Date: Fri 14-Mar-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

council-schools-budget

Full Text:

Council To School Bd: Cut $200,000

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

Unhappy with the $200,000 cut from this year's Board of Education budget,

school supporters say they're sick and tired of the annual slice and dice

ritual.

The Legislative Council voted 8-2 Monday night to cut the $200,000 out of the

school budget, saying a $3.3 million shortfall in revenue left it no other

choice. Some council members had originally considered cuts as high as

$400,000.

The new school budget drops to $29,754,880. The school cuts, together with the

funding of some items through the non-recurring capital expense account, will

shrink the tax rate increase from 2 percent down to about 1.1 percent.

Board of Education Chairman Herb Rosenthal and his panel must now decide where

to trim, a task he was hoping could be avoided.

"There's no way I can believe that the small decrease in the mill rate from

these education cuts will get the budget passed," he said, pointing out that

numerous less publicized cuts were made long before the school budget ever

left the hands of Superintendent John R. Reed.

The school board chairman reminded the council that Newtown is 143rd in the

state in per pupil spending at $6,595.

"We don't cite those statistics to ask for more money, we do it to show that

the money is well spent," he said. "We do it to say `believe us, we're

spending it well.'"

To make his point, Mr Rosenthal said the town would need to spend an

additional $3.6 million for schools this year just to get it to move up to a

ranking of 65th.

As in other years, the council had to decide whether to make its cuts in roads

or in schools. In the end, members opted to cut just $100,000 from the $2

million road improvement proposal, believing strongly in the need to fix all

those potholes. But parents said their children's education must come first.

"I'll drive with potholes for another year to avoid having my children's

education affected," said Bob Frantz of 9 Old Tavern Road. "We're trading off

roads against children."

Mr Rosenthal pointed out that since 1990-91, the town has borrowed $8 million

for roads and budgeted another $2 million.

"We're putting roads before education. How we can do that really boggles my

mind," he said.

Susan White of Castle Meadow Road said the roads vs schools debate has become

a recurring theme that won't go away as the town keeps growing.

"My concern is that there is no plan for this town. We need an overview," she

said. "We're in trouble. We're pushing the envelope from the inside."

Jan Solheim of Harvest Common Road asked the council to hold off on any cuts

until after the taxpayers have a chance to vote on whether they can live with

the sizable tax rate increase.

Board of Education member Amy Dent agreed, saying she hoped this would be the

one year that the budget would remain untouched.

"For once, why don't we find out if the people are willing to deal with the

burden?" she said.

Council members said they received a handful of calls from residents saying

they would be willing to pay more in taxes if the school budget was not cut.

Some residents felt more money should be cut from the selectmen's $22,816,024

budget, which was shrunk by about $100,000.

Council member Joe McGowan said he appreciated the support for the schools,

but said he has never met a person in town who did not support education.

"The board has to balance the budget," he said.

But Jack Rosenthal countered, saying the average homeowner's tax bill will

show only nominal savings with the proposed cuts.

Following the vote, there was some confusion of a technical nature over how

much had actually been cut. Was it $200,000 or $300,000? A 20-minute recess

was called as council members crowded around Mr Spragg's laptop computer in an

effort to clear up the confusion. When the smoke cleared, the council

explained that they had cut just $200,000 from the school budget, leaving the

$100,000 cost for sewer assessment and hookups in the operating budget rather

than funding it through capital non-recurring fund.

Council Chairman Pierre Rochman said part of the confusion was over the fact

that the town has never used money from the capital non-recurring fund to

offset tax increases.

Though less was cut than they had first feared, school supporters left with

mixed emotions, believing strongly that any cut was too much. Earlier, they

voiced their concerns over the annual cuts to schools.

Council members voting in favor of the $200,000 cuts were Jack Rosenthal,

Melissa Pilchard, Lisa Schwartz, Bill Brimmer, Win Ballard, John Kortze, Karen

Blawie and Joe Borst. Mr Rochman and Joe McGowan voted against the motion,

believing more needed to be cut.