What's a property tax freeze mean?

Keeping the mill rate at 25.99 for the second straight year means taxpayers will again pay $25.99 on every $1,000 of assessed value.
The assessed value is 70 percent of a property’s market value as determined by the revaluation from Oct. 1, 2007.
That means, for example, that if a house is assessed for $150,000, the tax bill would amount to $3,898. For a house assessed for $200,000, the tax bill would be $5,198.
Since last year’s mill rate followed revaluation, it’s difficult to compare across the years.
In 2007, the mill rate was 34.71 -- but that was equivalent to 24.95 post-revaluation. So last year’s rate property tax hike equaled a 4 percent increase.
This year’s freeze, of course, merely locks in place last year’s tally, leading to property tax bills that should equal those of last year, at least on real estate.
Since vehicle values change, the tax bills for older models should go down.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Mayor's police plan would bust ranks

Mayor Art Ward fessed up.
If the police union refuses to make contract concessions to save money for taxpayers, he plans to knock the pay and rank of a trio of higher-ranking positions.
Ward said he would turn an existing lieutenant into a sergeant and take an existing sergeant and return him to regular police officer status, which would put him back on the street.
He would also bust a detective back to police officer and return him to patrol as well.
The result, the mayor said, would save enough money from the department while bolstering the officers who are out in the front ranks.
"That's not compromising public safety," Ward said.
The changes would effect the wages of the three people targeted and generally reduce overtime within the department.
The change would also limit the opportunity for advancement for rank-and-file officers.
It's a surprising twist that several insiders said may cause the police, who have firmly resisted concessions, to reconsider.
Though refusing to back down would preserve their scheduled pay hike, it would apparently limit their ability to collect overtime or snag a higher rank. Those considerations may wind up costing officers more than simply making the concessions the mayor asked them to do, the insiders said.
Ward said he'd have a breakdown with more specifics at tonight's budget meeting.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Any lawyers looking for a job?

The city's advertising two part-time attorney slots -- the city attorney and an assistant.
The city attorney needs five years of experience for the $33,000-a-year position while the assistant collects $28,000-a-year and needs only two years of experience in order to be eligible.
Neither post, for those who have been living under rocks, provides any benefits.
But the job has its, um, perks. After all, you will get to sit through lots of government meetings and hang with politicians day in an day out.
Applications are due by the close of business on Wednesday, June 17.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

City layoffs may not be needed, mayor says

Two city unions that did not agree to make concessions in order to save jobs may yet come around.

Mayor Art Ward said Thursday he hopes both the police and the "outside workers" unions will take another look quickly and opt to give back raises in return for avoiding layoffs or other changes.

Ward said he won't lay off any police officers because of public safety considerations and the reality that taxpayers just got done shelling out big money to train the newest recruits, who would be the first to go if layoffs are made.

Instead, Ward said the city might lay off civilian members of the department or it may opt for more creative options. He declined to talk about other possibilities until the city can sit down with the union and detail its thinking.

After it hears the alternative, the mayor said, it will have "a very short window" to consider concessions instead. He said he hopes it will rethink its position.

"The economyis such that measures have to be taken," Ward said.

Keeping more officers on the street should also help hold down overtime, the mayor said, which is a crucial step toward controlling the department's budget.

The mayor said that Local 1338 of Council 4 of the American Federation of State, Countyand Municipal Workers may take another look at making concessions soon. He said he hopes its members will take the step needed "in the very, very near future" to avoid layoffs.

Local 233, which represents the "inside" workers, accepted a wage freeze for the coming fiscal year in return for a no-layoffs promise. The supervisors association also accepted a freeze.

