As the Boards of Education and Selectmen move into refining individual budget proposals, with the Board of Finance and Legislative Council poised to take up their roles in the annual process, the leaders of each of those elected panels weighed in on the prospect of enhanced collaboration.

Municipalities like Newtown saw grand list growth and its corresponding revenue stagnate or virtually cease as the Connecticut economy tanked in 2008, with recovery slow to happen over the last decade, according to First Selectman Dan Rosenthal. That precipitated a need for local elected leaders to work harder than ever collaborating to ensure residents and students continued to receive appropriate municipal and educational services.

Over the past decade, this collaborative attitude has increasingly prevailed during annual budget development. Lacking any real evident progress to turn the state around economically, local officials are offering these remarks toward maintaining — and even increasing collaboration.

School Board Chair Michelle Embree Ku said she strongly believes that when making decisions for the town, “our best work happens when we work together.

“It takes more effort on all of our parts to attend the meetings of boards other than our own and to be committed to having an open discussion and respectful dialog, but it is well worth the additional time when those good faith conversations lead to well-planned budgets that the voters feel they can support,” the school board leader said.

“Voters entrust us with putting together a sound budget — among other things — when they elect us, and we best serve that role when we listen to each other, consider the information, are committed to transparency, and make decisions based on our desire to do what is best for the town,” she continued.

By starting the year with an annual joint meeting between the Legislative Council, Board of Finance, Board of Selectmen, Board of Education and legislators from Newtown’s state legislative delegation, Ms Ku said “the table is set for having productive conversations.”

“Some Legislative Council members have been regularly attending BOE budget discussions, and representatives from the BOE and district administration plan to attend the many meetings of the Board of Finance and Legislative Council as the budget moves through the process,” Ms Ku added. “Additionally, hearing from the public during the discussions is important, and adds to the considerations.”

Council Chair Perspective

Council Chairman Paul Lundquist agreed, saying collaboration among elected officials throughout the budget process can best be achieved through open, direct communication and understanding the role each board plays in the process.

“I find that taking a more broad, macro view of the budget process can allow us all to better understand each board’s role, to share our expectations and priorities, and offer our own insights on how to best achieve the goal of offering a budget that a majority of Newtown’s voters will support at referendum,” Mr Lundquist said.

“Keeping this macro perspective, I tend to focus early on the budget summary document that lists all the top-level revenue and expense items, and shows the bottom line tax levy and mill rate. This is where the final tax rate is determined,” he said. “The entire Board of Education and Selectmen budgets are single line items in this last calculation. Ultimately, this last number is what all of our work comes down to, and this is the number I believe the Legislative Council should manage to.”

Mr Lundquist observed that the Board of Education and the Selectmen each develop responsible budgets driven by their top priorities for the town.

“They have the best interest of our residents in mind, and understandably, once they sign off on their budgets, their role is to advocate for their requests and defend their choices,” the council chairman said. “The Board of Finance will test these needs to help ensure all spending is appropriate and accurate, and determine whether additional savings or efficiencies can be found. “

He said the Legislative Council then follows in a similar role, with the added responsibility of considering the political question of whether residents will support the budget at the polls, or whether a potential tax increase is too burdensome for taxpayers.

“It’s through this final lens that the Legislative Council may seek some additional reductions or changes,” Mr Lundquist concluded. “Sometimes the roles of each board are very complementary, and sometimes they may seem at odds with each other. Yet, the key to successful collaboration is understanding that we’re all part of a single organization, each with our own roles in the process, and all equally responsible for our budget’s impact on taxpayers’ quality of life.”

Finance Board Chair Sandy Roussas said she already views Newtown’s budget process, by its very structure, as transparent.

“Given the budget presentations at the BOS/BOE level, then to the Board of Finance, and lastly to the Legislative Council, members of all boards have the ability to ask questions, obtain additional information they need to help in their deliberations and hear from the public,” Ms Roussas said.

“The 2020-2021 budget process has already begun in the spirit of collaboration with an invitation from the First Selectman to finance board and council members to attend the BOS meetings and to ask questions — but not participate in deliberations so we don’t run afoul of the Charter,” she continued. “This is an opportunity for more cohesive and insightful discussions so that we’re not starting from scratch when the budget comes to the BOF and then goes on to the LC for review.”

The finance board chair said she is planning to attend, either in person or by viewing available streaming video, of “as many meetings as I can so that we can build upon discussions during deliberations and not rehash what has already been said.”

First Selectman Dan Rosenthal said that annual pre-budget summit has been both well-received for its informational value, as well as for its opportunity for lead budget crafting officials to be in the same room at the same time — so they could all ostensibly take up their roles in the process armed with the same information with which to proceed collaboratively.

He said that opportunity to not only hear, but ask questions of department heads in one venue — as opposed to calling them in for interviews with each separate board — promotes a less contentious and more cooperative budget process.

Promoting Better Dialog

“It’s tough because the process is the process, but the summit and their participation in our selectmen meetings does promote a better dialog,” the first selectman said. He added that while Selectmen Jeff Capeci and Maureen Crick Owen ask good questions, “there’s only three of us.”

“So when you have members of the finance board and council in the same room, someone from another board could raise an angle or ask a question we had not considered,” he said.

“I also work collaboratively with the school superintendent,” Mr Rosenthal said. “As colleagues, we’ll chat about things and we enjoy each other’s trust and confidence — that leads to collaboration. If you don’t have that trust, you don’t have anything.”

With little or no wiggle room for additional reductions, Mr Rosenthal said this year’s municipal budget request contains a number of “unmovable costs like utilities, debt service,” and the investment he has decided to make to enhancing the local road repair program.

“Roads don’t have a constituency, until they do,” he said. “But by then we’re driving around town on potholes. That’s when the idea of saving or reducing $100,000 in previous [road maintenance] budgets doesn’t seem to matter as much.”

“I’d like to see where we land with the overall budget,” he said of the eventual combined town and school budget. “We’re trying to keep the budget’s same services, we’re not adding positions, and we’ve boosted our constituent services with talented employees in key roles without adding costs, especially in the senior, social, and human services department.”

In closing, Mr Rosenthal said through cooperation and collaboration, the eventual budget that will go before voters at the end of April will provide “a quality product to the taxpayer without adding costly staff to deliver said product.”