Mayor Bill Finch Monday night appeared before the Board of Education to address members’ concerns the city’s not meeting the state’s Minimum Budget Requirement to fund city schools, saying their beef should be with the state’s taxing structure and not with him. Some board members, including chairman Sauda Baraka, claim the city circumvented its obligation in a deal with the state that allows in-kind services to be counted.
More from Linda Conner Lambeck, CT Post:
“The fact is, this board voted on a compromise,” Finch said. “It is time to figure out ways to work together … Our tax structure is fundamentally flawed and unfair. That’s my story, and I am sticking to it.”
Gardner countered by saying the city will never attract better economic development with poorly funded schools. Baraka told Finch that every other urban mayor in Connecticut finds a way to fully pay what the state says those cities must, toward the school budget.
If the city met the so-called Minimum Budget Requirement, why did it need to broker a deal with the state, board member Hernan Illingworth added.
Read more here.
This is a very interesting time for education in Bridgeport. As someone who has been at every board meeting, I find the key issue in all this to be the Mayor has not been open to meeting with the Board of Education. He shows to discuss financial obligations after the City Council voted in favor of a City Budget. This seems to me he did not come to negotiate. He came to say he is going to do what he THINKS is right and not what the LAW tells him is right. As a student it is so hard to learn in our schools without materials. Aside from textbooks, what do we really have? Dwindling elective course choices, no classroom materials for some of our courses and dilapidated facilities. How can a student take wood shop and not have any wood?
It is not fair the students, my peers and I, cannot receive a quality course offering like some of our Urban counterparts have succeeded in doing. Mind you, we understand we as students must take on some of the responsibility to learn and to embody a core value of accountability in our everyday courses. We as students receive a report card and we are judges based on our commitment to the core value of accountability. Through our grades, attendance and activities we must display our ability to lead and take responsibility for our own mess-ups. Where is Mayor Finch with his displaying of being a responsible leader who gets things done?
When will things change? How many teachers will our district have to lose? How many students will have to end up in prison before the Mayor sees exactly what he is being responsible for, creating a future this City cannot be proud of. We need a shepherd to guide the sheep, when you have a fill-in for a day the flock goes astray and it is hard to bring our sheep back. This is what happens when we do not have the necessary funds for teachers, we have a sub for a month or two then one for a week. It goes on and on.
Help Us Mayor Finch. We Need It Now More Than Ever.
BRIGHT FUTURE,
It seems there are some thoughtful “sheep” out there. Faithful shepherds can be observed in their work. Generally, they do not require the time intervals and translations of meanings that have occurred between the City administration and those involved in guiding the public schools.
Look forward to more postings on your observations and what might work as improvements in the system from your point of view. Thank you for using the word “accountability” and understanding both that word and personal responsibility as a student in pursuing your learning. Success in life will come if you honor these values among others. Time will tell.
BRIGHT FUTURE–There was a guy who went to school in a one-room, dirt-floor schoolhouse. He studies at night by candlelight after working all day. He managed to become a lawyer. So not all his choices were good. For all his struggle and effort this guy only ended up with a government job. His name was Abraham Lincoln. So what deficiencies does your school have?
Let me ask you about how the money at your school gets spent. How many broken windows have you seen? Did those windows break themselves? Next time you are in your cafeteria, look into a trash bucket. Estimate how much of that trash is uneaten food. Some not even opened. How often do the bathrooms get flooded out, graffiti, general vandalism, brand new text books destroyed, broken/stolen computers, ceiling tiles? What I am getting at is how much BOE money gets thrown out the window. I am sure you did not do any of these things. My question would be do you know anyone who has done these things? Did you turn them in? If you did not know, BPT has a higher vandalism budget than most. How often does your school need a substitute teacher? If a teacher is out, that day cost the BOE double. The BOE suffers many of the same cronyism, nepotism and conflicts of interest that the city does. If this were your money, would you pay more to the schools for this behavior? Be careful how you answer, if you graduate (there is a 34% chance you won’t) and get a job (there is a 15% chance you won’t) and stay in BPT, it will be your money.
The evolution of education has left our schools with certain necessities and to apply a comparison of having the bare minimum in the time of the 1800s is not a realistic outlook. The materials met his needs for the time he is in. In this present moment in time, we need to see the actual problem.