Ward said the $170 million budget slated for approval tonight will freeze property taxes and slice 14 jobs from the city payroll permanently. They've remained vacant for many months as part of the spending reductions ordered a year ago, the mayor said.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Tattered or torn flag? Dispose of it with respect

Note from state Rep. Bill Hamzy, a Plymouth Republican whose 78th District includes part of Bristol:

If you own an American Flag that is tattered and torn and no longer serviceable and want to make sure it is disposed of in a respectful and honorable manner, you may want to consider dropping it off at American Legion Seicheprey Post # 2, 22 Hooker Court, in Bristol, on June 20^th from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

State Representative Frank N. Nicastro Sr., Post Commander Jay Meisinger, Mayor Art Ward and I will be hosting a Flag Collection Day at the Post that Saturday. The flags will be disposed of properly in a lawful, dignified, respectful ceremony at the Post later in the day.

We scheduled the event for Saturday, June 20^th because it falls between Flag Day, June 14^th and the 4^th of July, when people think about displaying the flag.

For those who have a flag that is no longer usable, the U.S. Flag Code specifies that they must be properly retired. It’s my hope that Bristol and Plymouth residents will take advantage of this opportunity to properly retire their old flags.

Seicheprey Post # 2 has been collecting and properly disposing of flags for many years. One year the Post collected more than 5000 of them.

If you are unable to bring your old flags to the Post on June 20^th, you can bring them down any other day of the year. The Post schedules ceremonial burnings as needed throughout the year. The Post considers it both an honor and a privilege to perform the service.

Sincerely,

Bill Hamzy

Your State Representative

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Federal cash to help with housing rehab

The city plans to use $163,000 in federal stimulus cash to pump up its housing rehabilitation fund.

“We can certainly put it to use,” said Howard Schmelder, a Bristol Development Authority commissioner.

Given the rapidity with which residents tap into the BDA program to get money to fix up homes, the extra money should keep the program flush for an additional six to eight months, according to Debbie Shapiro, its coordinator.

Shapiro said the city has $200,000 allocated for the program during the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. The extra money would boost the tally to about $346,000.

The city can take $16,000 to cover its administrative costs, officials said.

City councilors will give their blessing tonight to the decision to put the extra stimulus money into housing rehabilitation.

The money could have flowed into other BDA programs, officials said, but using it for the popular housing fix-up fund made the most sense.

Shapiro said the city faced “a very short timeline” to detail its plans. A final decision had to be ready this week, only a couple of weeks after municipal leaders learned of the allocation.

Shapiro said the city has to spend the cash by 2012, but it won’t last anywhere near that long.

The city’s program offers help for low and moderate-income homeowners who need to repair roofs, replace furnaces and other housing-related expenses.

Grants are available to reimburse up to half of pre-approved costs for owner-occupied single and multi-family dwellings.

Matching grants can reach $5,000 for a single family home and as much as $9,500 for a four-family home. A family of four can earn up to $64,000 annually and be eligible for assistance.

Applications are available through the city’s website or by phoning the BDA office at (860) 584-6185. See this document online for more information.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

GM pensions - A USA Today primer

With so many retired General Motors workers in the area, I'm sure many of you are trying to figure out how the company's bankruptcy will impact your finances.

USA Today has a pretty good little primer here. The federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has some information here as well.

If anybody who's impacted wants to talk to me or another reporter for a story, I'd love to hear from you.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Elderly housing complex planned for Lake Avenue

A developer plans to construct a 49-unit “garden style” elderly housing complex on Lake Avenue.

The 5.2-acre site would include 11 buildings -- six of them containing four side-by-side dwellings and five others with five units apiece, according to plans submitted to the city’s land use office.

“The need is there. It’s going to be affordable and it’s going to be beautiful,” said Samuel Vasile, one of the three principals in Apple Grove Hollow, LLC, the developer.

The units will all be rentals, Vasile said.

Vasile said that construction could begin by mid-summer.

City Planner Alan Weiner said he doesn’t anticipate any problems with the zoning approvals necessary given that “the area has been mixed in terms of multi-family development” for many years.

