Budgetmakers Hope For The Best, Prepare For The Worst

By John Voket

Hoping for the best in the form of a local budget passing on the first vote, and planning for the worst are apparently the dual strategies of the Board of Finance and the Legislative Council as they settle into what may be the most challenging budget season Newtown has faced in some time, possibly ever.

That scenario, according to a chorus of local officials, is made possible by a difficult set of circumstances that delivered the single largest taxpayer expenditure ever — the high school expansion — in the same year a state mandated revaluation of property is certain to raise taxes for many residents.

Add to that stagnant job and wage growth, gasoline prices topping out at $3.25 per gallon, fallout from the subprime loan debacle driving up variable mortgage payments, a looming epidemic of personal credit crises, and the ramifications of household energy costs cascading ripples through the economy affecting grocery prices and many other necessities, and there now exists an environment where overwhelmed taxpayers may feel they can only strike back by denying local budget initiatives.

In situations like this, town leaders hope to communicate as much information as they have, and to present unified support for a budget they can justify on every line, perhaps validating every dollar.

And in the spirit of planning for any contingency, the finance director has released a budget calendar that accounts for five possible budget failures extending a projected budget refining process out to the end of June.

At the February 11 finance board meeting, members heard about specifics related to one of the fixed, and potentially most fluid, factors in the budget — debt service. According to the report from town Finance Director Benjamin Spragg, the 8.2 percent overall increase is driven by a combination of negotiated salary/benefit packages, and an increase in debt service from 9.3 percent this year, to a projected 10.7 percent proposed in 2008-2009.

Mr Spragg told the board this week that the debt service increase represents 3.9 percent of the total budget increase. Debt service for all school and municipal projects is represented on the town side of the budget, because according to state statute, the school district does not assume ownership of facilities until a certificate of occupancy is delivered.

Until that time, all school building projects and their capital borrowing costs, like those proposed for the high school expansion, appear in the town side of the budget.

“Without the debt service, the town side increase comes to 5.25 percent,” Mr Spragg told the finance board, adding that the school debt service for next year is $6.4 million.

“Of that figure, the high school addition is $1.2 million,” the finance director said.

To help members clarify the most important information and priorities among the many aspects of the municipal side of the budget, finance board chair John Kortze requested that First Selectman Joseph Borst prepare an executive summary to accompany the selectmen’s budget submission, including the impact on debt service.

“This information had been provided with previous budgets, and it would be helpful,” Mr Kortze said.

Although the school district side budget proposal had not been provided by its February 11 meeting, the finance board moved forward, directing Mr Spragg to produce a calendar including both initial and contingency deliberation sessions, and the finance board’s public hearing.

The final calendar, however, also accommodates the entire scope of the budget process, including numerous contingencies in the event of multiple budget failures. Regardless of whether the school district delivers its budget by the February 14 deadline, the finance board is moving forward, scheduling deliberations on the selectmen’s budget Thursday, February 21.

At press time, a location and time for that first deliberation had not been scheduled. A draft of the full budget proposal is scheduled to appear in next week’s edition of The Newtown Bee.

The calendar of further confirmed budget related sessions are as follows:

Wednesday, February 27: Board of Finance Public Hearing on 2008 Budget proposal.

Thursday, February 28: BOF deliberations on the school district budget proposal.

Monday, March 3: Final deliberation and possible action on 2008 Budget proposal.

Monday, March 10: Regular BOF meeting with further deliberation and possible action on 2008 Budget proposal, if required.

Friday, March 14: Legislative Council receives approved budget proposal from BOF.

Wednesday, March 19: Regular council meeting with possible deliberation on the budget.

Wednesday, March 26: Scheduled council public hearing on budget proposal.

Wednesday, April 2: Regular council meeting with anticipated action on the 2008 Budget proposal.

Tuesday, April 22: First referendum on 2008-2009 budget proposal.

Wednesday, April 23: Special council meeting to further deliberate budget if referendum fails.

Tuesday, May 8: If necessary, second referendum on 2008-2009 budget proposal.

Wednesday, May 9: Special council meeting to further deliberate budget if second referendum fails.

Monday, May 21: Town meeting to pass budget, if necessary, and only if the second budget revision is not moved to referendum.

Tuesday, May 22: If necessary, third referendum on 2008-2009 budget proposal.

Wednesday, May 23: Special council meeting to further deliberate budget if third referendum fails.

Tuesday, June 5: If necessary, fourth referendum on 2008-2009 budget proposal.

Wednesday, June 6: Special council meeting to further deliberate budget if fourth referendum fails.

Friday, June 8: Budget revision as amended filed with town clerk by Charter stipulation.

Tuesday, June 19: If necessary, fifth referendum on 2008-2009 budget proposal.

Wednesday, June 20: Special council meeting to further deliberate budget if fifth referendum fails.