An Idea Whose Time Has Already Come
By Veronica Burns

Last month’s View addressed the issue of hardships this winter and
concluded that, despite the difficulties, people will work together and get
through it. This View is also about people coming together, but on a larger,
more governmental scale. Regionalism, which to some has the scary weight
of bureaucracy about it, has recently re-emerged as an idea and has
generated much comment in the press, both pro and con. Simply put,
regionalism suggests that towns work together in a particular region, rather
than operating alone.
This is how the Hartford Courant recently summed up Connecticut’s attitude
towards regionalism. “We like running into the town manager in the coffee
shop and having a neighbor on the school board. We like the Memorial Day
parade. We have been willing to pay a premium to have 169 municipal
governments in a state that is smaller than some Western counties.”
Regionalism would not necessarily incur the loss of the first three
sentiments, but what about the fourth? Can we afford to pay the premium?
Nobody needs to be reminded that we are in a deepening economic
downturn. How much time before money from the state begins to dry up?
Governor Rell has already declared this current atmosphere to be the worst
since the Great Depression. And we have all read about various towns
struggling to reach agreement when it comes to their annual budgets.
Winsted is one example. After four referendums, the town hopes to finally,
finalize its budget this month. One stumbling block has been a possible
increase in property taxes. In order to support their proposed $32 million
budget, the mill rate in Winsted will have to increase 2.34 percent.
Therein lies the rub. That is how towns get most of their money. Those who
are pushing for regionalism claim that it will make towns less reliant on
property taxes as a source of income. It is a fact that the grand lists are not
growing as much as they did in previous years while the same can’t be said
for the operating expenses of a town. Winsted is not alone in finding itself in
a nickel and dime situation. Certain services will have to be cut, which can
lead to a subsequent decline in the quality of life.