New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Property values up, tax rate down, improvements on the horizon, mayor says
EAST HAVEN — The town has invested in key departments, the tax rate will drop and residents will see improvements throughout East Haven, according to Mayor Joe Carfora.
Carfora delivered the news at his annual State of the Town address Wednesday night, as he also presented a budget to the Town Council that will see spending increase by just over 5 percent from current levels.
The mayor’s proposed budget, which was unanimously approved by the Board of Finance, totals $98,461,650, a $5,006,296 increase over 2021-22 spending.
And while spending will increase, the tax rate will drop by almost 3 mills to 31.30 mills, Carfora said, to offset increased property values in the most recent revaluation.
“While increased value in our homes is overall a good thing for those who own, as leaders we have a responsibility to make sure that such value increases do not crush a hard-working family’s pocketbook,” Carfora said. “I am recommending lowering the mill rate to offset as much of that increased value as we can, so your tax burden is limited.”
Carfora added that he, like other municipal leaders, will continue to lobby the state for an overhaul of the property tax system to provide relief to taxpayers.
He highlighted investments in key departments, including the police and fire departments, departments of recreation and public works, and others. .
Carfora said the town had purchased new firearms for the Police Department to replace ones that were more than a decade old. The
weapons will be issued and training begun in the coming weeks, he said.
Active shooters kits also were purchased and will be put in every Police Department vehicle, he said.
For the Fire Department, new specialized gear dryers at all fire stations will aid in the proper laundering of firefighters’ personal protective equipment, Carfora said.
“No department has made more of a commitment to hunting grants than Chief (Matthew) Marcarelli, seeking and receiving a total of more than a million dollars since 2017,” Carfora said. “Most recently including a $136,000 Assistance to Firefighters Grant for thermal imagining cameras for all department apparatus.”
The Department of Public Works will be purchasing two new pieces of equipment so workers can clean and maintain the Farm River and Tuttle Brook, and will also work to rebuild its fleet of equipment.
Funding from the American
Rescue Plan Act will be used for projects on the town Green, park refurbishing, increasing the town’s IT infrastructure and more, he said.
The East Haven Senior Center was selected to receive a grant from the state Department of Transportation for a second bus that will be used to bring seniors to medical appointments, pharmacies and the senior center, he said; the town anticipates receiving the bus early next year.
Carfora said all of the town’s parks and fields will be overhauled using federal and state funds, after Recreation Director Elizabeth Franco Spano and Superintendent of Public Works Charlie Coyle visited all the recreation facilities and evaluated grounds and equipment.
“The results were clear, many of the playgrounds needed a significant overhaul due to deterioration and lack of maintenance over the years,” he said. “We plan on improving Michael Street Park, Memorial Field, Massachusetts Street Park, Warwick Street Park, Deer Run Field, The PIT and Momauguin Fields.”
Carfora also used his speech to denounce Tweed New Haven Airport’s expansion , calling its potential effects on the town a “burden” he cannot currently support.
“My concern is that the burden to East Haven that this terminal will bring — traffic, flooding, environmental, public safety, operational costs and capital necessities — are monumental and they far outweigh any direct, limited economic benefit that East Haven will gain,” Carfora said.