Students even though they misbehave and do engage in some of the activities you describe act like this because no one cares. If the community doesn’t care, why should they? As for me, if I see these activities I do stop it in its tracks because I believe our schools deserve better and have the potential to succeed. Has anyone ever asked why the graduation rate is low? Why the job hire rate is low? It is because as a community we have failed the students. The parents have not taken the necessary steps, the community has engendered this idea of complacency. How many times have we heard or said, “It is Bridgeport, what can we expect?” When did it become normal to drop out of high school to take the GED route later in life? It became normal as the public began accepting it as an equal alternative. “Better than not finishing at all.”
Let’s not point the mirror at someone else. As students yes we can take responsibility for our education to an extent, but as adults of this city the example must be set. I understand taxes do not need to go up, they are already high to begin with. Think about it though, if we as a community did all we could for the students five years ago we would not be in this predicament.
In closure, that kindergarten Curiale student does not know Bridgeport cannot help them until we make it feel that way. High school students are merely just behaving in accordance with the knowledge gained at such a young age.
If I were a property owner I would be upset because I will be paying for the mistakes made by a previous generation, however I would gladly pay if it meant our children would receive a better education.
BRIGHT FUTURE–I must say, you are very well spoken for a student who does not spent very much time in class, as discerned from the timestamps on your posts. However, ‘the certain necessities and to apply a comparison of having the bare minimum in the time of the 1800s’ would mean our founding fathers had less of an understanding of rights, humanity, government and law than we do. Yet, they crafted the constitution, set the laws and started the nation with the freedoms we all love. I would say they learned and understood more than we ever will. We are not as smart as we think we are.
As far as the student misbehaving, that is a chicken and egg argument. Did the underachievement cause the public perception or did the public perception cause the underachievement? That would be anyone’s guess. Right now is not the time to ‘act out’ in an effort to get more funding. You may be willing to, but most are not going to take food out of their mouths so someone else can throw it away. I actually resent going to a food bank for my family, with my hand out and my pride being the only thing in my pocket, so BPS students can throw it away. It may sound like a good time to you but not so much. You should try it. Sorry for any typos but the tears in my eyes make it hard to type.
Some students go to BPT’s worst schools and do very well. It can be done and those students are better people for it. Some students in CT’s best schools do horribly. You don’t receive an education like a gift. You earn it like a paycheck. That is the perception that needs to be changed.
The MBR you talk about could easily be achieved through increased efficiency. The charters may not be more successful but they are more efficient. The therapists just got laid off. What is the expected savings from that? The teachers got a raise. What will the cost of that be? Hopefully they will balance out. I would hate to think the therapists lost their jobs for nothing. The mayor shorted the BOE about $10 mil. The BOE did get services worth some value. The BOE would have to pay for snow removal, trash pickup, crossing guards, etc. The state ponied up maybe $2.3 mil. I honestly think the BOE is even if not ahead. This argument is just political subterfuge.
My academic time I spent very well. I’m a senior and I have proven myself having received well over 90 percent of my tuition from my four-year college. I can post freely during my school day thanks to the down time in the Library in my free periods on my Chromebook.
Now to clarify this chicken and the egg debate. It is not a debate, I do not have to cite evidence to tell you how students feel. How I struggle every day, how we all struggle. It is so sad to say people see this as a political battle. I am not here to argue politics, I am here to speak facts and ensure future generations receive every possible opportunity available.
The fact is, Mayor Finch has not fully funded the MBR by cash as outlined in state law. Tell me if this is incorrect.
We can spend all night finding excuses, but the truth of the matter is someone is not doing their job. Is it fair? Our forefathers worked hard to ensure we, the descendants of that generation, had a good foundation.
Find any comparison you want. Facts are facts. As Mayor Finch said last night, “That is my story and I am sticking to it.”
That is very good. You craft arguments like a trained lawyer and convey those arguments with English skills that would eclipse most teachers. If you could do this inside the troubled, underfunded and inadequate educational system that is the BBOE, why doesn’t everyone? What are the other students not doing that you are? Would spending more money change their behavior? Would we really be able to ‘buy their obedience?’ Or would this just be money flushed down the drain? The students who want an education get one and those who don’t???
I think Maria should sue the city for MBR. I also think ‘the people of BPT’ should countersue. Regardless of the outcome of the MBR suit the city should determine what the BOE would have spent to provide itself with the in-kind services and pay for those services. Any MBR to in-kind trade can be deducted from that amount. It is not the city’s option to give away taxpayer money whether or not the city looks favorably on the institution in question.