The 651 Lake Ave. lot for the development is mostly level on the east side of the road and backs up onto 229 Technology Park and to the site where the city runs its recycling center. It faces South Mountain.

The Zoning Commission will consider the request at its 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 10 meeting, which includes the opportunity for the public to have its say.

Weiner said he’s not sure what the elderly housing designation the developers are using actually means. It could be anything from an active 55 and older community to a more tranquil setting for older residents.

Vasile said it’s simply designated for those who are 55 and older.

The units will have the main living space on the first floor, but also contain full basements and a second floor that has a spare bedroom or office as well as another bathroom. Washer and dryer hookups would be on the main floor, Vasile said.

If the zoning panel approves the project, the developer wouldn’t necessarily get to work quickly.

Weiner said that the approval carries “a 5-year shelf life” and can be extended by the commission.

But Vasile, who is developing the family-owned property with two sisters, said they don’t plan to wait. They want to get it underway soon, he said.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

City layoffs likely as some unions say no to concessions

It appears likely that City Hall will have to lay off at least some municipal workers in order to balance its proposed $170 million budget for the coming fiscal year.

Though some city employees have agreed to concessions that can close some of the financial gap in the spending plan slated for approval Thursday, it’s probably not enough to make up the $342,000 hole in the draft budget.

Mayor Art Ward said he still hopes that each of the city's unions would agree that saving jobs is their priority "but that's not my decision to make."

Ward said he has no choice other than "to fill that monetary void" in the budget with savings from concessions or layoffs.

"Everybody has to share the pain, unfortunately," the mayor said.

The union representing the workers inside City Hall, Local 233 of Council 4 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers, has voted to give back its approved 3 percent annual raise in the new fiscal year that begins July 1.

But the union for the city's so-called "outside" workers, Local 1338, refused to make concessions,  its members opting to keep their 1.8 percent pay hikes even if it costs fellow workers their jobs.

The police union also declined to accept a cut. Firefighters are in arbitration on their contract so the concession issue never even came up.

The Bristol Professionals and Supervisors Association is expected to accept a wage freeze for the coming year.

It appears, then, that any layoffs would cut into police ranks a bit and into the rolls mostly of public works.

On Wednesday, at a closed-door City Council session, the details of whatever has gone on in the negotiations will be discussed with the six city councilors. Perhaps some decisions will be made after the executive session.

The picture will be clear on Thursday when the Board of Finance and City Council hold a joint meeting, in public, to approve a final $170 million spending plan that freezes property taxes and balances expected revenue with spending. 

After that, officials will start trying to figure out how to cope with next year, when the situation looks more dire.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Bond lowered for Park

Accused hit-and-run driver Robert Park was in court today, where a judge lowered his bond to $95,000. Read WTIC's account here to get details.

This was apparently in the arrest warrant -- which the police have yet to send me:

About an hour after the crash, police say three officers found Park asleep in a bedroom, and smelled alcohol on his breath.  After they woke him up,  he fell over several times, as he tried to take a lighter out of his pocket.  Police say Park could not make complete sentences, and slurred his words.  A blood alcohol test was more than three times the legal limit.
Police say Park threatened suicide,  when they told him he had killed a teenager.  

You can read reporter Diane Church's account in The Bristol Press on Wednesday. It may be online sooner, but it isn't now.

Here is the Courant's story about Tuesday's arraignment.

Update on Wednesday, 9:45 a.m. --

Here is Church's story for the Press. It has a nice picture by Mike Orazzi inside the courtroom.

For detail from the arrest warrant, see this story in today's Courant.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Hospital employees urged to lobby lawmakers

Email sent out to Bristol Hospital employees by the hospital president, Kurt Barwis:

Dear Bristol Hospital Employees,

As you know, there has been a tremendous amount of recent activity at the Capital in Hartford surrounding the proposed partnership between the University of Connecticut Health Center and Hartford Hospital. There are three bills that will be going before the Connecticut state legislators for a vote within the next two days regarding this proposed partnership, which includes the rebuilding of UConn Health Center’s John Dempsey Hospital.

