Town Set To Vote On

2011-12 Budget Request

By John Voket

Are Newtown taxpayers ready to endorse a $106.6 million municipal budget proposal representing a 2.68 percent property tax increase? Democratic Registrar of Voters LeReine Frampton said the answer will be evident a few minutes after the polls close at 8 pm on Tuesday, April 26.

Polls at the Newtown Middle School gym will open that day at 6 am.

Breaking out the numbers, the proposal represents a town request for $37,922,648 and a school district request for $68,703,427.

The 2011-12 proposal, if approved, would also bring a historical change in that it would be the first budget in recent memory taking no surplus revenue from the general fund or fund balance to reduce taxpayer contributions to underwrite the $106.6 million request.

The proposed spending plan for the next fiscal year is the product of one of the most transparent and cooperative deliberation processes in recent memory for many of the officials involved, as evidenced in a co-signed letter of endorsement from First Selectman Pat Llodra and Board of Education Chairman William Hart that was published in The Bee last week.

“This year in particular it is asking a great deal from our taxpayers for them to bear additional costs,” the letter states.

Mrs Llodra and Mr Hart said the collaborative deliberation process leading up to this year’s request began with the development of “same services” budgets for the town and the school district, “carefully identifying just those things that we must do to maintain our current service level.”

“The town and district worked together on major expense items such as energy and health insurance to lock in the lowest possible costs,” the letter continues. “This same services paradigm then provided an excellent platform for the Board of Selectman and Board of Education to thoroughly scrutinize their respective budgets, resulting in a 2.25 percent increase for each.”

The elected leaders also noted that after several weeks of additional close examination, both the Board of Finance and the Legislative Council recognized the results of the collaborative process by voting to pass the budgets on to the voters unmodified.

The finance board recommended the proposal to the council on a narrow 3-2 vote, while the subsequent council vote to send the proposal to taxpayers passed by an 8-4 margin.

In opposing both the town and school requests, finance board member Joseph Kearney made a lengthy presentation in which he outlined how the local request would dovetail with likely increases local taxpayers would face if the state and federal budget proposals being promoted at the time came to fruition.

Calculating from Governor Dannel Malloy’s proposed budget, Mr Kearney estimated the average Newtowner would pay $1,400 more to the state next year, while countering federal deductions would be insignificant by comparison.

Increased Costs

Based on his analysis, Mr Kearney said since 2002, the average Newtown household has experienced an overall budget increase of 38 percent, while the school budget has grown 50 percent — from about $46 million to $69 million. At the same time, the finance official said Newtown families have only seen the rate of inflation — tied to average household earning — increase by 21.2 percent.

He pointed out that during the same period, the town population has only increased ten percent, and currently appears to be flat or falling. And since 2002, the unemployment rate has rocketed up to more than nine percent, negatively affecting between 900 and 1,800 Newtown households, he estimated.

And while the town side rate of budget inflation has virtually matched the national rate at 21 percent since 2002, he said the school district budget increases have more than doubled that pace.

In that time, the finance official said school district staffing has increased from 673 full-time “equivalents” to 721, or seven percent. At the same time, the overall student population has increased two percent — although in previous discussions the finance board acknowledged there were sudden and disproportionate spikes in that population trending that affected increased staffing needs.

Since 2002, he said school salaries increased by 43 percent, twice the rate of inflation, and benefits — not including pension contributions — have increased 89 percent. And all other nonpersonnel-related school expenses in Newtown have increased by 47 percent, also more than twice the inflation rate.

Mr Kearney said he recognized that state and federal unfunded mandates have contributed to some of the forced increases in costs, but countered that “directionally, state and local budgets are unsustainable.” His subsequent No vote was supported by fellow finance official Michael Portnoy, but was outweighed by affirmative recommendations from board Chairman John Kortze, Vice Chairman James Gaston, and Harrison Waterbury. Martin Gersten was absent.

About a month later, during final council deliberations, councilman Richard Woycik reiterated Mr Kearney’s presentation while lobbying for an additional $1 million in reductions — $800,000 from the school request and $200,000 from the town side. But his motion failed.

He was among the four council representatives who vote against sending the request to referendum as proposed. Mr Woycik was joined by Daniel Amaral, George Ferguson, and Robert Merola.

No Guarantee

Ahead of the April 26 referendum, Councilman Kevin Fitzgerald wrote to The Bee challenging budget supporters to not be complacent because this year’s budget process was marked by little or no controversy. Mr Fitzgerald pointed out that with every budget referendum at least 2,000 people will vote No, and in this difficult economy, the number may be even higher.

“I am concerned that because this budget season has been very quiet as compared to last year, many taxpayers may not realize that there are no guarantees that this budget will pass,” he added. “The usual number of referendum voters may not be enough to overcome the No votes.” 

Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia and the registrars are holding special sessions related to the upcoming budget vote. The registrars office in the Newtown Municipal Center will be open Monday, April 25, from 9 am to 4:30 pm to permit those who are not registered to vote to complete the process in time for the next day’s budget referendum.

The town clerk’s office, also in the municipal center at Fairfield Hills, will have special hours on Saturday, April 23, from 9 am to noon, for the sole purpose of absentee ballot voting on the proposed budget.

Residents are asked to direct any questions about voter registration to the registrars’ office at 203-270-4250. Any questions about absentee ballots should be directed to the town clerk at 203-270-4210.