FAIRFIELD TAXPAYER RESPONDS TO JOHN MITOLA’S MESSAGE
Several public officials have forwarded to Fairfield Taxpayer (FT) a message they received from John Mitola in which he says that Fairfield Taxpayer failed to point out in its recent message, “A Teachable Moment for the BOE,” that the increases in the BOE budget over the last five years have been “well below the rate of inflation,” and therefore elected officials should “not rely only on FT when considering this year’s budgets” because it is important for them “to know all of the facts and not just the ‘selected facts’ that Fairfield Taxpayer wants [them] to know.” He closes with the warning that they need to make sure that the information that is being sent from Fairfield Taxpayer is accurate and inclusive. (John’s full message is copied below.)
For the Record:
1. FT agrees that elected officials should not rely exclusively on any single source of information about the budget; indeed, FT encourages the broadest and most inclusive possible debate among Fairfield’s citizens and taxpayers, and we most certainly want everyone to have all the relevant facts.
2. FT agrees that elected officials should indeed try to make sure that the information they receive from any source, not just FT, is accurate and inclusive; FT tries to be extremely diligent, but we don’t claim to be infallible.
3. FT is committed to providing objective and non-partisan research, but neither we nor anyone else can include every “fact” that someone else thinks might have been relevant to our message, and such “omissions” are usually the basis for a deliberative response, not grounds for vilification.
4. In this case, FT did not include many additional “facts” regarding Dr. Title’s arguments in favor of his requested budget, because the focus of “A Teachable Moment” was to encourage our elected officials to consider the critical issue of Affordability in addition to the quantity and quality of our educational services.
5. If we had been analyzing Dr. Title’s arguments instead of his premises – most important among which is whether Fairfield can afford to continue to keep up with some of the wealthiest towns in the United States – we would have considered not only the BOE record of the last five years, but also:
· The BOE record of the previous ten years when BOE spending increased 3.5x more than the rate of inflation (with cost per pupil up 1.85x the rate of inflation). BOE spending literally doubled over this period, and established a very high baseline for the next five years. Over the entire 15-year period, BOE spending increased at 2.7x the rate of inflation. John should be very familiar with these facts since he was a member of the BOE for six of those 15 years, serving as its Vice-Chairman for two years and Chairman for one year.
· The surge in Fairfield’s Debt Service costs over the same 15-year period, most of which was related to school buildings.
· The increases over the last five years in education spending that are not included in the BOE budget, including school nurses, crossing guards, some police, some DPW, Workers’ Compensation, Unemployment Insurance, liability insurance and related retirement benefits.
6. Fairfield Taxpayer welcomes John Mitola to this year’s budget debate, and we look forward to agreeing with him more often than not since the number one issue he highlighted last year in his reelection bid for the RTM was:
· “Keeping property taxes at nominal or no increase so that Fairfield stays affordable.”
His closing statement under Key Issues also echoed FT’s stated mission of keeping Fairfield both desirable and affordable for all its residents:
· “I am committed to focusing on common sense solutions that balance the need for all taxpayers and ensure that Fairfield continues to be a thriving and affordable community.”
(http://www.fairfielddemocrats.org/rtm-district-2/)
7. We would also welcome John at FT’s weekly meetings, which are open to anyone who is interested, and are regularly attended by Democrats, Independents and Republicans across the entire political spectrum.
John Mitola's Full Message to Elected Officials
Dear Elected Officials:
I have received my first email tonight from Fairfield Taxpayer asking for concerned citizens to begin commenting on the budget process and in particular the proposed BOE budget. In its email Fairfield Taxpayer states that the proposed BOE budget represents an increase of 3.8% and then states that the increase is 2.5% [sic] the rate of inflation. Fairfield Taxpayer then states that this increase would be the highest in 6 years.
What Fairfield Taxpayer fails to point out to you is that the average BOE increase over the last 5 years has been 1.61% which is lower than the average rate of inflation of 1.76%. Fairfield Taxpayer uses the rate of inflation meter as its "sounding bell" when it comes to discussing the budget but as stated above does not tell you that the BOE budget has been well below the rate of inflation for 5 years. Simply put they do not tell you everything that you need to know when you are considering the budget. Please do not rely only on Fairfield Taxpayer when you are considering this years' budgets.
It is important that you know all of the facts and not just the "selected facts" that Fairfield Taxpayer wants you to know and it is my hope that you do your due diligence during this budget season.
Please be cognizant of all sectors of the population when you are considering this year's budget and you need to make sure that the information that is being sent to you from Fairfield Taxpayer is accurate and inclusive.
