6 thoughts on “Op-Ed: Large Property Tax Increases or Fiscal Prudence?

  1. James well said !!! — times they are a changing — I see values going down 10-30% — lets say 10% that’s $830 million on a $8.3 Billion grand list
    the last revalue saw the grand list go down $200+ million and but only the high end got the tax break — I like to refer to Newcanaanites as three groups the poor rich the medium rich and the rich rich we all feel blessed
    to live here – but some have to struggle more to stay then others

  2. James,
    Thank you! Our elected officials must create budgets that reflect the fiscal realities facing New Canaan taxpayers.

  3. To assert that teacher compensation has been excessive and out of line with the private sector for decades is ludicrous. How many of New Canaan’s teachers can afford to live in this town? New Canaan’s public school system is the principle reason families want to live here, and good education is expensive!

    Teachers are among the hardest working people on the face of the earth, and if we want hard-working, dedicated teachers we need to pay them an appropriate level of compensation!

  4. Thanks for your comments Richard and Judy.

    Susan, here’s the sentence you are challenging: “Similar to the dynamic facing our state, public union salary and benefit contracts that have been out of whack with private sector comparables for decades are crowding out spending on classroom education programs, health care, social services and infrastructure.” I can send you reams of data supporting this statement or you can start doing some research on your own. Start with the Connecticut Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth Commission report. By the way, after spending 16 years in finance, I became a social worker. My social work peers in the private sector make around half the salary and benefits of the average public school teacher in Connecticut, yet these social workers have a Master’s degree — like public school teachers — and work full year round. These social workers very rarely receive pensions or benefits in the private sector. Many teachers are worth every penny they get paid, but do some actual homework on public vs. private sector compensation in the “helping people” sector.

  5. New Canaan someday may have to pay for pensions
    they tried it before they will try it again all three who are running for governor has said this important point WE NOW PAY MORE FOR TEACHER TO NOT WORK THEN TO WORK– 87% pensions
    after 30 yrs will cost close to $3 million per retired person over 20 yrs
    who thought this was a good thing to do ?

Leave a Reply to Susan O'Shea Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *