Despite Budget Pinch, Some Departments Set to Hire

PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTO

This is the second of three articles on Southington’s Town Budget, which is scheduled to be voted on by Town Council at its meeting on Monday, May 11, at 7pm in the Weichsel Center. For the first article, click here.

Most of the money that is spent by the Town of Southington goes to its employees. That money reaches them both directly, through wages and overtime pay, and indirectly, through payments for health insurance and retirement plans. The budget recently approved by the Board of Finance anticipates that the town will have approximately 1,457 full- and part-time employees next fiscal year – a number that does not include contractors or temporary positions. Of that total, 12 individuals would be brought in on new lines:

Position/Department Wages

2 patrol officers, Police $287,914

0.5 library assistant $44,356

0.5 interdepartmental librarian $47,866

0.5 tech assistant, IT/Library $46,840

1 intern, IT $11,200

1 building official, Building $79,097

1 accountant, Finance $79,097

1 social worker, Schools $82,792

1 special education teacher, Schools $77,477

1 TESOL teacher, Schools $67,358

1 elementary teacher, Schools $60,611

0.3 business teacher, Schools $26,152

The budget also includes one cut made by the Board of Finance:

1 assistant officer, Animal Control $68,767

For some of these changes, the rationale is a matter of public record. The Town Manager received requests for new staff lines from the Police Department, which requested two lines, and the Fire Department, which requested three. Their cases were summarized here and here.

Town Manager Alex Ricciardone included both requests in the general government budget, stating, in his cover letter, “I defer to the Police and Fire Commissions regarding the operational necessity of these requests,” but adding, “It bears noting that Police and Fire are the only departments that have experienced consistent staffing growth over the past five years; all other departments have maintained flat or decreased staffing levels and have done more with less.” Ultimately the Board of Finance voted to approve a budget that included the Police Department’s request, but not the Fire Department’s.

The Board of Education approved a budget that included the 4.3 new hires listed above. All of the lines received bipartisan support, except for the social worker’s, which was the subject of a contentious debate about the scope of the District’s responsibilities.

However, unless something changes, it is unlikely that these 4.3 new hires will be funded this year. That is because the Board of Finance voted 4-2 to make a $1,600,000 cut to the overall school budget. To achieve savings of that order, the $320,626 for new lines would certainly need to be eliminated during reallocation. Superintendent Madancy has claimed that an additional 22 existing staff lines would also need to be vacated through some mix of retirements and layoffs in order to reach that target.

Regarding the hires in the Library and the Information Technology Department, the Town Manager wrote: “Voters expressed their support for a new library, and the operating costs asociated with a larger facility have increased accordingly. The Library Director worked collaboratively with the Finance Team to reduce an initial request for a full-time staff member and instead proposed a more cost-effective part-time model.”

The growth of the IT Department is in fact somewhat larger than this chart may make it appear, since the department has been reorganized since the previous budget was passed. In last year’s budget as originally approved, IT had two personnel; in the budget up for consideration this year, there are five.

The new hires in the Building and Finance Departments have so far not received significant discussion in public meetings.

The Board of Finance took the initiative to cut the line for an assistant Animal Control officer. This has the effect of leaving that department with only one full-time employee.

Another way to look at new lines is to see them in the context of the full budget for regular wages. Note that the figures for the Library are presented differently on pages of 94 and 140 of the budget document; both are given below.

Amount           Change Percentage

Schools (BOE) $57,287,034 $2,244,478 3.9%

Schools, after cut? $55,687,034 $644,478 1.2%

Police                          $8,729,905 $977,332 12.6%

Library (p. 94)             $1,139,702 $7,627 0.7%

Library (p. 140)           $1,221,253 $89,578 7.9%

Information Tech.       $362,872 $96,030 37.5%

Building $573,545 $91,015 18.9%

Finance $669,960 $74,384 12.5%

Animal Control            $103,168 -$65,762 -38.9%

Overtime pay is a significant part of the budget for departments that offer round-the-clock services such as Police and Fire. A reduction in overtime was part of the rationale for the addition of two new police officers:

Police                          $500,000         -$60,000                      -10.7%

Fire                              $768,190         $100,496                     15.1%

Temporary/Seasonal Employees

A few departments have significant line items for temporary or seasonal employees. Most of the increase for the Calendar House is for a part-time social worker at $31,200 per year whose role is mandated by the state; the rest is for additional bus drivers. For the library, the increase is due to the hiring of two part-time circulation clerks working 20 hours per week at $21/hour.

Wages Change Percentage

Highway & Park $126,919 $5,200 4.3%

Community Services $110,000 $12,000 12.2%

Calendar House $126,008 $54,886 77.2%

Recreation                   $167,500 $5,500 3.4%

Library $90,047 $44,746 98.8%

Medical Insurance

The elephant in the room during many discussions of the town budget is health insurance. Costs for health insurance for town employees are rising much faster than the annual rate of inflation, which at the start of this year was pegged at 3.6%. The Board of Education budget and the General Government budget approved by the Board of Finance both shows substantial increases in spending in this area:

Cost Change Percentage

Health Insurance, Schools (BOE) $20,671,371 $1,716,647 8.3%

Medical & Life, Town Manager (BOF) $6,267,616 $1,099,651 21.3%