1.      Senate Bill 800: An Act Concerning Funding the Fringe Benefit Differential for Employees of John Dempsey Hospital at the University of Connecticut Health Center  which would authorize the Comptroller to cover the cost difference between the state fringe benefits rate and the average fringe benefits rate of short-term acute care hospitals.

2.      House Bill 6335: An Act Concerning the University of Connecticut Health Center Facilities Plan that would require a study of issues concerning The University of Connecticut Health Center facilities plan.

3.      Senate Bill 833: An Act Authorizing Bonds of The State For Capital Improvements And Other Purposes, which includes up to $25 million in FY10/FY11 for planning, design and construction of a new or renovated facility.

 Collectively, this entity would be known as the University Hospital, and, if authorized, will receive nearly one billion dollars in state funding. This partnership and a replacement hospital will have a devastating impact on Bristol Hospital and the Bristol community. We are asking for your help in contacting the key decision makers and our local legislative delegation immediately to let them know that we oppose these three bills and ask for their support when these bills come before them.

 Attached please find a draft of an opposition letter that we are asking you to add your name to the end of the letter and email the letter to the following key leaders in the House and the Senate, as well as copying our local delegation:

 Christopher.Donovan@cga.ct.gov  Representative Christopher Donovan

Denise.Merrill@cga.ct.gov – Representative Denise Merrill

Daily@senatedems.ct.gov – Senator Eileen Dailey

Hartley@senatedems.ct.gov – Senator Joan Hartley        

Looney@senatedems.ct.gov – Senator Martin Looney      

Williams@senatedems.ct.gov - Senator Donald Williams

Harp@senatedems.ct.gov – Senator Toni Harp    

Harris@senatedems.ct.gov – Senator Jonathan Harris

 Please copy (cc) in the following email addresses to our local delegation so that they will know where we stand on these bills.

 Betty.Boukus@cga.ct.gov – Representative Betty Boukus

Frank.Nicastro@cga.ct.gov – Representative Frank Nicastro

william.hamzy@housegop.ct.gov – Representative William Hamzy

john.piscopo@housegop.ct.gov – Representative John Piscopo

Christopher.Wright@cga.ct.gov – Representative Christopher Wright

John.Mazurek@cga.ct.gov – Representative Corky Mazurek

Joe.Aresimowicz@cga.ct.gov – Representative Joe Aresimowicz

Zeke.Zalaski@cga.ct.gov – Representative Zeke Zalaski

Demetrios.Giannaros@cga.ct.gov – Representative Demetrios Giannaros

Beth.Bye@cga.ct.gov – Representative Beth Bye

Colapietro@senatedems.ct.gov – Senator Tom Colapietro

DeFronzo@senatedems.ct.ct.gov – Senator Donald DeFronzo

Kevin.Witkos@cga.ct.gov – Senator Kevin Witkos

Sam.Caligiuri@cga.ct.gov – Senator Sam Caligiuri

 There will also be copies of letters in the cafeteria for those employees who would like to sign the letters in person. We will deliver them to the State House. If you have any questions, please call Carlo Luciano at ext. 3864 or Mary Pat Caputo at ext. 3524.

 Thank you,

Kurt Barwis

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Concessions or not?

The union representing the workers inside City Hall has voted to give back its raise during the next fiscal year.

But the union for the city's so-called "outside" workers refused to make concessions. The police union declined to accept a cut. And the firefighters are in arbitration on their contract already so the issue never even came up.

The Bristol Professionals and Supervisors Association are expected to vote today to accept a wage freeze for the coming year.

It appears, then, that any layoffs would cut into police ranks a bit and into the rolls mostly of public works.

Mayor Art Ward said he still hopes to avoid layoffs, but recognizes they'll probably be necessary before the budget can be approved Thursday.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com