New budget would reduce town's tax rate

Written by Macklin Reid, Press Staff
Thursday, 05 April 2012 04:55

The Board of Finance last night arrived at a $126-million budget that will mean a 1.15% reduction in the tax rate next year.

The two-year compromise plan includes returning the CL&P refund to taxpayers through mill rate reductions, and cuts of $100,000 to the schools and $60,000 to the selectmen.

In a three and half hour decision session Wednesday night, the finance board also approved a $3.8 million capital budget, which included a $300,000 reduction to spending on road reconstruction.

All the finance budget work will come before voters for approval at the annual referendum in May.

Under the board’s plan to give the $4.3 million from CL&P back to the taxpayers over two years, the 1.15% tax reduction in 2012-13 is projected to be followed by a 2.98% tax increase the following year, as the need to catch up form the reduction combines with spending increases in the 2% range.

The plan gives back about 75% of the $4.3 million next year, and the remaining 25% the year after that.

It was approved following the defeat of board member Marty Heiser’s motion to return the entire $4.3 million refund to taxpayers in the next budget .

“Return it to the taxpayers with an apology that we allowed it to go undetected for so long,” he said of the refund, which resulted from CL&P’s discovery it had been overcharging for electricity at the high school for eight years.

“I feel very strongly about this,” Mr. Heiser said. “The taxpayers were overcharged for many years. It’s their money. I think it’s beholden on this board to return the money this year.”

Chairman Dave Ulmer calculated returning all the money at once would mean a 2.12% drop in the tax rate next year, followed by about a 5% spike back up the following year.

“The risk is people are thinking we’re not out of this recession yet, we’re in the midst of this revaluation,” Mr. Ulmer said. “The risk is those budgets go down and we have to cut them. That doesn’t do any service to the taxpayers of this town. It does a huge disservice to the taxpayers of this town.”

The school budget approved by the finance board is $81,269,473. That’s $100,000 less than the Board of Education requested, reflecting exactly the cut suggested by the Board of Selectmen in their non-binding recommendation on the school budget. It passed 4-to-1

A motion to cut $200,000 form the school request had been put forward by Mr. Heiser, but failed 1-to-4.

The $32,103,387 selectmen’s town budget that was approved by the finance board included a cut of $60,000 beyond a $131,900 reduction in the selectmen’s request, due do lower library operating costs when it temporarily relocates as part of its reconstruction project.

Details on the proposal — and reactions to it — will appear in next week’s Press.