Budget work starts with 2.39% tax hike

Written by Macklin Reid, Press Staff
Saturday, 11 February 2012 05:56

A 2.39% tax increase appears to be the starting point for the Board of Selectmen’s budget work.

They began looking this week at a $127-million budget showing School Superintendent Deborah Low’s proposed 3.26% spending increase, combined with requests from town department heads that total up to a 2.95% increase in non-school agencies’ spending.

Together the proposed budgets — $32 million for town departments and $82 million for schools — plus a 3% drop in debt service amount to a 2.41% overall spending increase.

“Both the highway and police departments asked to have one person added,” First Selectman Rudy Marconi told fellow selectmen Monday.

Working with Controller Kevin Redmond to put together the budget together, Mr. Marconi had culled out some requests he considered unsupportable.

In the case of the added staff for the police and highway departments, Mr. Marconi said he didn’t necessarily support the requests but felt each department head should have a chance to make a case before the full board.

Skepticism was apparent as Monday’s meeting wound down.

“Should we talk philosophy of adding new town employees?” Selectman Andrew Bodner asked.

The board agreed.

“I don’t think we should hire any new full-time employees,” he said.

“I don’t support it,” Mr. Marconi said. “I left it in to have a discussion.”

Mr. Redmond said the two added workers would cost taxpayers about $160,000 in salary and benefits.

“We’re at 2.95%,” Mr. Marconi said of the proposed tax increase. “So if we pull them out, see what that does to the numbers.”

Mr. Redmond explained Tuesday now it was possible for the combined budget to be going up 2.41% — a smaller percentage than either the 2.95% town or the 3.26% school increases.

Basically, two things listed outside the town and school budgets went down. In the current 2011-12 budget $96,000 to replace police cars had been listed as a separate item — called “capital projects financing” — since they’d been moved out of the capital budget, paid for with borrowing, on the theory new car are bought every year. In the new 2012-13 budget $149,000 for police cars was moved into the town operating budget, pushing up the town percentage.

And debt service, the other item listed separately, also declined.

“Look at it dollar terms first,” Mr. Redmond said.

“One: town goes up by $929,802, which includes $149,100 in police cars.

“Two, school goes up by $2,581,159

“Three, cap projects goes down by $96,000. This is where cars were before.

“Four, debt service goes down by $419,150

“When you add the four changes it totals $2,995,811 which calculates to be a 2.41% net increase over the prior year.

“The two declines totaling $515,150 are enough to drive the net percentage down.”

The Board of Education is due to vote on the school budget on Monday, and will then pass it on to the selectmen for a non-binding recommendation. After the selectmen complete their work, both town and school budgets will go on to the Board of Finance which will send the results of its deliberations to voters in the May budget referendum.

The budget documents the selectmen began reviewing in meetings scheduled for Monday through Thursday of this week also included proposals for more than $6 million in capital spending for 2012-13.

The capital budget — long-term projects and purchases that are paid for with borrowing — is presented as a five-year plan, with various anticipated expenses listed in different years.

The $6,022,000 starting capital budget for 2012-13 does not include a $4.5-million police station renovation and expansion project, which Police Chief John Roche proposed this year — bringing back a plan defeated at referendum in 2007. Mr. Marconi pushed the police station request off to 2014-15 in the five-year plan, although the Board of Selectmen could move the plan back up to this year if they were convinced of its importance.

As an alternative, there is a $5 million “public safety administration building” listed in 2015-16. This would be a combined police and fire headquarters.

“It is a very high-level estimate and was put in as placeholder to initiate discussion,” Mr. Redmond said the combined police-fire headquarters option.

Major projects listed in the $6-million capital plan for 2012-13 include: $1.5 million in road repaving; $725,000 for a roof replacement on half of the Venus Municipal Building, completing a project begun in 2008; $400,000 to bring a line for natural gas heating to the Veterans Park and East Ridge school buildings; and $400,000 for a “technology infrastructure upgrade” for the school system.

Two substantial projects are proposed in the capital plan with most of their costs covered by outside sources.

A refurbishing of the Bailey Avenue parking lot — which would include removal of the giant cement blocks that for years have closed the connection to the lower Yankee Ridge lot — would cost $580,000. Town Engineer Charles Fisher lists $250,000 of that coming from one state grant, $165,000 from another, and $100,000 coming from “private donations” from owners of commercial buildings and businesses near the lot. There’s $65,000 listed as “local funding” that would be covered by “in lieu of parking” fees collected over the years from developers of village properties.

Similarly, $175,000 to add a traffic light on Route 7 at the driveway to the Laurel Ridge and Ridgefield Crossings is expected to be paid for with a combination of a $75,000 from the state and $100,000 in private donations by area property owners.

The five-year capital plan, particularly in the years further down the road, can function as a holding place for expenses put off into the future rather than outright rejected, and also projects department heads see coming but haven’t fully researched.

The five-year plan put before the selectmen this week includes $6 million for 2012-13; $6.7 million for 2013-14; $12.6 million, including the $4.5 million police station, in 2014-15; $26.2 million, including a $15 million sewer plant project, in 2015-16; and $4.4 million in 2016-17.

Town Engineer Charles Fisher said a sewer plant renovation must be undertaken every 20 years, under state statutes. Costs for the last South Street treatment plant project were shared among taxpayers, users, and projected future users through hook-up fees.

“That was just a placeholder,” Mr. Fisher said of the $15 million estimated plant cost. “At some point the WPCA (Water Pollution Control Authority) is going to have to replace the treatment plant. I just want to forewarn people that’s coming up.”