Town Meeting Approves Budget

By Steve Bigham

The “ayes” have it.

A total of 320 registered voters turned out at a town meeting Monday night to approve the town’s $66.9 million budget for 2000-01. About 80 percent of those in attendance voted in favor of the budget, which was decided by a voice vote.

The newly adopted budget will bump up taxes by 1.6 mills (5.9 percent) from 27.9 mills to 29.5 mills. So how much will your taxes go up? According to the tax collector’s office, a home assessed at $200,000 (or a value of $285,000) will have a tax increase of $320 – nearly $27 a month.

Last month, taxpayers voted down the first proposed budget of $68.9 million, which represented an increase of 2.9 mills. In response, the Legislative Council cut $2.1 million out of the proposal. The cuts included $500,000 from the Board of Education budget, $250,000 in funding for Fairfield Hills, and $200,000 from the Parks & Recreation budget. In addition, the council agreed to put off spending $1.1 million worth of debt service for the school board’s proposed 5/6 school, which town officials now agree will not be ready to go forward until next year. The school’s timeline for opening is still September 2002. All that is being put off is the Board of Education’s request for funding.

At Monday’s meeting in the high school auditorium, a handful of residents suggested that the council consider removing the $500,000 that still remains in the Fairfield Hills fund and returning it to the school board fund, but no action was taken on the suggestion.

Longtime Newtown resident Danny Amaral of 41 Elm Drive said that the council made few cuts since last month’s “no” vote. Instead, he stated, they simply put off the spending until next year.

“All they did was postpone it. I say we’ve got to face the situation. More cuts need to be made,” he said.

George Elkins of 20 Taunton Lane agreed.

“We’re just loading ourselves up for next year,” he said. “In my mind, fat budgets lead to inefficiency. Personally, I’m against this budget.”

Deborah Hoffman of 4 Antler Pine spoke in favor of the budget, calling it something far less than a budget full of fat. The budget does have a significant increase, but gluttony has nothing to do with it, she said.

“We might not like the fact that the development of the town has caused costs to go up, but it is a reality right now,” she said to a rousing applause which made it clear how the crowd would vote.

Bill Shallock of 36 Greenleaf Farms Road suggested it was time to stop pitting schools against fields and fields against roads.

“This is a growing town. Yes, our taxes are going to go up this year, and next year and the year after that. But if you cut money now, it will just come back again next year,” he said.

Michael Floros of 32 Queen Street reminded residents that they can still affect the future of this town by voting to purchase Fairfield Hills later this year. Thanks to a plan that would welcome some commercial development there, the town has a chance to generate revenue at Fairfield Hills for years to come, he said.

Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed credited the town for having the courage to approve the budget, but remains discouraged that $1.5 million of his original proposal was cut. One million dollars of that was cut by his own school board. The schools chief said his hefty budget proposals are not full of fat, but the by-product of growth and “trying to make up for 15 years of $100,000 cut here and $100,000 cut there.”

“We didn’t get to this situation overnight,” he said.

  Legislative Council Chairman Pierre Rochman, who opposed the original budget, seemed pleased with Monday’s outcome. He said it is now time to get on with the many other issues now facing the town. Tops on the agenda is Fairfield Hills, which the council was slated to discuss this week at Wednesday night’s meeting.