Date: Fri 07-Feb-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: LIBRAR

Quick Words:

charter-revision-budget

Full Text:

Charter Panel Favors Change In Budget Process

BY STEVE BIGHAM

The Charter Revision Commission voted, 9-3, last week for a town charter

change that would require both the Board of Selectmen and Board of Education

to submit separate operating and capital budgets to the Legislative Council at

budget time.

According to commission member Greg Bunger, this forces the selectmen and

school board to put all of their appropriations in front of the people at one

time "so that they can decide what they want and what they don't want."

Mr Bunger said it sometimes seems as if the two boards try to put up big

capital projects at just the right time so that it doesn't seem like they are

spending as much.

"If capital projects fail there should be no second chance until next year,"

he said.

Several members said they like how Ridgefield handles its budget, requiring

all appropriations to be listed on the same ballot to be voted on the same

day.

But commission member David Chipman argued a government cannot work

effectively that way. He reminded the board that the proposal to build Newtown

High School back in 1970 would not have passed if it had been presented along

with the budget.

Ruby Johnson agreed, wondering if Mr Bunger was overreacting to the fact so

many large capital projects hit the town all at once last year.

Commission member Mae Schmidle said she believes the people of Newtown are

"entitled to look at the whole financial picture at one time."

Stan Karpacz added he is bothered by how the school board budgets for an

architect to design a new school, then comes back a year later and says it

wants $20 million to build that school.

"By then it's too late," he said.

There was some concern by the commissioners that the school board would not be

able to submit firm figures for capital projects by a specific date each year,

since bids could come in higher than projected. As members pointed out, the

state is not always timely with information, and costs for large capital

projects are not known before the project is bid.

Streamlining the Budget Process

The charter revision panel continues to deliberate how to streamline the

annual budget process. On Tuesday, they voted to have both the Board of

Selectmen and the Board of Education submit their operating budgets to the

Legislative Council by the second Tuesday in February, rather than the current

February 21 deadline. They also agreed the council should conduct a public

hearing on the fourth Tuesday in February.

A proposal to schedule a second public hearing on the budget on the last

Tuesday in March did not win approval, but Mr Karpacz's motion to eliminate

the Saturday public hearing passed, 9-0. The commission also voted unanimously

to set the budget referendum on the third Tuesday in April.

Brandt Schneider proposed having all departments submit their operating

budgets to the Board of Selectmen by January 15, rather than February 1, but

it did not receive the required eight votes to pass. The commission, instead,

agreed to allow the Board of Selectmen to establish its own deadlines.

The commission is still trying to determine what happens if the proposed

budget gets turned down. Will the second proposed budget go to an automatic

referendum or a town meeting?

Those questions were expected to be decided upon Thursday night. The Charter

Revision Commission is also slated to begin discussing charter changes that

may affect the Board of Education.

The commission must submit a draft of its proposed charter changes to the

Legislative Council by mid-March.