New Haven Register

Hamden residents press Legislative Council on higher taxes

By Ann DeMatteo, Assistant Metro Editor

HAMDEN — At 5:30 p.m., they dressed like hobos and clowns and Mayor Craig B. Henrici, carrying balloons and holding signs opposing higher taxes, while the motorists beeped as they passed Memorial Town Hall at Whitney and Dixwell avenues.

And at 7 p.m. Monday, about two dozen residents put away their theatrics and talked seriously with the Legislative Council about how they simply cannot afford higher taxes this year.

They were joined by about 30 more residents, some of whom begged the council to trim as much as it could from Henrici’s proposed $173.6 million budget for 2007-08, or not increase it at all from the current $163 million.

The proposal carries a 1.6-mill increase over the current tax rate of 27.95 mills. A public hearing on the proposed school budget of $74.6 million will be held tonight.

“The mayor’s proposed budget is irresponsible,” said Carol Christmas, of the Hamden Alliance for Responsible Taxation, who removed her Henrici mask with a drawn-on clown hat to speak at the public hearing at Town Hall.

A sign that showed some council members wearing clown hats also moved from outdoors to the rear of the Town Hall auditorium for the hearing.

Like other speakers, Christmas said plans allowing town retirees and their spouses to have free medical coverage has to go.

While attending the rally earlier, Christmas also said she has many older friends who may be forced to sell their homes because they can no longer afford the combined pressure of taxes, food and utility increases.

During the protest, organized by HART and supported by Hamden Tax Relief In Action, Mark Sanders wore a barrel and carried a pewter cup.

“It’s obviously theater, but it graphically illustrates that ordinary homeowners are the ones getting the short end of the budget stick,” Sanders said.

He changed into regular clothes in Town Hall and spoke about several ways the town can cut expenses. The first, he said, is to phase in revaluation, which the council would still be able to do, something it rejected last year.

Residents warned the council should not turn a deaf ear to them again, reminding the council that it is an election year.

A number of speakers urged that the council restore two technology librarian positions that have been eliminated in the mayor’s budget.

Others spoke in support of the mayor’s plan to combine library and town technical staff members, and still others said library branches should be closed and staff members combined to save money.

At 6:30 p.m., on the eve of National Library Workers’ Day, the library union spoke out against the cuts.

Copyright © 2007 New Haven Register, reprinted with permission. Originally published on 17 April 2007.

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