Following an extended meeting on Thursday, March 3, the Board of Finance recommended a 2016-17 budget proposal to the Legislative Council totaling $114,901,744. If left as is by the council and approved by taxpayers at an April 26 referendum, the budget would increase spending over the current year by just over $3.1 million and incur a new tax rate of 33.84 mills.Technology ReductionGrand List Flat

Finance Chairman James Gaston, Sr, presented that recommendation to the Legislative Council six days later on Wednesday, March 9.

The next step in the annual process is for the council to hold a planned public hearing March 23, before assigning its committees to take select pieces of the proposal to examine and possibly make further reductions.

After several hours of discussion and multiple motions, the finance board is recommending a school district budget of $73,865,065 providing a 3.18 percent increase, and a municipal budget of $41,036,679 representing a 2.23 percent increase.

Proposed debt service for next year is $9,394,840 - a 7.08 percent reduction as a result of a significant bond issue being retired this year. All debt service for town and school capital projects resides under the Board of Selectmen or the municipal side of the split budget plan.

During the council presentation, Mr Gaston said his board, including four members vetting a budget proposal for the first time, were most interested in learning what factors were driving requests for increases.

On the school side, he said finance officials identified roughly $2.2 million as contractual wage and benefit increases Mr Gaston identified as "fixed costs." He said each of the finance board's six members had six separate ideas on how to approach vetting the budget requests, and where further savings might be found.

The finance board ended up reducing the school district budget request by $350,001. While the board has no line item authority over the school budget, four of the six finance members voted to recommend the district reduce $114,000 based on declared fuel savings; $20,000 in natural gas savings expected for the new Sandy Hook School; $80,000 from the district's self-funded medical insurance line; $83,000 from the transportation request; and $51,000 from technology.

Regarding the technology reduction, Mr Gaston said his board understood that while technology costs were increasing, they felt justified in reducing this year's request since IT spending for the district is not being done "all at once."

In examining the reduction in self-insured benefit contributions in the budget proposal, Mr Gaston said in hindsight that his panel should have consulted with the Town's Medical Benefits Board. But in lieu of that, they made the reduction based on an anticipated increase in claims that is less than what was originally recommended by the benefits board.

Mr Gaston said that the district was looking for an eight percent increase, while the history of claims justified a seven percent bump in the minds of the finance board members endorsing the reduction.

On the town side where his board has line item authority, Mr Gaston said the reduction in debt service helped offset other requested increases. And while it was learned that the move actually is under the purview of selectmen, the finance board recommended transfer station permit costs be increased, creating $40,000 more in overall revenue for the next fiscal cycle.

Townside reductions also included:

*$5,000 from town unemployment compensation based on previous payout history.

*$14,000 from police contractual services

*$73,215 from a reduced fuel bid

*$9,298 from a reduced heating oil bid

*$52,750 in reduced debt service costs on a new bond issue from March 3

Mr Gaston said his board was hoping an increase in the grand list would further offset increases, however, the grand list (the total of all taxable property in town) remained flat.

First Selectman Pat Llodra later explained that two factors worked to reduce what would have represented 6.6 percent growth in the grand list. She said the state's gradual reduction in compensatory payments that make up part of the losses from a state mandated manufacturing equipment property tax abatement has a three-tenths of a mill consequence. A mill represents one dollar for every $1,000 in taxable property.

"The state has stopped making municipalities whole in light of recent deficits," Mrs Llodra told the council.

Localized temporary tax abatements granted under Newtown's Business Incentive Plan further countered increases in the grand list by two-tenths of a mill, Mrs Llodra said. Finally, a new state mandate this year that caps motor vehicle assessments at 23 mills went into effect, leaving towns and cities to make up any difference the state fails to compensate through other revenues.

Mrs Llodra said, however, that she will be working with Finance Director Robert Tait to try and craft further savings - with plans to bring them before the council at its next meeting.

Before closing out the presentation, Councilman George Ferguson took issue with Mr Gaston's remarks about fixed costs tied to town and school staffing. Mr Ferguson stated that since staffing levels can go up and down, staffing should be regarded as a variable cost as he said it is under all general accounting standards.