By ROB SULLIVAN Anger and outrage were the main emotions on display at City Hall during Tuesday nights final public hearing on Mayor Bill Finchs proposed $519.9 million budget, which, if adopted as is, will add an average of $391 per homeowner to Bridgeports already overburdened residents. There was a steady march to the podium as a parade of disgruntled Park City denizens voiced their displeasure with the budget. Ninety percent of us are living from paycheck to paycheck, said Susan Harrison. Enough is enough. Upper East Side resident Helen Olga Losak pointed out, You got your tax increase last year. This is hardship. We cannot afford this. The American dream of owning a home is no longer alive in Bridgeport. Losak also referenced Finchs campaign promise of 2007 issuing a $600 rebate to every Bridgeport homeowner saying, Were still waiting for it. Budget Committee Co-chairman Susan Brannelly (D130), who conducted the meeting, responded by simply raising her eyebrows. The momentum of the budget opponents was somewhat slowed when well-known gadfly and failed politician Angel Reyes spoke to the assemblage. Any person who wants to locate a business looks at three things, said Reyes. Location, taxes and safety. I dont think Bridgeport does well in either of the three. The remark drew laughter, most likely not because of the errors in syntax, but because of all the things that can be corrected about Bridgeport, its location is pretty much permanent. Former Comptroller General of the United States and Black Rock resident David Walker singled out last years tax increase and said, The tax increase last year was inappropriate. Dont make the same mistake twice. There is no good reason for a tax increase. Although residents of the Black Rock section of the city have been especially vocal concerning the proposed tax increase, and have been subjected to mayoral criticism because of that opposition, ire has been aroused in every Bridgeport neighborhood by the proposed budget. East End resident Charlie Coviello stressed that when he argued that the tax burden has caused houses to be overvalued and that no Bridgeport residents will receive a fair market price if their houses are on the market. Ive been in real estate for 28 years, he yelled. You wont be able to sell anything. Fiscal watchdog John Marshall Lee, who has been a perennial thorn in the citys side, noted that numerous factors have added to the tax burden for Bridgeport property taxpayers. Economic development is not yet producing growth in the Net Grand List. It has been shrinking, he argued. That puts a greater burden on the folks still on the list. Our real property values are shrinking, too. That fact will become obvious when the revaluation is complete as of October 1, 2013. Besides Finch, another favorite target of those speaking was Thomas Sherwood, the citys Budget Director who does not live in the city. Sailors Lane resident Mark Delmonico brought down the house when he quipped, If Tom Sherwood wants to play games with my tax dollars let him move to Bridgeport and suffer with the rest of us. Bill Pelletier, who lives in Black Rock and owns a business in the North End summed up the situation by saying, I dont trust the city government. Do you realize what youve done to us? We are broken. You want more? There is no more.
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