Date: Fri 30-Jan-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

budget-Kortze-Rosenthal

Full Text:

Preliminary Budget Figures Show `Aggressive' Increases

BY STEVE BIGHAM

The proposed 1998-99 budget for the town of Newtown currently stands at nearly

$58 million, an increase of just under $6 million over last year.

The total is based solely on "wish lists" that both school and town

departments have requested. All together, however, the departments have

requested an additional $4.8 million over what they asked for a year ago.

Some of that is expected to be cut, first by the Board of Selectmen and then

by the Legislative Council. Without reductions, the town would face a tax rate

increase of 3.3 mills.

The Board of Education has requested a budget of $32,864,812, an increase of

$3.1 million or 11 percent. Much of that increase is due to the increased

operating costs for the additions at Newtown High School and Hawley School.

Costs for technology and salaries in the schools are also up.

The selectmen's budget request is currently at $26.3 million, an increase of

$3.4 million or 15 percent. That number may be deceiving, however, due to

one-time sewer hook-ups (school and town), which have added $1.5 million to

the budget. Those costs will come back to town in the form of sewer users

fees, so the increase in the selectmen's budget is actually more like eight

percent.

Debt service is up another $1.5 million.

The finance committee of the Legislative Council spent much of Monday night

looking over these requests, trying to figure out what the town can do to keep

costs down. This preliminary review of the budget is a relatively new idea,

which chairman John Kortze believes will help everyone have a better

understanding of where this year's budget is headed.

"The way that everything looks right now is that those increases are very

aggressive. If we do not do anything, it's going to be about a 13 or so

percent increase or about 3.3 mills," Mr Kortze explained. "If you look at the

budget as it stands right now, I don't think the town would accept this. We're

working with rough estimates."

The normal increase for inflation is usually around three to four percent.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal warns people not to push the panic button over

these preliminary budget figures, noting the selectmen still have lots of work

to do. He disagrees with this early public review of the figures, saying that

any discussion of these figures at such an early time in the budget process is

"premature."

The Board of Selectmen proved how malleable the numbers are Tuesday night when

it cut nearly $800,000 out of the Public Works budget request (see related

story). The selectmen have been moving through their agency requests one at a

time and will likely do even more slicing as they move further into the

budget.

Mr Kortze said he and his committee will need to work hard to educate both the

council and the public as to why these increases are needed.

"We have to handle whatever comes down the pike and there's a justification

process that everyone has to come to in their own mind first," he said.

As for the $2 million in surplus left over from last year's budget, Mr Kortze

said that money is needed in this budget just to hold the line from where the

town was a year ago.

Finance committee member Melissa Pilchard already has her scissors out.

"All these people want these increases and they can't have it," she said.

"There's a lot more requested in the budget than we can consciously give them.

The tax rate would be too high."