Hundreds of Taxpayers Turn Out for Public Comment Budget Session

Fairfield taxpayers flooded the auditorium of the Senior Center at Saturday's public comment budget session, many expressing concern about the town's rising taxes. Others were adamant about preserving the school district budget.

Approximately 350 residents crowded into the standing-room only auditorium, many spilling into the hallway.

"What a difference a year makes," Ryegate Road resident Suzanne Miska said. "I sat here last year and there were four other people."

The difference could be attributed to the grassroots efforts of a group comprised of about 1,500 residents committed to addressing the town's declining affordability.

"This wonderful town is becoming unaffordable," Charlotte Bartol of Sasco Hill Road said. "Our family income has decreased by 5 percent in the past year...It's so frustrating that I'm making the cuts but the town isn't."

Though the proposed 6.4 percent tax hike was revised Friday to 4.8 percent, residents said that if there must be an increase that it be no higher than the 2 percent rate of inflation.

"To quote New Jersey poet Jon Bon Jovi, 'you're halfway there'," Taintor Drive resident John Donovan said.

Donovan added that the town should put in place "success measures" by which to rate the initiatives of the school district, and decide "where we want to be" in terms of performance/expenditures.

Fairfield's CAPT scores, he said, are 20-25 points above state average, but "we are in the bottom third of of performance in [District Reference Group] A and DRG B."

"But our costs are in the top third -- we should expect performance to rank in the top third. If we are fine with our performance, we should pay less."

Others made their cases for passing the Board of Education budget as it was presented, citing that the town's schools are often what attract families to Fairfield.

Cathy Coyle, a Sherwood Farm Road resident and Fairfield Ludlowe High School PTA president, questioned why there was even discussion of cuts to school programs when such cuts wouldn't address "our main cost drivers -- healthcare and pension."

"The endgame of our school system is to send our students to the best colleges we can, or to prepare them for a successful career," she continued. "We need to look at our contractual obligations; otherwise, we will put in place substandard education for our children and a tax bill they can't pay."

Woods End Road resident Fred Nangle added that cuts to the education budget "have a direct impact on the future of Fairfield. If you cut teaching positions, teachers waste a lot of time on crowd control."

"I moved here because this town offers a very good education and I want to keep it that way," Nangle said, adding that cuts to the school budget and thus the education system could have adverse effects on home values.

But several realtors -- like Veronica Monahan of Galloping Hill Road -- said that higher tax rates would be more detrimental to Fairfield's home values than cuts to the school budget.

"We're losing first-time buyers to Westport," because of the neighboring town's lower tax rates and comparable school system.

"High-end valued homes are languishing, families aren't upgrading, and residents with college-aged children are looking to sell their homes. Stop spending and lower our taxes," Monahan said, to applause from fellow residents.

Wakeman Road resident Kevin Dillon said the issues surrounding the towns' budget "go beyond numbers."

"This is personal. This is my home...where we raised my kids. There are so many memories in this house," he said. "When you leave you're home, you don't want to do it because you have to...but I have to."

Dillon said it's too late for him. "I can't afford it anymore. In a few years, I'll be pulling out of that driveway, and I'll be crying like a baby."

At the end of the session, Board of Finance members gave their remarks and acknowledged the public for coming out to share their concerns.

Board of Finance Chair Thomas Flynn echoed many residents' sentiments. "I feel the tax increase is too high and it's unsustainable."

Finance board member James Walsh said reducing the tax increase "is going to be a shared sacrifice in services."