Volume 18, Number 28
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
www.berlincitizen.com
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Malloy kicks off state tax-free week in Berlin By Charles Kreutzkamp The Berlin Citizen
Referendum likely this November By Charles Kreutzkamp The Berlin Citizen
Berlin is one step closer to building a new police station after the Town Council approved a bonding ordinance Aug. 12 allowing the town to bond for $21 million over the next several years to pay for the police station project. The town council expects a referendum to occur and has waived Rule 7, which does not normally allow this type of vote to occur immediately after the public hearing, which was attended by more than 50 residents. The public hearing was p revio u s ly re s c h e d u l e d during a council meeting when Republicans held a rare majority due to the absence of two council members, and had scheduled the hearing for September rather than July
29. In the following session, Democrats were once again in the majority and changed the hearing date to Aug. 12. This was done in an effort to ensure that the referendum on the police station will occur on Election Day this November. Now that the town has passed the ordinance, a referendum will be held once citizens submit a request with a sufficient number of signatures. Mayor Rachel Rochette encouraged citizens to attend scheduled tours of the police station and said that for residents who cannot be present for the tour, a video tour by The Citizen is available on YouTube. Residents who spoke at the hearing were divided on the police station, with many speaking in favor and many others opposed to the cost
and the timing of the project. Some residents said that they had not received enough information from the town and that they wanted to know the specifics of how the project was going to affect their tax bills. Town Manager Denise McNair and the mayor cautioned that any estimate would be preliminary and that there are a huge number of factors that could change exactly how much the police station project will impact the average property tax bill. These factors could include changes in the grand list as a result of economic development, future decisions on the budget by the council, and interest rates, among others. However, McNair presented a rough estimate based See Referendum / Page 22
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A conceptual drawing of the new police station. | Charles Kreutzkamp / The Berlin Citizen
Gov. Dannel Malloy came to Berlin Aug. 15 to promote the sales tax holiday week, which kicked off Aug. 17 and lasts until this Saturday Aug. 23. Malloy was at Mickey Finn’s, a family-owned clothing retailer on the Berlin Turnpike. During tax-free week, many items of clothing and footwear costing less than $300 are exempt from Connecticut sales tax. “Tax-free week is great for the consumer, it’s great for the retailer, and it’s great for Connecticut,” said Doug Cohen, a member of the family that owns Mickey Finn’s, who served as spokesman during the event.
Malloy said tax-free week helps families with back-to-school shopping and also boosts retailers in Connecticut, making it easier for them to compete with online retailers, which, in some cases, do not pay state sales tax. Malloy added that retailers often offer sales during tax-free week to increase the savings for consumers. Connecticut Retail Merchants Association’s Tim Phelan said that Connecticut consumers would save between $7 million and $10 million during tax-free week. Malloy said that he believed the tax holiday would be “a bang-up week” for Connecticut retailers.