Westport”™s outlook for the coming year is as any other municipality”™s ”“ beholden to the current economy, town leaders say.
“These are very difficult economic times and the challenge for anybody in government is to maintain quality of services at very economic rates,” said Gordon Joseloff, Westport”™s First Selectman. “We’re looking at a very lean and mean budget coming up, a budget that hopefully does not result in layoffs, but certainly one that will be fiscally conservative.”
In 2008, Shaw”™s closed its doors; a space to be replaced by The Fresh Market in November after a $3 million renovation.
According to Joseloff, 20 percent of Westport”™s taxpayers work in the finance, real estate or investment industries, all sectors that have felt the strain.
Westport single-family home sales in 2008 are off 34 percent from the previous year, selling 271 homes in 2008, down from 408 in 2007.
“I believe the business community in Westport is fearful and maybe for the first time,” said Robin Scarella, owner of Connections, a public relations company in Westport. “The holiday season was fair but most are more challenged by the next few months. Many feel people still have funds but are being very careful about how they spend their dollars. They will look for value and personal service more than ever. As a group I think we all feel renewed hope. There is a sense of community spirit and a willingness to support and recommend other local businesses and find ways to work together. We want to maintain what has made Westport unique, the local businesses of Westport.”
According to David Fugitt, senior vice president at John D. Hastings Inc., a commercial real estate company in Westport, business has slowed in the last six months, but there is still business in the marketplace.
“The market is the market, so when demand slows then landlords need to be sensitive to market influences in order to remain competitive,” said Fugitt. “The important thing to note though is that business is definitely being done.”
Ed Fitzgerald communications director of FINE, a Westport based networking group for small business owners and entrepreneurs thinks networking is a critical step that business owners and entrepreneurs must embrace to survive.
“There can be opportunities for small-business people,” Fitzgerald said. “There is so much change going on. There will be opportunities for someone to find their niche.”
Fitzgerald”™s company has recently been arranging roundtable discussions at the Westport Playhouse, focusing on what small-business owners are doing to be successful in today”™s challenging marketplace.
Joseloff said because Westport is a taxpayer-based community, the current climate without tax increases would leave many of its revenue streams run dry. Joseloff said he is attempting to keep taxes as low as possible.
The largest increases will be for those fixed costs that can”™t be controlled like utilities, fuel and oil, where many prices have already been locked in, Joseloff said.
“It’s the fixed costs that really do us in,” he said.
Projects that could receive federal funding include bridge repairs, drainage work, and school building projects, though they are not something the town can count on, Joseloff said.
The town is also in the fact-finding stage of considering Baron”™s South property, which is proposed for senior housing, as a viable location for workforce housing, he said.