Thank you for the hard work you do for the town.
John Mitola
Several public officials have forwarded to Fairfield Taxpayer (FT) a message they received from John Mitola in which he says that Fairfield Taxpayer failed to point out in its recent message, “A Teachable Moment for the BOE,” that the increases in the BOE budget over the last five years have been “well below the rate of inflation,” and therefore elected officials should “not rely only on FT when considering this year’s budgets” because it is important for them “to know all of the facts and not just the ‘selected facts’ that Fairfield Taxpayer wants [them] to know.” He closes with the warning that they need to make sure that the information that is being sent from Fairfield Taxpayer is accurate and inclusive. (John’s full message is copied below.)
For the Record:
1. FT agrees that elected officials should not rely exclusively on any single source of information about the budget; indeed, FT encourages the broadest and most inclusive possible debate among Fairfield’s citizens and taxpayers, and we most certainly want everyone to have all the relevant facts.
2. FT agrees that elected officials should indeed try to make sure that the information they receive from any source, not just FT, is accurate and inclusive; FT tries to be extremely diligent, but we don’t claim to be infallible.
3. FT is committed to providing objective and non-partisan research, but neither we nor anyone else can include every “fact” that someone else thinks might have been relevant to our message, and such “omissions” are usually the basis for a deliberative response, not grounds for vilification.
4. In this case, FT did not include many additional “facts” regarding Dr. Title’s arguments in favor of his requested budget, because the focus of “A Teachable Moment” was to encourage our elected officials to consider the critical issue of Affordability in addition to the quantity and quality of our educational services.
5. If we had been analyzing Dr. Title’s arguments instead of his premises – most important among which is whether Fairfield can afford to continue to keep up with some of the wealthiest towns in the United States – we would have considered not only the BOE record of the last five years, but also:
· The BOE record of the previous ten years when BOE spending increased 3.5x more than the rate of inflation (with cost per pupil up 1.85x the rate of inflation). BOE spending literally doubled over this period, and established a very high baseline for the next five years. Over the entire 15-year period, BOE spending increased at 2.7x the rate of inflation. John should be very familiar with these facts since he was a member of the BOE for six of those 15 years, serving as its Vice-Chairman for two years and Chairman for one year.
· The surge in Fairfield’s Debt Service costs over the same 15-year period, most of which was related to school buildings.
· The increases over the last five years in education spending that are not included in the BOE budget, including school nurses, crossing guards, some police, some DPW, Workers’ Compensation, Unemployment Insurance, liability insurance and related retirement benefits.
6. Fairfield Taxpayer welcomes John Mitola to this year’s budget debate, and we look forward to agreeing with him more often than not since the number one issue he highlighted last year in his reelection bid for the RTM was:
· “Keeping property taxes at nominal or no increase so that Fairfield stays affordable.”
His closing statement under Key Issues also echoed FT’s stated mission of keeping Fairfield both desirable and affordable for all its residents:
· “I am committed to focusing on common sense solutions that balance the need for all taxpayers and ensure that Fairfield continues to be a thriving and affordable community.”
(http://www.fairfielddemocrats.org/rtm-district-2/)
7. We would also welcome John at FT’s weekly meetings, which are open to anyone who is interested, and are regularly attended by Democrats, Independents and Republicans across the entire political spectrum.
John Mitola's Full Message to Elected Officials
Dear Elected Officials:
I have received my first email tonight from Fairfield Taxpayer asking for concerned citizens to begin commenting on the budget process and in particular the proposed BOE budget. In its email Fairfield Taxpayer states that the proposed BOE budget represents an increase of 3.8% and then states that the increase is 2.5% [sic] the rate of inflation. Fairfield Taxpayer then states that this increase would be the highest in 6 years.
What Fairfield Taxpayer fails to point out to you is that the average BOE increase over the last 5 years has been 1.61% which is lower than the average rate of inflation of 1.76%. Fairfield Taxpayer uses the rate of inflation meter as its "sounding bell" when it comes to discussing the budget but as stated above does not tell you that the BOE budget has been well below the rate of inflation for 5 years. Simply put they do not tell you everything that you need to know when you are considering the budget. Please do not rely only on Fairfield Taxpayer when you are considering this years' budgets.
It is important that you know all of the facts and not just the "selected facts" that Fairfield Taxpayer wants you to know and it is my hope that you do your due diligence during this budget season.
Please be cognizant of all sectors of the population when you are considering this year's budget and you need to make sure that the information that is being sent to you from Fairfield Taxpayer is accurate and inclusive.
Thank you for the hard work you do for the town.
John Mitola
