Tax Rate Inches Up—

Council Deliberates And Adds $200k To School Budget

By John Voket

Saying he was convinced that Newtown residents had an “appetite” for higher taxes if it meant improving the quality of education, Councilman Kevin Fitzgerald added his vote to a supermajority of colleagues who supported adding $200,000 back to the school district’s budget request.

As a result, eligible voters will be asked to endorse or reject the newly revised 2010-2011 townwide budget of $104,284,615 in a third referendum attempt, which officials aimed at scheduling as early as Tuesday, June 8. A second budget referendum that was held May 18 failed by 97 votes (see related story).

Acknowledging there were risks involved, Vice Chairman Mary Ann Jacob first made a motion to resend the failed proposal back for taxpayers to consider again. But after additional deliberation and a brief break, council member Chris LaRocque proposed an amendment that would restore an additional $200,000 to the school district request.

In arguing that sending the failed budget request back to taxpayers for reconsideration did not go far enough, Mr Fitzgerald insisted, “There is an appetite out there to increase the education budget even further.”

Fellow Independent Gary Davis added that he would support the $200,000 restoration equating the amount to trading two teaching positions for one major road project that “would effect 30 or 40 people, versus the education budget which benefits the whole town.”

“I would love to put forth something that will make people cheer tonight,” Mr Davis told fellow council members.

In speaking to his amendment, Mr LaRocque said half of that infusion — $100,000 — will be extracted from the town-side budget’s contingency fund. The additional amount would nudge a tax increase that failed in the second referendum slightly higher, increasing proposed tax increase from 2.4 to 2.5 percent, if it is approved in the third round of voting.

Compromise Over Conviction

While the move was an obvious gesture toward myriad education supporters and staff who turned out at several meetings and hearings in recent weeks, and was equated to saving four teacher jobs, First Selectman Pat Llodra reminded the council and those who attended Wednesday’s meeting that the new proposal provides $311,000 less next fiscal year than the town-side has available in the current budget.

“Please make this work,” Mrs Llodra said appealing to the 40-plus attendees who waited it out until almost midnight to hear the resolution of the council’s latest budget gyrations. “This is truly the best compromise.”

Ms Jacob concurred.

“I hope this works,” she said. “If everyone gets behind this we can move on.”

Council Chairman Jeff Capeci, who last week vowed not to support adding funds to the school budget request, acknowledged the tenacity and convictions of education advocates who lined up meeting after meeting demanding or requesting restoration of some of the $2.5 million reduction the council initially approved after receiving the budget recommendations from the Board of Finance.

“You people are very difficult to say no to — and we will hear from the other side,” Mr Capeci said, referring to taxpayers, some of whom he said filled his answering machine earlier in the day requesting the proposed budget be maintained or cut further.

He said it was critical that core education supporters bring their friends to come out and vote Yes in the third referendum, in part, “to offset those who will be disappointed in this decision.”

Earlier in the evening, as council discussion turned to handling the third budget attempt, Finance Director Robert Tait was asked to briefly discuss why it would be unwise to tap Newtown’s fund balance to restore education funding or reduce taxation.

“It’s deficit spending,” Mr Tait said. “Using the fund balance for operations doesn’t make sense,” he added referring to what some school supporters suggested as a way to deliver more money to the Board of Education’s requested increase.

The first motion of the roughly two-hour deliberation process came from Councilman Richard Woycik, who moved an additional $375,000 reduction to the school district. He was then asked by Mr Davis to justify his motion.

Mr Woycik explained that as recently as a school board meeting the night before, he had learned of areas of additional savings the school district could use to further reduce the possibility of job cuts and the resulting class size increases.

Those savings, he said, could primarily come from reductions in the workers compensation estimates, as well as some fuel cost reductions, savings gained through several early retirement incentives and factoring reimbursement for the state excess cost grant at 84 percent.

At that point, both Mr Davis and Mr Fitzgerald asked to clarify the savings with School Superintendent Janet Robinson. Mr Fitzgerald said he sought to lock down savings projections definitively, while Mr Davis added that part of the divisiveness permeating the community this budget season resulted from too many different numbers and savings estimates circulating from different sources.

Superintendent Validates Savings

Dr Robinson then went on record agreeing that the latest projected district savings resulting from a move to self-insure for health care costs would be $811,000. And in response to Mr Davis, agreed that the perceived shortfall between her original budget request, which was reduced $2.5 million by the Board of Finance, was down to around half-a-million dollars in the district’s $67 million overall spending plan.

“We made up everything then, except a gap of $550,000,” Mr Davis said.

In addressing Mr Woycik’s initial motion to cut the $375,000, Vice Chairman Mary Ann Jacob, Mr LaRocque, and Mr Capeci, along with council Finance Committee Chair Ben Spragg, all indicated they would not support further reductions to the school’s budget request.

Seeing he did not have the support to carry the day, Mr Woycik then withdrew his motion.

In the final deliberations, which stretched to just before midnight, Councilman John Aurelia remained the lone opponent to restoring funding to the schools. At one point he was admonished by Mr Capeci when he began railing against education supporters, saying he didn’t “trust anything they say.”

Council member Jan Andras abstained from the vote on Ms Jacob’s main motion, as well as Mr LaRocque’s amendment, noting a conflict because her family was tied to the school district’s transportation department. Her husband is a local school bus owner/operator.

She did support the final motion sending the townwide proposal back to voters, however.

As the ramifications of the 10-1 vote on the restoration of funds, and the 11-1 vote on the full budget proposal sank in, those remaining in the stuffy Municipal Center meeting room let out a burst of applause and a few cheers as they saw their requests answered. Mr Capeci also pointed out that the endorsement of the school funding restoration came with a supermajority of council members’ support.

Leaning back in his chair as the cheers and applause faded, Mr Davis flashed a thumbs-up to Mr Fitzgerald, who was seated across the room and smiled.