Kid, on this blog you’ll get adversarial journalism while the host sandpapers the facts.
Hmmm Sonny, what’s the name of your phony Facebook candidate for state rep?
BOE SPY, I must say your responses are so fast with so much information that ALWAYS supports whatever Mayor Finch’s position is on the BOE, nobody can compare to you. So who is paying for being the unofficial spokesman for the mayor on BOE issues?
BOE SPY, I thank you for the compliments. I am a talented writer and successful academically because my family made sure I understood the value of education, being the last of a family of five children, the second to achieve a High School Diploma and the first to go to college. My parents did not finish high school, so they pushed me to pursue higher education. There were many times throughout my academic career where I lost hope, no one at home could help me with homework or give me advice about school, so I had to rely on my teachers to help me identify my path and find my academic personality.
To even say we should not fund education because a student does not want to learn is a ridiculous statement. Giving up is not an option. That is like saying I am not going to pay my mortgage because I do not like how my driveway looks. Would you fix the driveway or lose your home?
It is the City’s option to give away taxpayer money. Through our wonderful charter here in the great City of Bridgeport, you elect council members who vote on your behalf on issues that are necessary in the City. The Mayor is given the responsibility to deliver the budget, you elect a Mayor to put your taxpayer money to many different departments. Are those departments reaching maximum efficiency? Some yes, some no. Do you keep funding them? Yes. Why are we tackling the fact students who do not want an education should not receive additional funding? When adults who work in tons of departments in our City, which again ADULTS who learned life lessons teenagers have not yet learned.
Do not put the students, the children, on a chopping block when people who work for this City, the adults, are being unaccountable.
Your mortgage idea is a little off. In this situation it would be more like SOMEONE ELSE continuing to pay your mortgage for a house you do not want to live in. There is nothing wrong with the house. You just plan on wrecking it and do not want to live in it. Again, you did/are doing fine in school, for whatever reason. Everybody else has the opportunity to do just as well as you in the same school. If that student chooses not to take advantage of that opportunity, that is their choice. I never said ‘give up on them.’ I questioned if the performance problem you stated was due to a defeatist ideology would be fixed by turning the in-kind services into a cash payment.
We are funding education. The ONLY part of this argument I have an issue with is the degree of importance that seems to get put on that last $10 mil. They put forward this idea if you did not give $250 mil you gave nothing. That part makes no sense to me. Remember, even if the mayor did put up the entire $250 mil in cash (I do not understand why he didn’t), that last $10 mil, some part of it or more than $10 mil, would still have been used to plow snow, pick up trash, pay crossing guards, et al. It is not like you would have $10 EXTRA million to spend on whatever. If the city has to give the BOE the $10 mil, they are NOT going to do those services. It is not additional funding. Many other departments have felt the brunt of your current economic situation. The police are currently struggling with their portion of that brunt. The BOE portion of that brunt has been disproportionally less as far as layoffs, givebacks and raises go. Lots of people in the city work just as hard as the teachers do and suffered significantly more.
You said students choose not to take advantage of that opportunity because of a perceptual problem. As ‘If the community doesn’t care, why should they?’ The community is building a new Harding, doing a major re-vamp of Central and planning for Bassick, built a brand new high school and are planning to open two brand-new charter schools. The schools had a major technology upgrade including: smart boards, those Apple things, new computers and textbooks. It sounds like we do not need to spend more money; we just need to spend it in the correct places. The students must see this new stuff that showed up in the classroom. It sounds like BPT needs a ‘winning the hearts and minds’ campaign. We need to replace the defeatist idea with one of success or, even better, an underdog idea. Like in the movies, an intercity group bands together to defeat the rich kids. The first thing to do would be to identify where all the negativity is coming from. It certainly is not the Mayor. Most of the defeatist ideology comes from the BOE. You would have to assess the teachers as I do not have personal contact with them. The kids from the Charter schools do not display this ideology.
Nobody pays me. It is a volunteer position.
BOE SPY, I am strong believer nothing is Black and White, a gray does exist. We have been talking in black and white. You are right, a large budget change, such as full cash funding of the MBR, will cause the taxpayers to struggle much more than how some struggle already.
The Mayor has not done his job, but in all fairness the BOE truly hasn’t gotten much farther in solving the achievement gap. So I say the smartest course of action is, the BOE hires an auditor and a programs evaluator and they sit and establish where money is not being spent directly and readjust everything in its budget.
