A 6% Tax Hike Is a Big Deal to Some of Us!

The way Greenwich Democrats want to throw your tax money around, you’d think everyone in town was rich. But Greenwich is a wonderfully diverse town in many ways, including economically, and to many of us, $50 or $100 less every month is a problem.

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Does School Spending Really Have to Increase So Much So Fast? 

In the Democrats’ world, an $8 million increase to our public school budget — from $235 million to $243 million — still isn’t enough.

BOE Democrats demanded a $12 million increase and refused to negotiate — not when BET Republicans proposed a $4 million reduction, not even when they asked for a mere $2 million less. (Yes, that still would have meant a $10 million budget increase!) Crafty Democrats preferred to refuse this more-than-reasonable compromise and leave Republicans to vote for the $8 million increase so they could use the $4 million reduction as political fodder in the next election.

For many of us who value transparency, accountability, and concrete results—not political theater—this moment was deeply disappointing. Residents expect their elected officials to do the hard work, not walk away from compromise.

What we witnessed last week was not a breakdown in understanding but a breakdown in priorities. Democrat BET members appeared more concerned with political positioning than serving the students, parents, and taxpayers of Greenwich. They held press conferences, took recesses, and repeated their talking points. But where was the constructive dialogue? Where was the willingness to stay at the table and hammer out a deal?

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Need to Have vs. Nice to Have

Another example of Democrats’ penchant for lavish spending of public money was the request for nearly half a million dollars to buy electric leaf blowers.

The Town asked for the money to comply with its own gas-powered leaf blower restrictions — a mandate backed by Democrats — and just one of many capital requests in a budget that would have resulted in a proposed 6% tax increase. With costs rising everywhere, Republicans stood firm, and the BET voted to remove this funding—a decision that was both fiscally responsible and principled.

Once again, Democrats don’t seem to understand the fiscal hardship their plans can inflict on the little guys. Not all landscape businesses are big enough to handle the outlay of expenses needed to comply with their mandates, nor do they all have wealthy clients from whom they can recoup their losses.

Not to mention, we Republicans aren’t great fans of mandates. We prefer people to be free to adopt new tech if and when they want to and can afford to. The leaf blower ban was championed by Quiet Yards Greenwich and progressive RTM members who prioritized environmental mandates over practical governance. It mirrors policies in cities like Washington, D.C., and Portland, OR, and states like California. That's not Greenwich, a town that historically favors pragmatic, market-driven solutions over rigid government mandates.

Some argue that as a finance board, the BET should not weigh in on policy matters. But the BET is also an elected body, voted in to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely. Using the power of the purse to reject funding for an unworkable mandate is entirely within the BET's scope. Ask yourself: Why would we even have a BET if the RTM was supposed to decide its own budget?

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Republicans Know Massive Tax Hikes Can Be Harmful.

Stewardship of public money is a serious matter, and we must be extremely conscientious when we discuss raising taxes on our town residents. Many of us are hard-pressed to meet our month-to-month expenses as it is. For some of us, a large tax increase is the deciding factor against music lessons, class trips, help for an ailing parent, or family vacations with our kids. Others among us are retired and don’t enjoy annual income increases commensurate with large tax hikes. And the homeowners among us rely on Greenwich’s renowned modest and predictable taxes to maintain the value of our property.

Greenwich Democrats don’t always seem to understand the difference between “need to have” and “nice to have.” Please support Greenwich Republicans as we balance high quality town services with fairness and fiscal discipline. We are the party that treats your money with as much consideration as our own.