New Haven has a long history of high property taxes, burdening home owners, renters, and businesses. Now our taxes are about to go up some more. We believe this is wrong.

• Households are already being squeezed by higher food and energy prices, and Covid has put many businesses in debt. This is not the time to increase our taxes. 
• New Haven’s property values have increased by an average of 32%, and the construction of new property widens the tax base. The city can reduce the mill rate to 32 (from its current rate of 43) and still receive the same amount of revenue. 
• The city is receiving $ 10 million extra funding from Yale and $ 49 million extra funding from the state of CT, plus a one-time $100 million in Covid Aid from the Federal government. With all this extra money coming in, our taxes need not increase. 
• The proposed budget is 4.42% larger than last year (that’s an extra $25.6 million). City government has longstanding financial problems due to underfunded health and pension liabilities. Creating 20+ new positions will only aggravate this problem.  The city must learn to live within its means instead of spending more of our money. 

Therefore, we the undersigned urge the Board of Alders to craft a responsible budget that does not increase existing health and pension liabilities. We also request that the city reduce the mill rate sufficiently so our taxes stay where they are now.