Council Weighs Charter—

School Bd Withdraws Request For Funds

By John Voket

Following a public hearing on the matter, the Legislative Council voted unanimously on an ordinance supporting the codification of the Town of Newtown Charter, Special Acts and Ordinances. At their August 22 meeting, council members also began deliberating points in the existing charter document, in connection with the many new issues and revisions raised by charter commissioners.

In addition, council members learned the school board was in the process of delivering a study on the feasibility of temporarily instituting a year-round high school program as a means of alleviating space issues. And on an unrelated school district matter, Board of Education Chairman Elaine McClure withdrew a request to find funds to meet an anticipated shortfall between the cost of district health insurance benefits and the approved amount budgeted for that expense.

During public comments, Republican school board candidate Kathy Fetchick said it was too early in the district’s fiscal cycle for the council to consider a special appropriation of $113,000.

“It’s premature to ask for money to be distributed back to the board. The voters have spoken on the budget dollars,” Ms Fetchick said. “We won’t know if there is a health insurance [budget line] deficit until the end of the current year.”

Later in the meeting, Ms McClure said a memo requesting the council consider looking for money to meet the anticipated shortfall was never intended to trigger a request for a special appropriation after the budget had already been endorsed by voters. But subsequent to issuing that request, it was determined that the only means of appropriating additional money into the school district budget was by special appropriation, and the Boards of Selectmen and Finance along with the council were proceeding based on that determination.

“We did not ask for a special appropriation,” Ms McClure said. “As Kathy [Fetchick] points out, we have to see what happens during the year.”

Council Chairman Will Rodgers concurred that the original request was not specifically for a special appropriation, but that avenue was the only appropriate means to address the school board’s concerns.

Ms McClure then told the council she was formally withdrawing the request for the $113,000.

Ms McClure then apologized to the council for not delivering documentation supporting her board’s views against exploring year-round schooling as a temporary measure to alleviate overcrowding at the high school.

“When it comes to [considering] year-round schooling, the proposal failed by a 4-1 vote,” she said. “Both a short- and long-term consideration is not feasible without a study, which is on the way.”

Mr Rodgers then suggested carrying the matter forward to a subsequent meeting after the school district’s report is circulated for review.

Charter Discussion

After some unrelated discussion on the possibility of establishing an irrevocable trust fund to benefit the town, council members settled in to begin deliberating some of the finer points of possible charter changes incorporating some of the input provided earlier at a public hearing (see related story).

Instead of putting off all discussion until the planned September 5 meeting, one day before the statutory deadline to vote on recommended changes, Mr Rodgers recommended the council begin deliberating any concerns that members had already reached on the document and its proposed revisions.

Councilman David Brown reviewed his thorough audit of the document and changes, pointing to aspects including changing all male-oriented references to his/her, one area where a proposed change in the name of the Board of Finance to the Finance Advisory Board was missed in the draft revision, and a lack of reference to the town’s recently created Inlands-Wetlands Commission.

Mr Brown also noted that in order to be consistent, the charter should reflect a change designating someone other than the chairman of the Board of Finance to authorize town checks in the absence of the first selectman. Town Finance Director Benjamin Spragg, who was on hand, said prior to the creation of a board of finance, that duty fell on the council chairman.

Mr Brown then suggested clarifying the extent the town finance director should be involved in school board financial actions, saying the charter provision appears to direct the school district to consult more frequently.

“It suggests [the finance director] be involved a lot, not a little,” Mr Brown observed.

Council representative Patricia Llodra referenced several possible conflicts between the proposed revision increasing the school board membership from six to seven, in light of Connecticut General Statutes governing municipal boards of education.

She asked to verify that the eventual move, if approved, would be thoroughly legal, and that the process of seating a new board was appropriate by state standards.

Mr Rodgers then addressed his concerns about the charter commission’s attempts to shorten the budget process by combining a finance board and council hearing prior to Board of Finance deliberations on the budget.

“I’m not sure compressing does us a service,” Mr Rodgers said. “A joint public hearing before the Board of Finance recommends budget changes to the council could almost prejudice their deliberations. When we originally suggested creating a Board of Finance we sought to depoliticize the budget process.”

During the meeting, the council also unanimously voted to codify the charter along with all local special acts and ordinances into a single volume of material, instead of three separate publications as they currently stand. That new comprehensive document is expected to become available once final charter revisions are accepted or rejected by voters.

The final endorsement or rejection of new charter revisions is planned to occur during the first 2008 budget referendum.