The town’s highest elected official said Tuesday night that his office is preparing to make a recommendation on surveying taxpayers as the budget season gets underway.
Addressing the Board of Finance at its regular meeting, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan noted that during a recent pre-budget workshop that included members of the Boards of Selectmen, Education and Finance as well as the Town Council, among others, officials concluded that it would be helpful in the coming weeks to understand what residents think New Canaan’s spending priorities should be.
“We talked about doing a survey,” Moynihan said during the meeting, held at Town Hall. “We have been looking into a professional survey … We will come back to you with some recommendation regarding a survey.”
He referred to a joint workshop—held Nov. 17 at Lapham Community Center and moderated by former Town Councilman Kathleen Corbet—where officials shared opinions on who or what municipal body is responsible for the budget and what percentage budget increase would be acceptable to taxpayers, given New Canaan’s services.
Speaking on behalf of a group that included Town Councilmen Mike Mauro and Jim Kucharczyk and Board of Education members Tom Cronin and Brendan Hayes, Councilman Liz Donovan said during the workshop that New Canaan might consider focusing on what drives demand in the town rather than specific increases in municipal spending.
“We need to survey why people move here,” Donovan said. “Kathleen [Corbet] had mentioned the concept of asking our citizens why do they move here. We got some input from one of our newer arrivals, that there are problems perceived in this town considering moving to New Canaan but watching from afar. They are watching our property values go down, in some ways some people may be waiting it out to see when is the right time to jump in, since property values have declined. There is a feeling that they can get more bang for their housing buck here in New Canaan than in other comparable towns. There is a lot of watching and waiting going on.”
Part of the meeting was dedicated to discussions involving how best to relay information about town spending and tax bills to come, especially in light of the real property revaluation, now underway.
Though New Canaan likely will need to raise more money through local property taxes to pay for its services, officials said at the workshop—partly because the town will see less in state contributions than in the past—it is not true that each individual property owner will pay higher taxes. Some may end up paying a lower total dollar figure in property taxes, even if the tax rate increases, because their property values will decline.
Even so, those participating in the workshop raised questions about the difficult decisions that will face New Canaan officials as they set spending for fiscal year 2020.
“Think about the return on investment,” Donovan said, speaking on behalf of the same group. “Does everything have to be number one? Does every road have to be perfect? Again, it comes back to it would helpful to have the data to know what people’s priorities are. So that would help us determine how to move forward there.”
The idea for a formal, professional survey gained momentum among workshop participants as the three-hour workshop unfolded.
Board of Ed member Dionna Carlson called for a survey of residents to “see what the town’s priorities are.”
Corbet asked, “Do we really know what our citizens want from us in terms of services, in terms of educational quality, et cetera? Maybe it is time to brush up that opportunity to do a Survey Monkey.”
Kucharczyk said that if the town is to administer a survey, “let’s do it professionally, in a meaningful way.”
Corbet said a professional survey similar to what those in attendance had in mind had been done in the past for $12,000.
Town Councilman Steve Karl called for the 30-plus officials gathered to raise their hands if they favored conducting a “comprehensive” and “true, big-time survey” of taxpayers, and nearly every hand went up.
“Put some money on the table and ask New Canaan what they want,” Karl said.
He added, “This needs to be comprehensive.”
It isn’t immediately clear just when the survey will be conducted or by whom.
Corbet said workshop attendees would operate under “Chatham House Rules”—a reference to a British policy adopted at some international conferences that has no bearing on public meetings here.
Just received my reassessment. Down even further than expected. It should not take a survey for town leaders to understand that priority should be to reduce expenses. Given a 12 % drop in value from 2013 assessment, logically speaking, I certainly would not be expecting an increase in my property taxes.
Understand that idea is unrealistic but hope that town leadership understands how much of a slap in the face it would be to taxpayers if they were to put forth a new budget that showed anything other than a zero sum increase. Not the year to take on new expenses. Time to maintain what we have.
My property assessment has increased. Curious since antique homes are not in high demand.