Local towns trying to cope with change

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Bulletin - Neighboring towns seek to share fruits of growth

(Bozrah First Selectman and Chairman of the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments) Keith Robbins is proposing 2 percentage points, or one-third, of the state's 6 percent sales tax generated from large-scale developments be returned to local communities. Local leaders then could use the money to address regional impacts from the developments.

"We don't have a revenue problem in the state. We have a spending problem," said Robbins, a frequent critic of the state's failure to adequately fund municipalities while reaping large amounts of revenue for its own coffers.

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Preston First Selectman Robert Congdon said he'd even go one step further.

"I'd include the hotel tax and the entertainment tax as well," Congdon said. "The hotels and the entertainment are what is attracting visitors, increasing traffic on roads and the impact on public safety and emergency response."

Franklin First Selectman Richard Matters also endorses Robbins' proposal, saying too often neighboring communities are forgotten when it comes to gauging local impacts.

"Where are these people (working at the developments) going to live?" he said. "They're going to live in the neighboring towns like Franklin and South Windham. That's where the impact is."

Wow! The Bulletin actually posted comments from respected individuals in the area saying there will be negative impacts! Even Congdon! I know where the Franklin First Selectman is coming from... but to be honest I do not see a lot of the low income housing going in over in Franklin... I think Norwich, Montville, Ledyard, and Preston will attract proposals due to proximaty to the projects with Norwich and Montville getting the most out of those four. I also see New London and Groton seeing an influx of Utopia workers... Nevertheless this is a positive and maybe people will begin to see just how big all this is and stop putting anti-utopia people in the same camp as the NIMBYs who oppose everything.