Board of Education and General Fund public hearings will take place Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. before the City Council’s Budget and Appropriations Committee in council Chambers, 45 Lyon Terrace.
Mayor Joe Ganim’s $622,422,608 budget proposal, see here, includes $5 million extra for schools for the fiscal year starting July 1, more property tax relief for seniors and veterans, free park stickers for all Bridgeport residents, and lower car taxes.
The proposed tax rate is 27.75, down from roughly 43 in this revaluation year. As a result, fiscal officials project a mixed bag of some taxes holding flat, some homeowners experiencing an increase while some receive a cut based on the respective housing assessments.
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I swear this city is fudging exhausting!
Next up city budget. Up til now we’ve been dealing with the state responsibility in it’s shortcomings. So as to prevent the yearly finger-pointing and blame shifting game thus far the main focus has been the state’s irresponsible funding neglect. Stop the Finger Pointing it’s our kids getting poked in the eye. See video here https://youtu.be/4D4XZlvl-6Q?si=ib9yC7UrIUOv-OZ7
Now it is the city councils turn. Unlike our delegation, our city council has the numbers and legal authority to impose their budgetary will on the mayor. I was denied the opportunity to speak at the budget presentation after receiving assurances or an opportunity to speak. So much for the morality of keeping one’s word. Instead I was relegated to shouting after the meeting adjourned. I did in fact send them an email with suggestions on how to find up to $10 million dollars more for education by flatfunding other departments as they’ve done several times in the past. They even mentioned that they have a whole city to take care of and didn’t want to have to make cuts and if they gave us more money this year they would have to give us at least the same amount as last year. Funny that problem only is mentioned with education when public safety consumes twice as many city tax dollars as education. Since 2016 Education lost about 400 jobs other departments? Grew! The city council has to put on their big People pants and start making the hard decisions and spreading the pain and taking the heat. Not simply passing on every single job reduction on children because they fear the hard choices.
Also attached a video for those on the council that may not have the patience for reading. https://youtu.be/24hGTNv9bkY?si=FZmrw2SCfJyf6J_l
Local dollars matter too. When the city continues to contribute the least amount of funding per pupil in the entire state, is outspent by tens of millions of city dollars by Waterbury and New Haven it makes it hard for our State legislators to advocate on our behalf. https://youtu.be/VIN1IPFeAvw?si=47W7CJ8baLr8oGXv
So I ask you my supporters and my detractors. Please come out and advocate for our children. The best investment we could make in our city’s future is not an incentive laden stadium or an apartment complex for the Wealthy that generates no income for the general fund, the best investment we can make is an investment in our education system. If anyone would like assistance preparing testimony feel free to reach out.