By: Rick Guinness 03/08/2005
OLD SAYBROOK - First Selectman Mike Pace pitched his proposed 2005-06 budget to the finance board last week, saying the $30.38 million spending plan keeps down municipal spending while maintaining the same quality of service.
But the Board of Finance identified several areas of concern, including soaring insurance costs and salary increases along with hikes in fuel and electricity costs.
While the plan in its current form represents a 6.4 percent increase, Pace said he anticipates reductions in both education and municipal spending that would bring the impact down to slightly less than half a mill. That would bring the tax rate from this year's 13.8 mills to 14.2 mills for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
A mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. If the current budget is approved as is, the owner of $200,000 house with a $140,000 assessment would pay an additional $56 in taxes, from $1,932 to $1,988 a year.
The town side of the proposed budget comes to $13.27 million, with $873,356 in new spending - a 7 percent hike over the current fiscal year's budget.
The proposed school budget amounts to $17.1 million, with $960,590 in new spending, or a 5.95 percent increase above the current year's $16.1 million budget.
Bonded indebtedness is slated to drop by $35,290 - from $2.27 million to $2.24 million. And debt on the school side is expected to shrink by approximately $11,000.
One reason for the spending increases is the steep rise in insurance costs, which are expected to go up by 30 percent. There were other surprises. For instance, the fire department needs to buy a new rescue truck that will cost more than $400,000, after the transmission on the old truck failed. The replacement truck, which had been slated for 2012, will use up $90,000 out of the town's rainy day fund this year that had already been set aside. The new truck, which might be ordered next year, follows the addition of a $500,000 pumper that the department recently acquired.
"That's $1 million in fire trucks," Board of Finance Chairman Carl Fortuna Jr. said. "That's a lot."
Pace and Board of Education Business Manager Julie Pendleton fielded questions from the panel - and in the process painted a fairly rosy picture of future services with affordable taxes.
Board members Robert Finch and Lou Sugland asked the most questions.
"We seem to be decreasing capital and maintenance," Finch said, pointing to a decrease from $111,895 to $100,000 in the school budget. Finch added that the town had not maintained buildings properly in the past and paid a heavy price as a result.
Pendleton explained that more work has been done in-house, using town crews, and a contract for services.
"We've improved our maintenance," she said.
But Sugland said he is still concerned about maintenance and purchasing and worries that money is constantly being added to salaries, but that purchasing is often under-funded.
"I'm interested in a balance," he said.
She told him that the schools now purchase materials through a consortium that allows for teachers to have ample supplies for their classrooms.
Finch asked how Pendleton had estimated $202,000 in fuel costs but only $183,000 in the following year. She said that through an oil-purchasing consortium, she expects to get locked in to a much lower price on oil this spring.
After the meeting, Pace expounded on Pendleton's remarks:
"We buy at a predetermined price," Pace said. "Last year oil prices went up. If we could time the market, we'd be on Wall Street."
Pace said the schools have been able to save money through in-kind services, in particular, with the public works department. Two new positions are being added to the proposed budget for that department. He said town crews expanded the library and added classrooms. Public works employees also fixed the driveway in front of the school, he said.
In prior years, Pace said, "maintenance was always the first to go. The town had to borrow some $2.3 million," at one point, he said, adding, "We're not going to let that happen again."
As expected, the largest side of the town budget is the police department, which is $2.9 million, even after the Police Commission on Monday trimmed spending by $32,257.
That budget does not include an added $27,000 to the capital budget for a replacement cruiser that allowed the commission to reduce its vehicle maintenance budget. Sugland noted that some of the police department salaries had jumped significantly, from $44,092 to $50,594. Pace noted that it was because of a delay in approving the current contract.
The first public hearing on the budget is March 15 at the middle school. A copy of the budget can be reviewed by citizens at the Town Clerk's office or the library.
©Pictorial Gazette 2005