In our limited Blue State Mentality we think of housing in terms of AFFORDABLE HOUSING. I want us to think in terms of UNAFFORDABLE HOUSING.I expect that this sort of idea would scare many in West Haven, and we'd hear more cries about the 'haves" and "have nots"... but Chuck has a pretty good point.Housing that is so expensive that no one living in West Haven could even think about buying it. I want housing that is so plush and so fancy and flashy that only 3 or 4 percent of the population on the East Coast could qualify to purchase it. I want that housing here in our city over looking New Haven Harbor and the vast Expanse of Long Island Sound and selling for $1 million or more per unit.
I want these people moving into my city and paying taxes in my city so that I can continue to live in my city too. I want these very affluent people who are at this moment moving into million-dollar town houses in Haverstraw, NY to be moving into million-dollar town houses in West Haven and spending their tax dollars here.
I think there is more to this, though, than just upscale housing. Housing isn't enough, if there isn't an upscale infrastructure in place - upscale shopping, and upscale entertainment. The greater New Haven area doesn't even have a collesium or civic center any more. It seems to me for a plan like this to succeed, we'd need the proposed Arts Center to flourish, for higher end entertainment to come back. We need the train station to be more than a glimmer in our eyes, so that New Yorkers can easily take the commute by train. We need a downtown that attracts people, a beach front that doesn't contain hyperdermic needles and used condoms. You need an educational system that doesn't have low scores in standardized testing. In all, we need an overall makeover.
New Reader "2nd District Woes" talked about this in his (or her) comment under the "Acorn Project and more lawsuits" post:
There is a misconception by some that business will solve our tax problems. We need an entire community upgrade to change our situation. In order for any business, either retail or light industrial to survive it needs people. We have to attract the people who can spend money in West Haven. If the housing proposed for the Acorn project is upscale and the supporting retail is the same, we will be on the right track. We don't need another short term business that will close its doors in 10 years and leave us with another empty building. One only needs to look at Morgan Lane to see the blight of closed businesses. All of the houses built in West Haven do produce a continual tax base. You cannot say the same for business.While I agree that business isn't the only solution, it's part of it. To attract upscale buyers, you need an upscale infrastructure.
It is unfortunate the present administration in their haste to solve our money issues has over exposed West Haven in a negative manner. This is an anti business and anti development tactic. Some day we will get an administration that can both run a city and have VISION. We had an administration with vision and questionable business practice. Now we have an administration with questionable vision and an unproven business practice.
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13 comments:
I thought about those condos, too... however, I understand that they are now all fully owned, and have appreciated in value considerably.
Additionally, I have anecdotal evidence that people really might be willing to spend money for shoreline property. I spoke with a realtor for a specific West Shore property, that, while on the water side of Ocean Avenue, isn't directly on the water. The realtor stated that their clients were coming from New York City -- that West Haven currently has some of the most inexpensive waterfront properties... which they want. This property ended up selling for nearly half a million; the new owners apparently didn't blink at the taxes, which are more than $10,000/year. Their children are grown, but they aren't yet retired, and they look like they're going to be fairly low maintenance to the city.
You do have a very good point about the cost of increasing our housing tax basis. For a home valued at $1 million, though, with the current city mill rate of 27.960 and the West Shore fire district tax of 5.890 mills, we're talking about taxes of $23,965 (gross assessment is 70% of assesed value). Basically, expensive housing means MORE of the tax burden than cheaper homes on similarly sized lots. So, while the cost of services is the same for a 2 parent, 2 child family, the amount of tax revenue the property generates is more.
I do agree that we shouldn't be shoving development onto every square inch of property. But I would like to see the West River project advance, particularly in areas where it is reclaiming previously industrially zoned land (and no emanate domain -- please, let's not even go near there!)
I agree that some of the real estate agents (but not all of them) aren't giving a straight picture on the turn of the market. The ones I've talked to, though, has said that the peak has passed, and that the taxes are hurting the market.
RE: the Food & Beverage Co. Condos (for lack of a better name - I can't remember the actual name of the development) - didn't they sell out about the time that they became fit for occupancy? I didn't follow that too closely once the residents lost their fight to prevent them, unfortunately. I think with a properly developed riverfront (and it's a whole package, like Haverstraw that has to be considered -- not just high end housing), that New Haven Harbor could be even MORE desirable... but that's a ton of change, and it isn't going to happen over night. There's no magic pill.
RE: If the state comes in they will want to balance the budget quickly with another drastic increase just like 1991.