Upon this then we can start phasing out in-kind services and start funding the MBR piece by piece in cash.
Thanks BOE SPY for replying to all my comments. I took it as a learning experience. I may disagree with some points as I am sure you do with some of mine. The fact I heard you and took in what you had to say has helped me. That is what is very important sometimes, sitting back and seeing what someone else can teach you.
The gray is where the answer is, so let’s get the BOE and Mayor to work together.
Again I appreciate the time. I look forward to debating future topics with you. I will say one thing about my school, the Hilltoppers are the best and GO CLASS OF 2014! So I must go for tonight, I have prom things to tend too.
Again, Thank You.
Yeah, some see me as argumentative or a Finch supporter. I like to hear other people’s opinions and do take a lot from them. I do not believe spending more will solve this problem and I am afraid the WFP has ulterior motives. I went to school and did not do very well because I did not want to. That was a big mistake. You want to be a teacher. That is a noble and underappreciated profession. Mostly because too many teachers do not do a very good job. You should do yourself a favor and pursue engineering or accounting with a focus on business admin. You will make a lot more money. That may not seem important now but it will later in life.
I think your idea the students fail because that is what society expects of them is probably more of an answer to our educational problems than the budget. Government never wants to tackle that hard part of society’s ills (crime, poverty, education). They want to take a quick shot at the problem, have a photo opt and run for re-election. Then they can address the same problem for the next election cycle. BPS brings in professional athletes to motivate students. They should bring in successful or ultra-successful alumni. If the kids could see someone a few years older than themselves and hear that person talk about the correlation between education and success and show the kids pictures of his/her house, car and other trappings of success, that would be better than some athlete. One in a million becomes a professional athlete. Anyone can become an accountant. Anyway, good luck. Make sure you take care of you. Everyone else has to figure this stuff out for themselves.
BOE, how many graduates from Bridgeport High Schools go on to ivy league colleges??? So what is your point about Abe Lincoln?
Just because someone can do it, doesn’t mean everyone can do it on their own.
And I don’t know the answer to my question but I do know some graduates do every year.
How many kids from anywhere go to an Ivy league college? Bob, where did you go to college? And why not? Was it because the city gave in-kind services instead of cash to the BOE???
BRIGHT–for a student, you certainly have a very articulate way with words. I’d say your education thus far has served you very well.
Godiva2011, I will be majoring in education. I will not release my college name due to the fact it makes me very distinguishable being the only Bridgeport student attending this particular institution. I will release the name of the college once my time in the Bridgeport Public Schools is over, so pretty much after Senior Finals.
Can someone explain to me how the Bridgeport Board of Education/Commissioner Pryor, state Board of Education and Mayor Finch/City Council can reach an agreement to circumvent a state law? Can my friends and I reach an agreement we are not going to pay our taxes? Can my friends and I reach an agreement to drive 75 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone? How do people in municipal government reach a deal to violate a state law? Andre Baker, Hernan Illingworth, Dave Hennessey, Joe Larcheveque and Kenneth Moales voted to support taking LESS for Bridgeport’s children. They all need to be held accountable. Moales and Illingworth are up in 2015 and they should certainly be defeated.
Sad part is the state does a percentage increase to the funding of our schools by the amount of CASH given to schools from the City, not the dollar sign on IN KIND services. So if the Mayor continues to illegally add in-kind services to his MBR the Board of Education increase in funding will go down due to the fact the Mayor did not fully fund the schools with cash as outlined by state law.
Hmmm … again BRIGHT, you are very well versed for someone who is a student.
Thank you! Four years in High School. Nine years K-8. I am a product of this city. Last year as a student but I look to continue to help our schools progress forward. Go Class of 2014!
May I ask what college you are planning to attend and what will you be majoring in?
Sometimes, you and your friends could exceed the speed limit if one of you were having a baby or in need of other urgent medical care. You can negotiate tax non-payment in times of extreme hardship if that non-payment would be for the greater good. Bridgeport Board of Education/Commissioner Pryor, state Board of Education and Mayor Finch/City Council reached this agreement under similar circumstances. I am sure you understand the extreme hardship an extra tax burden would have put on the citizens of BPT. These are laws of man and do have exceptions. Unlike the laws of God that are absolute.
