laid out her plan in regards to the future of the Waste Water Treatment Facility.

“Naugatuck has faced recent unfunded environmental mandates for upgrades costing millions of dollars for the plant, suffered from loss of revenues and is also currently in the middle of complex litigation with Veolia Corporation, the contracted manager of the plant,” said Rossi in a prepared statement sent to members of the Naugatuck media. “In addition to these issues, the contract signed in October of 2001 will be expiring in July of 2022.”

Read the rest of Rossi’s full statement below:

“While Seth Bronko has not acknowledged any familiarity with one of the largest cost drivers for our community, Alex Olbrys has been vocal in his support to sell the facility. Unfortunately, his lack of experience as a taxpayer and legislator is evident as sale of the plant will result in loss of control for the Borough and a new sewer use fee: a new tax levied on residents and businesses with no offset of Real Estate taxes.

Our taxpayers cannot afford an additional tax! This is an extremely complex issue and a Mayor who lacks experience and knowledge could result in dire consequences for our residents. This complex issue needs experienced leadership in order to advocate on behalf of the residents and to create the most beneficial arrangement for our community.

As Mayor I would oppose any implementation of a sewer use fee and would explore any and all options in order to avoid that additional burden on our tax payers. I would immediately convene and work with the WPCA Board to establish an aggressive and immediate investigation of all options with accompanying cost benefit analysis as well as reach out to our State delegation: Senators Crisco, Hartley and Representatives Rebimbas and Labriola to work on a comprehensive and strategic plan for any available assistance and resources to avoid this tax.

A knee jerk reaction on this issue will not serve the residents of this community well and there is no room for inexperienced mismanagement of this critical issue. I have recently reached out to Mayor Mezzo and Borough Counsel in order to start the compilation of information regarding our current position and situation as information provided to the Borough Board has been limited. As Mayor this would be an immediate issue to take action on so as to utilize the time remaining of the contract to investigate and fully vet any and all possibilities and to ensure no new tax to the tax payers.”

A video discussing her plan for handling this issue: https://youtu.be/VR0XgD0u-Ic