$50.3 Budget Plan Draws Little Public Reaction

Date: Fri 29-Mar-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

budget-council-school

Full Text:

$50.3 Budget Plan Draws Little Public Reaction

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

Only a handful of people turned out Tuesday evening for the first public

hearing on the proposed $50.3 million municipal/school budget for 1996-97.

Most urged that cuts be made in spending but none mentioned the largest budget

increase - $3.5 million in debt service, mostly for proposed school projects.

Instead, most of the speakers targeted the $40,000 expenditure proposed for

the hiring of a town personnel director. And they urged that overall spending

be reduced.

"People can't afford to live here anymore," said Frank Franze, who said he

owns property in Newtown and Bethel. "Big companies are laying off employees

by the thousands. Government shouldn't create jobs - you don't need a

personnel director."

Roger Bucher of Bridge End Farm Lane asked whether thought had been given to

hiring outside firms to perform personnel services rather than incurring

"ongoing overhead."

First Selectman Bob Cascella said the town has used outside firms for years

and would continue to do so for some services. But the town could save money

and provide continuity in government by having a personnel director, he said.

"To use outsourcing as much as we see necessary will cost us more," he said.

"The town is a $19 million business with more than 130 employees. We need a

human resources director to provide continuity between administrations - there

have been four first selectmen in less than 10 years."

Mr Cascella said each new selectman often gets "tested" by employees and

unions. Personnel management becomes more complex each year with regulations

on affirmative action, workmen's compensation, sexual harrassment,

disabilities and myriad other issues, any of which has the potential to cost

the town a large amount in legal fees, he said.

Michael Snyder of Megan Circle asked how much it would cost the town to

provide benefits such as health and pension for the additional employee. Sam

Nezvesky of Huntingtown Road said a personnel director would need an office

and a staff.

Mr Cascella said benefits for the position would be in the range of $8,000 to

$10,000. The personnel director would be located in the first selectmen's

office suite and would use the same support staff. "There will be no

additional office or staff," he said.

Mr Cascella said the municipal budget shows an $839,975 increase, $350,000 of

which is for road reconstruction. He also explained that increases in the

salary accounts for the highway and police departments reflect two year's

worth of salary increases, amounting to about three percent each year,

although employees now are making "give-backs" in other areas.

The fire department budget includes $130,000 for a tanker for the Sandy Hook

company. The town has purchased a tanker for each of the other companies to

haul water to fires in neighborhoods that don't have readily available

groundwater supplies. "This is the last tanker the town needs to purchase," Mr

Cascella said.

Other budget increases include $100,000 for the town's self-funded health

insurance program and $36,000 to purchase computers for town departments.

Mr Nezvesky criticized the proposal to spend $800,000 to renovate Town Hall

South.

"This is a bad investment - a disaster," he said. "Sell it or tear it down."

Mr Cascella agreed that Town Hall South is in deplorable condition.

"I'd like to drive a bulldozer through it," he said. "But with all of the

other projects that the town is facing, I don't think we can afford a new $8

million building."

Mr Snyder asked whether it would be feasible to wait to see if a building

might become available at Fairfield Hills.

"I've proposed moving town offices to Fairfield Hills, but the police

department believes it should stay in its present location," Mr Cascella said.

"This building would serve the police department well for the foreseeable

future. Part of the problem has been that no real maintenance has been done on

the building for years."

School Spending

Board of Education Chairman Herb Rosenthal and Superintendent of Schools John

Reed outlined the proposed $28 million school budget, which is up 4.57 percent

from the current year but $250,000 less than the Board of Education had

requested.

Dr Reed said the school budget reflects a projected 3.5 percent increase in

student enrollment, plus increased transportation costs, negotiated salary

increases of about three percent, higher employee benefit costs, the costs of

providing special education services and general inflation.

Charles Pilchard of Poorhouse Road asked for an explanation of such budget

items as the greenhouse manager and the job coach. Dr Reed said the greenhouse

manager is part of a vocational program for students who do not plan to attend

college. The job coach is required to help special education students make the

transition from high school to jobs in the area.

Brian Hennessey of Eden Hill Road said he thought the schools were doing an

outstanding job producing high student achievement while keeping per pupil

spending low. But he asked how the town could continue to cope with the boom

in residential housing which is putting so many more students into the

schools.

Mr Cascella said a community forum will be held on May 14 to address this

subject. Mr Snyder, speaking as president of the Chamber of Commerce, said

residents also need to become "more open-minded" about commercial development

because economic development offsets the need to increase property taxes.

The largest budget increase, $3.5 million for debt service, was not

questioned. About $3.1 million of this increase is needed for three school

projects - a new roof for Head O' Meadow School, additions and renovations at

Hawley School and the high school. These projects, which total more than $30

million, will be voted on at a town meeting in May. If the building projects

aren't approved by the voters, the debt service will be removed from the

budget.

A final hearing will be held on the town/school budget at 9 am on Saturday,

March 30, in the middle school auditorium. The budget automatically will go to

a referendum scheduled for Tuesday, April 23.