My memory has it that the 1991 increase came just like the current one did - with a new administration, and finding out that there was a huge deficit that hadn't been reported. Were there two increases last time?
I thought part of what happens if the state comes in is that they'll loan us $$'s at very low interest rates - much better than the bonding rates... my understanding that is to prevent huge tax hikes from having to take place.
I think it's hard to pin the 1991 tax increase solely on the state takeover; if the state hadn't taken over, I don't know what other resource we would have had on our own.
I rather think that Mayor Picard is going to have a hard time winning a second election as things stand right now. Right or wrong, people remember him campaigning on a platform of reducing taxes; his fault or not, taxes have gone up incredible amounts.
I looked up the Appraised value of the Beach Street condos (they're 343 Beach Street, if you want to look yourself). Even with no land ownership, the appraised value is about what people paid for them.
The following gives:
#unit_number appraised (accessed)
#201 387,900 (271,530)
#202 390,600 (273,420)
#203 400,800 (280,560)
#204 400,800 (280,560)
#205 394,200 (275,940)
#206 387,900 (271,530)
#301 387,900 (271,530)
#302 390,600 (273,420)
#303 400,800 (280,560)
#304 400,800 (280,560)
#305 390,600 (273,420)
#306 387,900 (271,530)
#401 389,700 (272,790)
#402 390,600 (273,420)
#403 400,800 (280,560)
#404 400,800 (280,560)
#405 390,600 (273,420)
#406 387,900 (271,530)
#501 389,700 (272,790)
#502 390,600 (273,420)
#503 400,800 (280,560)
#504 400,800 (280,560)
#505 390,600 (273,420)
#506 387,900 (271,530)
I'm not certain of the fire district, but I'll apply the West Shore district taxes for an example; at the low end, they pay $9191.29, and at the high end they pay $9496.96. Good call.
slappy - do you happen to know what the fire district mill rate is in the center district? In West Shore it's 5.890 - is it similar in the Center district?
It's really too soon to know for certain if (a) Mayor Picard would get the democratic nod or (b) if he would win... but currently, all the people I have talked with, including those who supported him at election time, seem very disgruntled. Then again, this is West Haven... that probably will fade into apathy, or even resignation that "everything is a mess, so it doesn't matter anyways".
I wouldn't expect that this town would vote in a Republican, at least not at this point in time.
Well, we've come full circle. This blog was accused of being anti-Picard, and now it's being accused of being anti-Borer. It's neither. It's pro-truth.
thetruth - RE: the fire logs - you'd have to give Bill Riccio at the Voice a shout to find out why he no longer publishes the fire logs - 203.934.NEWS.
westie - You've made some rather emotional statements in your last post- I let it through so that I could respond to this blog being a "Picard Blog", because I found it rather amusing. I'm here to try and understand the truth in this mess, and find solutions - not to bash ANYONE.
I think we only get to see about 3% of the reality of what goes on, but we get to hear many opinions. I want this blog to stick to discussions that are factually based - let's not degrade to just saying "so and so was great, and so and so stinks".
slappy - I think that these are really important points... the EMS certainly gets a ton of use - I hear sirens on a daily basis.
thetruth - I think your comments on why Mayor Picard was against the Beach Street condos is not finger pointing, but instead shedding light on the reasons behind someone's actions.
RE: Remember if you live in West Shore, you pay for one chief......you do not pay for the other chiefs in the other districts. If you consolidate you will still pay for one chief under the consolidated dept.
Slappy, what is failed to be addressed when the above statement is made is that that each person's share of paying for a fire chief's salary would decrease, because while we still all would be paying for a fire chief, there would be MORE of us to split the cost.
Westie -
Mayor Borer *did* put us in the current tax situation, whether it was intentional or accidental.
While I've let your post go into the blog, please let's stick to facts instead of smear campaigns.
Please elaborate on this statement:
With Picard being fired from several areas towns for his bad financial dealings I wouldn't trust him with your money.
Can you back this up?
I've been letting through the comments, because I'm curious to see the backup material. Please, if you make allegations, please try to find reference material to back you up. I'm really curious to see the references!
Westie -
I totally agree about the libel issue.
I missed the Picard articles - do you have a rough date of publication? I can probably look them up online.
RE: You guys can have your forum and your opinions. Any talk of libel over petty little things tells me exactly what some people are all about.
No one is trying to quell free speech; however as we all know, people in this town are definitely lawsuit happy. I think it's important to make certain that we have evidence of facts before we publish them - that's all I'm asking. Just because we 'hear' something, doesn't make it the truth - it makes it a rumor. With evidence, it becomes a fact.
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