Duh! Monteleone finally speaks and it isn't pretty!

From today's Republican American article about Monteleone knowing nothing about the town budget or tax process: SOUTHBURY — The challenger in the first selectman's race has pledged to bring relief to families who are paying higher taxes this year due to a property revaluation, but when asked for specifics he deferred to the Board of Finance.

Republican John Monteleone, in a statement issued Wednesday, said people's taxes have increased 25 percent since First Selectman Ed Edelson took office in 2011.

In an interview Thursday, Monteleone changed his statement to say it was the tax rate, not people's taxes, that increased by 5 mills, or about 24.5 percent, this year.

He acknowledged that some people, in particular Heritage Village residents and owners of other condominiums, are paying lower taxes this year as a result of a state-mandated property revaluation that caused the value of property to drop an average of 19 percent.

The new assessments were calculated by a private company that analyzed real estate records and sampled properties throughout the town.

The result caused the grand list — the value of all taxable property in town — to drop about 20 percent. Therefore, homeowners whose assessment fell by more than 20 percent saw their taxes decline. Those whose values fell by less than 20 percent — mostly owners of large homes and commercial properties — are paying more.

To compensate for the decline in the grand list, officials increased the tax rate by about 5 mills. Edelson said the town could have lopped $4 million, or about 20 percent, from the municipal side of the budget to keep the tax rate from going up, but that would have decimated services.

"I could have closed the library, closed the senior center, closed park and (recreation) and eliminated the road program," he said. "I don't think people in town would have appreciated that."

Instead, he said, the town cut spending this year by 1 percent largely by pooling its health insurance with Middlebury and Region 15 to save approximately $1 million in premium costs.

"What would he have done differently? Where's he going to get the money to (bring people relief)?" Edelson said. "This shows his lack of understanding of the budget process, his lack of understanding of property taxes and how they work. Those are two reasons why I would be very concerned having him at the wheel of managing town government."

Monteleone said he would have cut the town's budget beginning in 2008, when housing values began to fall.

He deferred to the Board of Finance when asked where the cuts would have been made, saying it was that commission's budget.

"I'm not in government, so I can't give you specifics because I don't have the budget in front of me," he said. "What I would have done is to ask the Board of Finance where in all the budget items could spending have been cut or deferred without hurting services."

He also said he would have told taxpayers before the budget vote in May what the tax rate would have been if the budget was approved.