from what i see, nothing goes to clearing out the debt. so, we get to do this rate changing all over again next year. a massive tax increase and nothing has changed. great.

Questions I have are-The concessions by the firemen are they deferrals until next year or will they be permanent? I've heard through the grapevine that they are deferrals. Why haven't the taxpayers been told what these reductions even are??? What is the big secret? OH YEA deferral. The safer grant line item...how much is it going to cost us next year when we have to pay for those new positions? Can the board who resigned and created this mess be elected again? When is the state police investigation going to be done into the CCFD pension? How about all the pending lawsuits for the commercial taxes that were billed with the incorrect rate? How much will that cost us in the future? Finally, who here really believes there is NO ALTERNATE PLAN? lol

i pay my taxes every year and we need the fire department theyi have helped all of my family and when my wife had cancer they were there when i needed them in like 5 mins

More of the same? Reduction from 3.15 to 2.99 is insignificant considering it was raised from prior 1.85/1000 base. Where's the alternate plan? Where's the commercial or industrial property tax rate. Which corporations are getting a waiver or reduction on their property tax rates in our town? Shared responsibility=transparency and information on everything involved in this issue. Oh, and who is going to jail on this accounting fraud? Accountability and prosecution will discourage others from trying this again in the future.

has the budget addressed two questions on the way we were taxed? we have an issue with the two tier tax and we also have an issue with the properties being taxed with the 2009 assessed value. the 2009 assessed values were used on all properties, commercial and residential. a credit needs to be issued on all properties in the tax years of 2010, 2011, and 2012 because the newer assessed values are much lower (state mandates that all properties in the state of ri be re-assessed every three years). and in a separate issue credits need to be given on the commercial properties, as we cannot tax them a rate double the residential properties have. (two-tier tax rate) we need to tax with only one rate. and I believe that will go back to 2006. I did not notice any line item for all these credits and I believe they will be large credit amounts due do to the taxpayers. let leads us to believe that the revenues on the revised budget will be affected greatly and therefore not be the projected numbers of revenue as indicated. I do not believe the hard working and dedicated personal of ccfd are to be blamed for this mess, but we need to find common ground on this matter, as to avoid the liquidation of the district. please find an alternative plan and not go for all or nothing in this upcoming and final vote.

CCFD cannot file bankruptcy, the judge has said that, the special master has said that.. CCFD DID NOT file bankruptcy!

That means TWO things.

1. Since they cannot file bankruptcy, if we vote no and close it, we will STILL have a supplemental tax to pay back ALL the past debts of the district.

2 if we vote no, we either have to pay the town or another district to buy new fire trucks, recruit , preemployment screen, train and equip new firefighters ( massive expense)

So, we will be on the hook STILL to pay back all the back debts of CCFD (because they cannot file bankruptcy so, they have to sell ALL assets to payback as much as they can) AND buy a new fire dept with a new fire tax, pay the pensions of the CCFD firefighters who had the time to retire and did once CCFD closed, pay unemployment to all the remaining firefghters along with the old debt.

or

pass the budget, let the special master do the 5 year plan to get the district back on track, AVOID paying unemployment to a ton of firefighters, AVOID paying pensions to guys who WOULD have stayed working, AVOID buying new 400,000 dollar fire trucks and new 200,000 ambulances, AVOID buying and building new fire stations, AVOID the legal fees associated with liquidation, AVOID the debt that is going to be owed to the state if CCFD closes ( the state went to court and stated if CCFD closes the debt to the state pension will increase to about 5 million due to fees they will asses.

voting no and closing CCFD DOES NOT clear the debt and stop the tax bills, you will STILL be billed for all the debts of the district till they are whole and you will be paying a new fire dept at the same time. seems crazy to me. i dont want TWO TAX BILLS!!

Does the bankruptcy eliminate the need for the CCFD to issues tax
credits to commercial property owners who were billed illegally under a multi-tier tax system if those commercial property owners have not filed with the court as a creditor of the CCFD, Yes or No?

it seems that many of you are misinformed. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THERE CAN BE NO BANKRUPTCY. also, you cannot tax a property on values of three years ago. and the district will still owe all the monies even if you deny the next budget. you cannot erase that. if you are not happy with the proposed new budget, then you need to try and get something in the middle before the meeting takes place. and finally, there already is a law suit that was filed regarding the taxes (two tier and wrongfully assessed ) and is pending in the courts now.

Okay it should be called receivership, but the only commercial property owners who will get a credit are the ones who filed suit in court as creditor of CCFD. If you have not done so already I was told you will be unable to receive a credit for the amount you were illegally taxed on your commercial property.

i dont think many businesses at all are going to go after tax credits. but, if they do then fine. once the new law passes and the district can charge tiered rates, maybe we set the commercial rate temporarily at $50/thousand. once the credits are used up (the first year) we can lower the rate at will. business owners are smart enough to know that two can play that game. above all, we need a strong board. not the hacks and special interest we had before but smart people. retired executives, accountants, business managers, etc.

the assessed value mistake effects everyone. and everyone got over taxed residential and commerical . In regards to the two tier tax, Coventry Fire District has a single tier tax now and a recent case in albion Lincoln was lost in court and that seems to be the driving force for all other fire districts. Albion now have a single tier tax bill and will be giving credits towards future taxes for all the back taxed properties. you will find that the other three fire disticts in Coventry will follow that court ruling.

Did one have to arrive by 6 pm to register to vote?

Yes