Date: Fri 02-Feb-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

selectmen-budget

Full Text:

Selectmen Ok $18.7 Million Budget

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

The Board of Selectmen Wednesday night approved, 2-1, an $18,776,278 municipal

budget for the 1996-97 year, an increase of about four percent over the

current year.

The proposed budget is $59,073 less than what was originally proposed by First

Selectman Robert Cascella and $731,781 more than the current budget. The

budget now must be reviewed and approved by the Legislative Council and be

voted upon by residents at a referendum this spring.

Selectman Gary Fetzer, the lone Democrat on the three-man Board of Selectmen,

cast a vote against the total budget because he objected to several items,

including the use of $1.2 million in surplus funds to offset taxes at the same

time that Mr Cascella recommended bonding $1 million for road reconstruction.

The rest of the recently announced $2 million surplus from the 1994-95 budget,

about $800,000, also was put in next year's budget to renovate Town Hall

South.

The proposed budget includes $40,000 for a human resources director, $37,000

for computer equipment, $59,500 for five police cars, and $130,000 for a fire

truck tanker. Mr Fetzer voted against creating the personnel position, and he

recommended phasing in the computer purchase over three budget years. He also

objected to the additional $130,000 in capital spending for the fire

companies, recommending a $50,000 increase instead. He was outvoted.

But Mr Fetzer and Republican Selectman James Mooney overrode Mr Cascella's no

vote on a series of budget items that provided small amounts of money to area

agencies such as the Regional Hospice, Veteran's Guidance, the Northwest

Regional Mental Health Board, the Danbury Regional Commission on Children, and

the Women's Center of Danbury.

"I am not comfortable taking taxpayer dollars and giving them to charitable

organizations in the region," Mr Cascella said. "I don't question that they do

good work and that they serve some Newtown residents. But I do not believe we

should be making these contributions with tax dollars. Some residents may

support these agencies but some may be very stongly opposed. The total amount

that we are spending, about $30,000, might be better used somewhere else."

Mr Fetzer strongly objected.

"Our contribution is a very small part of our budget but it is a lot of money

to these agencies," he said. "We're talking about $250 for veterans' guidance,

for example. These are support services that keep people off the street. As a

society we are judged on how we take care of those people in need."

The budget includes an increase in funding for the Children's Adventure

Center, a town- and state-subsidized day care center (see related story) to

compsensate, at least temporarily, for anticipated cutbacks in state aid.

The selectmen adjusted the parks and recreation department budget slightly,

adding a few items here and reducing costs there, with the end result

$711,793, about $2,000 less than requested, but $10,000 more than this year.

Part of the spending will be on a study to determine what to do about the

25-year-old asphalt surface of the swimming pond at Dickinson Park. The

surface has been deteriorating and is unsightly, although it is still safe and

has had no effect on water quality, town officials said.

The selectmen approved a $10,225 increase in the budget of the Cyrenius H.

Booth Library. Mr Cascella said he will be meeting with state officials late

this week to talk about several matters including whether it would be possible

for the Booth Library to move into a building at Fairfield Hills Hospital

during the months that the library's new addition is under construction.

Wednesday night's meeting was the last in a series of four budget workshops

held by the selectmen. The selectmen's budget is about one-third of the total

proposed town budget. The other two-thirds, or $28 million, is the school

budget which Superintendent of Schools John Reed proposed recently to the

Board of Education. The proposed school budget is up 5.6 percent from this

year's spending level. The Board of Education is expected to make a final

decision on the school district budget at its February 13 meeting.