Five Oppose, But Council ‘Ayes’ Move $107M Budget Request To Voters

By John Voket

Following a review of the town and school budget proposals by the Legislative Council’s three budget subcommittees, the full council deliberated for about an hour and voted 7-5 to send taxpayers the requests as presented to the council by the Board of Finance.

A last-minute amendment to that motion by Councilman Robert Merola to further reduce the school district side by $400,000 failed 9-3.

Mr Merola argued that the school budget appropriately had its advocates in the Board of Education and district administration, “but no one is advocating for the seniors, and there are more of them in town than children.”

Daniel Amaral, the council’s lone Democrat, added that asking residents to shoulder a six-tenths mill increase in the tax rate was just too much. The proposed budget sets the tax rate at 24.94 mills. A mill represents one dollar in taxation for every $1,000 in taxable property.

Councilman Paul Lindquist countered that the decision to force added district cuts deserves to be made by taxpayers in the voting booth. And council Vice Chair Mary Ann Jacob said she feared if additional reductions were made before voters weighed in at referendum, the cuts might not come from areas of the budget the council recommended.

If the budget request endorsed by the council passes on the first attempt April 24, it would result in a 2.34 percent tax increase tied to $107,406,525 in expenditures, while requiring $107,806,525 in revenue. The $400,000 difference would be applied to the fund balance, bringing it up to 8.0 percent on July 1 2012 — one full year ahead of plan.

The recommended town-side request stands at $27,980,942, representing a 0.43 percent increase over the current year. The school district’s request is $69,355,794 — a 2.04 percent increase over the current year.

Throughout the process, council members in committee and in the full session complimented the newly elected school board. Several recognized that under the leadership of Debbie Leidlein, the school board presented one of the lowest increases in recent memory — incorporating a $1.5 million reduction from the superintendent’s original request.

A similar theme developed among both finance and council officials demanding Superintendent Janet Robinson craft future district budget reporting that mirrors the level of transparency evident in the town-side budget document, which was created by Finance Director Robert Tait and First Selectman Pat Llodra.

During deliberations one day earlier, Education Committee Chair Kathryn Fetchick observed the town-side budget plan expenditures address officials’ vision “on every page.”

“We shouldn’t be afraid to show the taxpayers the numbers,” Ms Fetchick said to Dr Robinson, who attended the committee meeting. “This is the least information we’ve seen in seven years — less information than we saw seven years ago.”

During full council deliberations Wednesday, Chairman Jeff Capeci said every one of his colleagues said they were hearing the same call for school budget transparency from constituents. Councilman George Ferguson observed that the template developed on the town side was the best budget document he has seen across the corporate, government, and nonprofit arenas where he has worked.

Ms Jacob said she was frustrated because she received a 40-page document consisting of scanned spreadsheets for a $70 million district request, while on the town side she received a budget guide with more than 200 pages of content for the town’s $27 million request.

Council member Mitchell Bolinsky said he would have liked to see a flat budget from both sides this year, but lacking that, it was up to voters to come out and support the proposals as presented.

“This is the most conservative [budget request] I’ve seen go before voters in the 11 years we’ve lived in Newtown,” Mr Bolinsky said. Mr Lundquist added that the school board’s $1.5 million reduction was “unprecedented in recent history,” and said the referendum on the budget will also be viewed as a referendum on full-day kindergarten.

Councilman Phil Carroll complimented the school board for “taking back authority from the administration,” and that voters should support the district budget.

Finance Chairman John Kortze, who presented his board’s input along with a workbook that was produced by Mr Tait, said despite the transparency issues on the school district side, the proposal represents a good budget, which includes the full-day kindergarten many local parents and school officials were looking to initiate.

But Mr Kortze added that if the budget is voted down, that district program may be the first on the block for possible reductions.

“If the vote goes down, I don’t know how you can move forward justifying new programs,” Mr Kortze said. “So supporters of the full-day kindergarten proposal should plan to get out and vote April 24.”

At the same time, Mr Kortze argued emphatically that some of the financial management pieces, including the boost of the fund balance “have to stay.”

“The fund balance effects every single taxpayer in this town; kindergarten does not,” he said.

The first townwide budget referendum will be held at the Newtown Middle School between 6 am and 8 pm, Tuesday, April 24.