Letter: Prospect taxpayers are over-taxed

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To the editor,

Last year I paid more in federal taxes than I should have, and Washington sent me a refund. I paid more in state taxes than I should have, and Hartford sent me a refund. I paid more in school taxes than they needed, and Region 16 sent a refund, but Mayor Robert Chatfield and the town kept it.

He is always quick to point out that about 75 percent of Prospect’s property tax bill is related to Region 16 and has nothing to do with the town. So, why is it that when the region refunds unused tax money that Mayor Bob claims that it becomes town money? The day he announced this windfall of over $600,000, or about $170 per household, he also unveiled his intention to immediately start spending it on several previously unannounced projects.

Taxes I gladly paid that could have been spent to design new student curriculum will instead be spent designing new landscaping layout for the Prospect Town Hall. Money could have been spent for new books will instead be spent on new trucks. It’s not the mayor’s money, it’s the taxpayers’ money and they should at least have had some say in how it’s being re-directed. This “switch” is technically legal, but it sure as heck isn’t right, and it’s one of the things that need to be changed.

Thomas J. Galvin

Prospect

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