[lindasmith6677]

Anyone know the breakdown of Greenwich taxes (what percent
goes to school versus other services)? Does Connecticut/Greenwich
have an alternate funding source in regards to Westchester NY
to explain the large difference in the taxes?

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by lindasmith6677

Anyone know the breakdown of Greenwich taxes (what percent goes to school versus other services)? Does Connecticut/Greenwich have an alternate funding source in regards to Westchester, New York, to explain the large difference in the taxes?

No. One has to look at the town's budget proposal to see how the money is being allocated. Unlike New York where there's a definite split between land and school taxes, it is up to the individual taxpayer to become involve in the process. Typically, school budgets easily comprise greater than 50 percent of the budget.

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by lindasmith6677

Anyone know the breakdown of Greenwich taxes (what percent goes to school versus other services)? Does Connecticut/Greenwich have an alternate funding source in regards to Westchester, New York, to explain the large difference in the taxes?

No. One has to look at the town's budget proposal to see how the money is being allocated. Unlike New York where there's a definite split between land and school taxes, it is up to the individual taxpayer to become involved in the process. Typically, school budgets easily comprise greater than 50 percent of the funds.

The benefit is that school budgets are subject to voter approval.

[JayCT]

I am sure you can find the budget information on the Greenwich website.

One reason taxes tend to be lower here in connecticut is that we do not have a county level of government. We just have municipalities and state. All of Connecticut is divided into municipalities. There are no unincoporated areas. Also, our state is relatively small in size so there is really no need to have a county government. Everything is handled either by the towns or the state. That means that there is no county government to pay for.

Greenwich also has a pretty large diverse tax base to get oney from as well. There are a lot of offices and commercial areas to offset costs. Plus it helps to have many large homes to tax. Jay

[lindasmith6677]

County tax in Westchester is only a relatively small portion of the tax bill. And Westchester has a lot of commercial and offices as well as estate to get tax. I still don't understand the difference. Do Westchester schools pay their teacher more than CT?

[lindasmith6677]

Also if school budget is subject to voting and in Greenwich lots of people send their kids to private schools (anybody knows the percentage? I read here 20-30% in highschool), does that mean school budget increase is not as easily to pass as those towns in Westchester (where people live there mainly for the schools).

[Rich Lee]

From my experience, a "no" vote usually results in a re-vote. I am from New York where a neighboring town would have vote after vote after vote until it was finally passed (Pawling). It's not that different in Connecticut.

[lindasmith6677]

Can anybody here who has experience in Greenwich High share the experience? thanx much! I am thinking to visit Greenwich High but not sure I can get much out of it.