Democrats Blast Stewart Over Taxes

City Council Democrats issued a statement on November 4th blasting Republican Mayor Erin Stewart, saying that she is blocking refunds to taxpayers by illegitimately stopping a special City Council meeting to take up what Democrats anticipate is her veto of the measure.

“It is clear that the Mayor intends to veto the resolution and deny the taxpayers their hard-earned tax credit,” City Council Democrats said in a press statement. “This lack of transparency should be a disappointment to all of the residents of New Britain.”

At issue is a special meeting called by the Council President Pro Tempore, Ald. Eva Magnuszewski (D-AL) to take up what Council Democrats anticipated was a forthcoming Stewart veto of a resolution to refund $1,807,753 in surplus to taxpayers.

Democrats said in a press release that,

Mayor Erin E. Stewart’s Corporation Counsel Appointee Gennaro Bizzarro has erroneously declared the November 4, 2019 special meeting of the Common Council illegal in order to prevent refunding money to the hard working taxpayers of the City of New Britain. Corporation Counsel Gennaro Bizzarro, within hours of a meeting that was noticed on Thursday, October 31, 2019, falsely stated that despite the Charter stating otherwise, Democratic President Pro Tempore Eva Magnuszewski does not have the authority to call a meeting.

Section 4-5 of the New Britain City Charter says that the,

Common Council may be specially convened at any time by the Mayor or the President Pro Tempore of the Common Council

Council Democrats added that Magnuszewski, “has previously called two special meetings, and prior to her term, Republican President Pro Tempore Jamie Giantonio called two special meetings, all of which have never been declared illegal.”

Democrats are accusing Stewart and other City Hall Republicans of attempting to delay Stewart’s veto of the tax refund resolution, saying that, “Town Clerk Mark Bernacki, today declared the Mayor has until November 7th to veto the resolution despite the Town Clerk’s previous declaration that November 4th was the deadline.”

The City Charter gives the mayor ten days to approve or veto items approved by the Council. The tenth day after the tax refund resolution was approved was November 2nd.

Democrats said that the planned November 4th Council meeting was cancelled.

Bizzarro, a Republican, is the State Senator for the 6th Senatorial District, which includes New Britain, in addition to being the Corporation Counsel for the city.

Ald. Carlo Carlozzi, Jr. (D-5), the Council’s Majority Leader proposed the tax refund plan on October 23, 2019 as an amendment saying, “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.” Carlozzi had also said that $100,000 previously allocated to the library from any surplus would remain in place.

The amendment arose from discussion on a $1.9 million surplus in the fiscal year 2019 budget year which ended on June 30, 2019. The resolution including Carlozzi’s amendment was sent to Stewart for her signature or veto.

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

But, Carlozzi’s said last week that, “The Mayor of the City of New Britain has withheld signing Resolution No. 34879, which would release the tax credit funds to residents.”

Carlozzi’s amendment takes up an issue that Council Democrats have been pressing since 2018.

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 that year which, under New Britain’s City Charter, resulted in Stewart’s proposed budget taking effect as the approved city budget, including any tax increases taxpayers faced.