This year state Rep. Tim O’Brien voted for a state budget that cheats every child in New Britain of an adequate education, and now he wants to blame somebody else for the consequences of his vote. O’Brien voted for the state budget that his party leaders put forward. That budget borrowed for current expenses, skipped payments owed to the pension fund and froze education money for local school budgets.
Let me repeat the last point; O’Brien cast his vote to give New Britain the same amount of educational funding that was received last year and the year before. For three years, New Britain has received a fixed amount for educational expenses. One of those years, O’Brien voted for a budget that took an additional $1.5 million, in a grant, away from New Britain school children. This grant had been used to fund all-day kindergarten classes.
During that same time, he has voted for many mandates that increased the costs local Boards of Education must cover. Increasing mandates and flat-funding education leaves the city with just two options; cut BOE requests for increased spending or raise local property taxes.
O’Brien cannot have it both ways. He cannot be a political puppet and support his party leadership’s budgets that under fund education and then urge more local money for the Board of Education. The only place that additional money can be raised is from higher local property taxes.
For years, O’Brien has whined (and accomplished nothing) about how property taxes are too high and unfair. However, his votes in Hartford to deny needed education funding can only lead to higher property taxes or teacher layoffs and oversized classrooms.
Paul M. Carver
BOE Member
Thank you Paul for keeping the honest information public.
ReplyDeleteMr. O'Brien has been campaigning on property tax reform and reducing taxes for years. He has accomplished nothing in this area at the state level but continues to get elected.
Now he is screaming foul over New Britain's budget and asking for more funding for education.
How is he going to lower taxes and raise spending at the same time?
It appears that there may be more fun and games by Democrats at the 6/23/10 Council Meeting.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget about all the other entitlements O'Brien joined his party in forcing down our throats like the state paying for free health insurance for all the employees working for contractors doing business with the state, not only for the employees, but for their families too.
ReplyDeleteSomeone has to pay for these so-called "free" social programs.
That someone would be you and me, in higher taxes at both the local and state levels.
I fully expect the little boy and his minions to make every attempt to ignore the city charter and override the mayor's veto, no matter how illegal their actions may be.
ReplyDeleteLook at how they acted when a member of their klan committed such a serious violation of the charter in their very presence that the charter mandated that he immediately be removed from office, but they ignored the law simply because he is one of their fellow agitators.
These Democrats have demonstrated that the law is meaningless to them, as they apparently believe they are above the law so long as whatever they do pleases the little child that leads them.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteThank you Paul for keeping the honest information public.
Perhaps the board of ed should pay attention by making the information about where our money has been spent public. What are they trying to hide?
The big story on Channel 30 news tonight was the outraged business owners in New Haven who are facing a 31% increase in their property taxes.
ReplyDeleteThey have a mayor who is running around encouraging every illegal alien in the country he can to come to New Haven and receive every free service the mayor can possibly throw their way. Now that bill is coming due, and it is the honest hard working people such as those owning businesses in the city who must pay for the mayor's illegal alien philanthropy.
I share this story because this is the very same path that the radicals on the New Britain city council would have this city take with their ever increasing love for social programs and their desire to raise property taxes to fund their free programs.
If business owners in New Britain don't act soon to stop all this nonsense, the 31% tax increases facing New Haven might soon seem like a bargain here in New Britain.