BRIGHT FUTURE, this is very good and please stay engaged. Your observation is right on when you said this of Mayor Finch, “He came to say he is going to do what he THINKS is right and not what the LAW tells him is right.” BRIGHT FUTURE, I don’t know who you are, you said you are a student well you have picked up real fast who Mayor Bill Finch is, he is what you said, he THINKS he’s right and not what the LAW tells him is right.” All one has to do is to follow his actions with the BOE since he has been mayor. Thank you for your comment.
Ron Mackey, thank you for the positive regard. I have been involved for a very long time in our school system, since my freshman year. Also I have had my share of monitoring City Finances and seeing how the money flows.
Here’s a Mayor who looks to the future for technology to solve our energy and green problems. But his unwillingness to fund the minds to get us there, now that’s SCARY!
Is it 2015 yet?
BRIGHT–shouldn’t you be in class right now? LOL.
The city needs to give up the legal amount for the schools. It’s only fair. I’m for Charters, but you cannot offer to pay their rent at the expense of the traditional schools. That is not fair and just helps to create more acrimony.
Crack down on the delinquent property taxpayers (or nonpayers as they are) and you’d probably have enough right there.
The Mayor showed up to deliver “his message.” And we have heard it before … “the City is small in area … only 1/3 is property tax productive … the Payments in lieu of taxes are too low .. Bridgeport is a victim … I have two boys in public schools … we support schools.”
Various members of the BOE had fair-minded statements about the importance of their work and the necessary dollars to improve the schools. They also had several great questions that made the Mayor very comfortable with the idea of departing the scene.
Will the parties work together to understand FULLY what the State offers and how MBR works (for instance in the several hundred pages of the Proposed City Budget there is a Glossary … with lots of definitions and explanations … but there is NO ENTRY for “minimum budget requirement,” Tom Sherwood please take note), and how in-kind contributions weaken the MBR formula in future years. Of course, if the City fully knows this then there is the reason for ignoring the “outlined agreement” in the letter Mayor Bill received last November 19. The BOE is steadily working, listening and attempting to live up to their stewardship role on a number of fronts. Come out to a Board or Committee meeting. I predict they will become shorter. Time will tell.
Whine, whine, whine. Shut up and put up. The mayor needs to put our money where his mouth is. Stop hiring all those essential buddies, do grow our tax base, stop playing cute with every budget (city and BOE alike) and start doing the job. After nearly seven years of nothing but failure, give it another try. Unlikely, but hey maybe this time you can get something right.
One question–Potential lawsuit?
Is that a BOE position that would cost the BOE legal fees or is it just Maria’s suggestion? Will she file the suit on her own?
I know they are exploring suits for the MBR and the Charter School issue. Just did not know if they had finalized their plans on those.
Mayor Bill provided a history of four suits that have sought to provide dollars for the education of CT students. It appears one of those suits may be becoming active currently.
Some education proponents are advocating a suit against the City and/or State for letting Bridgeport fall behind other cities like New Haven and Hartford. I hope more data can be brought to bear to see how far apart the TOTAL budgets are and to see how sources of revenues, LOCAL PROPERTY TAX BASED, STATE OF CT GRANTS OF ALL KINDS, FEDERAL FUNDS OF ALL KINDS, and GRANTS FROM NGOs compare in each community. Maybe there is an opportunity to learn what, why and how before we are ready to hire a law firm (that itself will take funds away from the classroom)? Or is that too simple a concept? Time will tell.
The idea we are behind those cities may not be true. We all know BPT is 161 of 164 in the state.
www .schooldigger.com/go/CT/districtrank.aspx
at $13,655/student. New Haven is 156 and Hartford is 160. The difference in placing is so small it is statistically insignificant. The difference of a lucky guess or two. The spending difference, however, is significant. I looked it up a while back and (to the best of my failing memory) NH was about $16K/student and Hartford was $18K. Those are close but don’t hold me to them.
“BOE SPY” and/or someone being paid at least $100,000 with B’port taxpayer dough:
Aw shucks, you’re a little rusty here. Check the April 2014 info posted here:
www .sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/dgm/report1/basiccon.pdf
B’port: 13,665
Hartford: 17,929
New Haven: 16,805
Why is it your overarching goal seems to be smoke and mirrors … again and again and again?
The education your parents paid for deserves a bit better, no?
