Town Council Pares Back Budget Growth, Puts State Aid Towards Tax Relief
- Philip Thibodeau
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
In a series of votes taken Monday night, the Town Council passed a Fiscal Year 26/27 budget that trimmed about one-million dollars from the Board of Finance’s proposed spending and capital plan and effectively converted $833,000 in new state aid for schools into relief for taxpayers.
The overall budget, not including capital projects, will see growth of approximately $7 million this coming fiscal year, from $188.5 million to $195.5 million, which represents an increase of about 3.7%, roughly in line with inflation. The mill rate for the coming year will be decided at the next meeting of the Board of Finance on Wednesday, May 20.
General Government
The Council began its discussion of the General Government budget by considering a motion to restore three firefighter positions at half-cost by delaying the hires for six months. The restoration, which would have required a supermajority 6-3 vote to pass, failed by a vote of 4-5, with Councilors Paul Chaplinsky, Jennifer Clock, Mike DelSanto, and Joshua Serafino voting yes and Coucilors Kristen Guida, Jim Morelli, Tony Morrison, Chris Palmieri, and Dave Zoni voting no.
The Council then moved to approve the General Government budget recommended by the Board of Finance, but with the addition of several new cuts amounting to approximately $435,000. The largest of these were a reduction in self-insurance ($90,000), a cut to Fire Department overtime ($100,000), and the elimination of two part-time library positions ($43,680) as well as the clerk for the director of Economic Development ($58,822). These cuts, moved by Councilor Jen Clock, appeared to represent the Republican caucus’ proposal. Democratic Councilor Palmieri then requested the inclusion of several smaller reductions, such as $15,000 for the corporation counsel and a $4,000 dues and fees line item for the Tax Department. The Council voted 8-0-1 to pass this part of the budget, which included the following new hires:
Positions 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
Animal Control Officer Controversy
A proposal to eliminate the position of assistant Animal Control Officer drew heated criticism from several residents during the public hearing at the start of Monday’s meeting, and was the reason that a broadcast crew from WTNH was present in room. Eight residents came up to the podium to express their views on the cut. Most framed the job of rescuing and managing animals in distress as an essential service, with increasing demand as interactions between wild animals and humans grow more common.
It was left to members of Town Council to explain the reasoning behind the decision. Morrison and Guida referred to the Board of Finance’s bipartisan vote to take out the position, while Morrison, Morelli, Palmieri, Zoni cited the Police Chief’s argument that his department could handle this task in a more efficient way. Chaplinsky, Clock, DelSanto and Serafino voted for restoring the position, while Guida, Morelli, Morrison, Palmieri and Zoni voted against it.
Education Budget Approved
The Council voted to approve the Board of Finance’s recommended budget for the schools, which included a $1.6 million cut to the budget passed by the Board of Education. It did so in a roundabout way, however, by simultaneously adding $833,000 in state aid for education and cutting the same amount of money from the budget, so that the overall cut was $2,433,000, offset by the added state support.
Before the final vote was taken, Councilor Palmieri sought to amend the proposal by redirecting $250,000 of the state aid for educational purposes. For a while there was some confusion about the framing of the proposal, since it involved a reduced cut, rather than a transfer of funding. Councilors Morelli and Morrison spoke against the idea, saying that the Council had in past years been more than generous to the school system, and that shared sacrifice was now necessary. Chaplinsky, Clock, DelSanto, Morrison, and Serafino voted for the original proposal, while Guida, Morelli, Palmieri, and Zoni voted against it.
Technically, the Council voted to approve five new hires for the District:
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
However, it seems highly unlikely that the Board of Education will be able to preserve these hires once it sets about implementing the $1.6 million cut to its budget at its reallocation meeting on Thursday, May 28.
Capital Budget Surprise
One of the biggest surprises of the evening came when Council Chair Paul Chaplinsky announced that the School System had found a way to reduce the expenditure on the tennis court and parking project by $533,000. This reduction made it possible to pay for a series of other projects with money from the town’s cash reserve, and thus reduce the forthcoming tax increase somewhat. All members of the Council voted in favor of the revised capital budget, save for Morelli, who sought to restore some of the general government capital spending that had fallen out earlier in the process.
Councilor Dave Zoni commented on the news that it seemed to good to be true. After the meeting, Superintendent Madancy explained that the savings were due to the vendor stripping the project down to its basics, and removing items such as seating for tennis court spectators.
Finally, Council approved the Sewer Fund and Debt Service budgets in quick, unanimous votes.
