Council Votes to Refund $1,807,753 to Taxpayers

The City Council approved an amendment proposed by Ald. Carlo Carlozzi, Jr. (D-5) to refund $1,807,753 in surplus to taxpayers.

The amendment, at the October 23, 2019 City Council meeting, arose from discussion on a $1.9 million surplus in the fiscal year 2019 budget year which ended on June 30, 2019.

Democrats, expressing that they had wanted a lower tax rate for taxpayers in that budget, offered the amendment to return $1,807,753 of the surplus left over after that budget year to taxpayers.

Carlozzi, the Council Majority Leader, also said that $100,000 previously allocated to the library from any surplus would remain in place.

The new provision added by Carlozzi’s amendment was, “that $1,807,753 of the fiscal year 19 surplus be refunded to the taxpayers in the form of a credit of the second installment that is due January, 2020.”

While Republicans had initially criticized Carlozzi’s amendment, which was seconded by Ald. Francisco Santiago (D-5), the amendment was ultimately approved unanimously.

The budget year that the city is presently in is fiscal year 2020, which goes from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. The surplus Carlozzi’s amendment would return to taxpayers was for the budget year before that, 2019, which began on July 1, 2018 and ended this past June 30, 2019.

The tax rate in Stewart’s proposed budget for the 2019 budget year was criticized for being, a “huge tax increase.” While the mill rate remained the same, the budget was coming after a property tax revaluation that, Stewart had announced, had resulted in an overall 6.27% increase in the taxable valuation of property in the city. Overall, the valuation of single family homes went up by 6.32% and apartment buildings of nine or more units increased overall by 17.88%, while condominiums’ valuations went down by 6.73%.

Keeping the mill rate the same would translate property valuation increases into tax increases.

Democrats on the City Council had responded by approving a budget that cut $1,745,844 from the City Hall budget and lowered the mill rate 50.50 proposed by Stewart to 49.97.

The Democrats’ budget also increased education funding by $429,171. Stewart had proposed no increase in school funding.

But Stewart vetoed the the Democrats’ budget which, under New Britain’s City Charter, resulted in Stewart’s proposed budget taking effect as the approved city budget.

“It is high time the taxpayers of New Britain are given a break,” said Carlozzi online, “enough of the spending, over $30 Million more this year than in 2013, 14% increase in property taxes and another $150 Million more added to our debt structure and 10 additional years. We can no longer continue to do the same thing and expect a different result.”

Editor’s note (10/27/2019): The article was updated to include the new provision added by Carlozzi’s amendment and noting the date of the meeting when it was offered.