Yeah. I said about:
B’port: $13,665/student = #161/164
Hartford: $17,929/student = #160/164 (I said $18k)
New Haven: $16,805/student = #156/164 (I said $16K)
New Canaan: $17,837/student = #1/165
Wethersfield: $13,805/student = #85/164
Spending does not equal achievement.
“And we’re giving our public schools the funds they need to effectively prepare our kids for college and 21st century jobs through an increase in funds for public education.” Mayor Finch’s words at the City Council session last night per CT Post. Mayor Finch’s proposed budget showed 39 NEW PUBLIC SAFETY employees with a price tag of $3.9 Million annually. The BOE kept talking about loss of 72 teachers since 2009. Are the populations to be protected/educated similar? How does this comment and its practical result for 2015 City budget show any comprehension on the part of the Mayor of what it takes to prepare students (college or job opportunities) for the future? Time will tell.
Does anyone know what percentage of Bridgeport kids attended charter/magnet schools this school year?
Mayor Bill Finch managed to convince the state to waive revaluation for two years and to calculate city services to the BOE into MBR. He has gone to Hartford many times to fight for what he wanted and was successful. Whenever he is successful at getting something he wanted, he claims victory and credit. Last night, Bill Finch pointed to his failures, but blames others for them. When he said “the state,” he meant the Bridgeport State delegation in Hatrford. You heard the mayor state our Hartford delegation has failed us. In the near future you will hear Bill Finch telling Bridgeport voters why they should re-elect the very same people who have failed us and our children.
The mayor has delivered his indictment on the Bridgeport delegation in Hartford. It is now time for any and all challengers to make sure the voters hear the mayor’s message. Trust me when I tell you he will not stick to his story for long.
Lennie,
In Finch’s tenure as state senator (2000-2007), what state legislation did Finch ever introduce or actively support to change the way it is, in regard to the over-reliance on the property tax to fund public education in CT?
He talked about it a lot. Just like he does now.
May 12, 2014 to BBOE:
“We should take on the real culprit in this, which is the state of Connecticut.”–Bill Finch
And yet, in his capacity as a state legislator for nearly eight years, Finch never introduced or actively supported legislation that addressed this issue.
Oh and BTW, Bridgeport receives more than 80% of its BOE budget from the “real culprit” (the state)–in violation of the state-mandated MBR.
OIB!
Lennie, can we get some additional information on the vote?
Did Holloway, Feliciano, McCarthy and Paoletto cast a vote on the very budget they benefit from? Did Salter, Lyons and McBride vote on a budget that appropriates funding to their employer, the Bridgeport Board of Education? Every single one of them should have abstained from any discussion and from casting a vote. I did hear there were several abstentions. Who were the four who voted no? The CT Post only mentioned two. Please post a breakdown by council person.
Sauda Baraka and Howard Gardner specifically asked Mayor Finch if the budget that was just approved included funding to pay up to 50% of a new charter school’s rent. The Mayor repeatedly sidestepped the question. However, when Dave Hennessey specifically tried to pin him down, I heard Tom Sherwood mumbled “do not answer that.” There was pure silence from the Mayor. What does that tell you? Mayor Finch claims the city of Bridgeport is too cash strapped to fully fund the Bridgeport Public Schools as required by state law, but he has $477,000 for charter school rent when he has NO legal obligation to give them a penny. This is a vital piece of information that must be hammered into the voters for 2015.
How does a Mayor claim he does not have the cash to fund the Bridgeport Public Schools, but he has the money to add two positions that will cost taxpayers $190,000 in salaries? This does not even include benefits, city vehicles, etc. Mayor Finch has a legal obligation to fund the BPS with a 100% cash contribution. He is willfully violating a state law and he must be held accountable both in the courtroom and at the voting booths in 2015.
Maybe Sue Brannely will come on as a guest blogger one of these days. Here are some of the questions I would like her to answer:
What information did Finch give the B&A Committee the public has not been given that led them to vote for putting off reval?
If the answer is none then your committee and council made the most uninformed and ignorant vote they could have. Greek is Greek and English is English. But nothing is unacceptable.
Answer these and I will have follow-up questions for you.
If the mayor was able to inform the council who will be hurt and who will be helped, then he needs to make this info public.
If the city received $1.2 million dollars from RCI Marine, where did that money go??? Is it in the bank? If so, the city should be seeing a surplus in the current budget year that can be used to prepay for some purchases for next year, reducing next year’s expenses. If the money isn’t in the bank, the it should be revenue for next. Either way this should have reduced next year’s taxes. Did you follow that or is it all Greek to you?
