City of New Britain
Office of Mayor Timothy Stewart
MEDIA RELEASE
June 17, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STEWART EXERCISES LINE-ITEM VETO OF COUNCIL BUDGET; BLASTS
DEMOCRAT LEADERS FOR GRANDSTANDING AT TAXPAYERS’ EXPENSE
Utilizing his “line-item” veto authority, New Britain Mayor Timothy Stewart today rejected parts of the Common Council’s 2011 fiscal year budget calling the Council’s
measure “grandstanding”.
In a veto message sent to Town and City Clerk Peter Denuzze, Stewart said he was executing the veto “to mitigate the impact to city taxpayers with the hope that the Council majority can put aside its partisanship to work together to face the tough economic realities facing the City of New Britain.”
“It had been my hope that given the dire fiscal situation facing our community
Democrats on the Council would join with me in a bipartisan effort to make the tough decisions needed to lessen the tax burden on our citizens.
“Instead of coming together and finding common ground during this time of budgetary
crisis, some members of the Board of Education and Common Council have chosen to play the old game of ‘us vs. them’. Facts and figures are twisted and spun in an attempt to pit City vs. Board of Education, Republican vs. Democrat, parents of school children vs. elderly taxpayers, and management vs. union.
“These tactics are a reprehensible zero sum game where there can be no winners, only losers as the community contends not only with a lack of resources, but with the negative impacts of lack of cooperation among participants in city government.”
Continuing Stewart said, “In order to make their fantasy budget work, Democrats used inflated projections of potential property sales, arbitrarily increasing the property tax collection rate, and the workforce reduction savings.
“These inflated projections are even more disappointing when they come after meetings I had with Democratic and Republican Council leaders at which realistic amounts for these
figures were discussed.
“For these reasons, and with all due respect to the Council, I am exercising my line-item veto authority to reject several items in their budget, primarily $1.5 million in school district expenses, and the transfer to other funds of $526,761.
“These changes will result in a mill rate of 36.63, an increase of 1.65 mills or 4.7% over last fiscal year’s rate.
“This veto is done to mitigate the impact to city taxpayers with the hope that the Council majority can put aside its partisanship to work together to face the tough economic realities facing the City of New Britain,” Stewart concluded.
-30-
NOTE: A copy of Mayor Stewart’s veto message is attached to this release
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Point of information, there were 14common council members present who voted on the budget, 10 dems and 4 GOP. The vote was 9 in favor and 5 against the budget. Sounds as if ONE of the Dems voted AGAINST the budget.
Please send Mayor Stewart a message of support for his efforts to control spending and hold the line on taxes. He has shown great courage.
And visit www.nbrtc.com/signup and register for our e-mail alerts. We will provide you with information about community events, and keep you informed about council, board and commission meetings and let you know how local leaders are voting on important issues.
Remember, we are the only ones that can ensure that our elected officials are responsive to us.
Mr Carlozzi is an independent thinker. I believe it is he; and surely he will be penalized by his own for marching out of step.
The mayor did the right thing by vetoing the money for the BOE and he should continue to demand all the details on where they are spending our money!
Also rallying against Stewart is state Rep. Tim O’Brien, D-24th District, who called on Stewart to apologize to residents of the city.
"It was inappropriate for Mayor Stewart to use his veto message to throw partisan and personal insults at parents, children, educators and anyone else who disagrees with his agenda. His comments are an insult to parents who are concerned about the quality of education in our city, and are an insult to the senior citizens who deserve the tax relief that Mayor Stewart refuses to give them.
IF O'BRIEN CARES SO MUCH ABOUT THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN NEW BRITAIN, WHY DOES HIS STEPSON ATTEND SCHOOL IN ANOTHER TOWN???????????
I guess O'Brien agrees with Sherwood's wife on this subject? You have to leave town to find a decent school!
Post a Comment