Did the City Council approve $400K in rental assistance for charter schools or is the mayor lying about this? It’s either in the budget or it’s not.
And Sue, since the mayor is telling us the city will be recognizing new revenue streams in the next two years that offset reval:
1) What is that dollar amount? Surely you asked the mayor and Sherwood that.
2) If the city did provide that dollar amount, then the reval is complete enough to make public. No interpreters needed. If not, why didn’t your committee demand this?
3) Did the mayor or OPM provided the council a detailed accounting of what and where the new revenues were and where they coming from? Give you dates and estimated revenue amounts for building permits at Steal Point? Estimates and a timeline for real estate taxes at Steal Point? Did they differentiate between one-time revenues versus recurring revenue? Did they differentiate between city tax revenues versus payments made to the taxing district?
Now be careful Sue … Your inability to answer these questions will speak to your language skills because you either didn’t know enough to ask or enough to interpret the answers.
And Sue, if someone whispered in your ear voting to delay reval will significantly help your constituents, once again something got lost in the translation.
The minute the Council took that vote last night, property values in Black Rock dropped. And they will remain depressed until reval is implemented.
Do you really think someone is going to spend a million dollars to buy a house without knowing if their taxes will be going up 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% or more in two years? Do you think someone who can afford this type of property is going to gamble on the city significantly increasing revenues without a clue as to how and why when they can more confidently buy in Fairfield, Trumbull, Easton or Monroe because those towns aren’t playing games with their reval and mil rate? I was on the council the last time this happened. It will get pretty ugly pretty quickly. Ask Auden what happened to her house up on the hill. And even though the state passed a law requiring reval every four years to make sure this will never happen again, your committee ignored that safeguard and decided to play politics with our personal investments.
Bob Walsh, what happened to the political action group David Walker and Jennifer Buchanan helped organize, Citizens Working For A Better Bridgeport who held their meetings at Harborview Market in Black Rock, owned by Republican City Councilman Rick Torres whom they backed, where is their voice on this issue? It is those residents who will get hit the hardest.
Fair question, Ron Mackey. We are still around and since there is no election at the moment (though some folks are supporting candidates from each major party), some of us are tending to “following the money.”
“It is those residents who will get hit the hardest.”
I have brought this revaluation subject up for over a year, and the importance of a five-year time period for resetting the fairness and ultimate justice when values for properties within a community no longer share parity. This is a basic and fundamental part of our various tax systems.
The issue is not a given neighborhood has higher-valued properties or lower-valued properties. A reassessment or revaluation as of a certain date of a given year (October 1, 2013) is an attempt to indicate on that day my property in the North End, East Side, Brooklawn, South End, Hollow, Black Rock or West End and another property in any of those areas had a reasonable value (comparable to other valuations on that date). Obviously the valuations had changed from October 1, 2008. Market values were significantly decreased from 2008 and as a sign of volatility, when they rose, not all neighborhoods rose the same way. Fairness and parity are out the window. And certain properties (in this case my guess has been lower market-price properties) were going to suffer with a 2008 value because they would end up subsidizing those properties that had risen a greater percentage after the fall.
Rick Torres has raised that issue in Council sessions FYI. And I have continuously raised the issue on OIB. But Ron, unless things have changed in your health life, perhaps you have not been at such meetings or you are having trouble reading my comments.
I am guessing you don’t have evidence for this any more than I do, but we are working on the same logical assumptions. We have gutless City officials who spend our funds and then make decisions to advance their own electability (two years from now), or so they think. Stop throwing CW4BB under the bus because you disfavor some folks involved. Lots of people hold meetings or just come for a cup of coffee at Harborview. Nothing nefarious going on here. What’s your problem, Ron? Hard of hearing? Rick Torres and I have been raising the issue. Sue Brannelly feeds BS to the public, and feels no shame in the City spending 80% of the revaluation budget and getting nothing for it, only to have to spend that money again in two years. How do you like the team of “Mark, Bill & Sue” providing for our fiscal affairs? How do you feel about the other trio “Andy, Adam & Tom” who maintain the storylines, keep employees in fear of job loss, and maintain a floating reserve in the City Budget annually of which the City Council is sincerely unaware or callously does not care? What’s your pick, Ron? The real targets for keeping Bridgeport where it sinks are not on your radar. Why not? Time will tell.