By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer
October 14, 2007
STAMFORD - Finance board Chairwoman Mary Lou Rinaldi is calling on the mayor to set aside $350,000 of the city's $6.1 million surplus to keep the libraries open and the Bookmobile rolling, and to rehire firefighters who were laid off over the summer.
Rinaldi, who is running for re-election, wants to take the money out of the $846,695 Mayor Dannel Malloy asked the Board of Finance and the Board of Representatives to put in the city's rainy day fund for unanticipated expenses.
"I have to say, it sure feels like a rainy day if you can't keep your library open and you have to fire five brave and committed firefighters," Rinaldi said in a statement. "So let's use a relatively small portion of that surplus and help save our library and our firefighters."
The Ferguson Library plans to reduce hours at the Harry Bennett, South End and Weed & Memorial Hollander branches and take the Bookmobile off the road Nov. 1 because of budget cuts.
Of the five Glenbrook and Belltown firefighters laid off this summer, one has been rehired.
Rinaldi said she wants to use the surplus funds as matching grants that cover a portion of the total costs of restoring the services and manpower, expecting the library and the fire department to come up with the balance. For example, Rinaldi is suggesting $100,000 in surplus funds be earmarked for the library, when the total amount needed to continue the current operating hours is $260,000. The library would be expected to raise the remaining $160,000.
Rinaldi said she expects the fire department to find at least $150,000 in savings within its budget by reducing overtime spending and administrative costs.
Because the finance board can act only on the mayor's recommendations for the surplus, Rinaldi is asking Malloy, a fellow Democrat, to withdraw his initial plan, which includes no funding for the library or rehiring firefighters, and to come back with another plan that addresses those needs before the board meets Tuesday night.
"It all hinges on whether the mayor takes my proposal and reallocates the surplus," she said. "We can accept, reject, or reduce, but we can't reallocate."
Malloy said Friday he has no plans to modify his surplus recommendations, given first-quarter financial projections that the city is on track to the end the fiscal year with a deficit of nearly $600,000.
Malloy said it is too early in the current fiscal year to restore services and manpower when he is not certain he has enough money to make it through the current year.
"Before we spend more money, I need time to figure out what shape we are in," he said. "I think we need another quarter to tell where we are going to be . . . These are wonderful things to want, and maybe we'll consider them at some point in the future."
Rinaldi said Democrats, who hold a 4-2 majority on her board, are serious about restoring library hours and firefighting jobs and will consider other options if the mayor does not revise his request. Members will have to decide whether they will reject the entire amount for the rainy day fund, forcing the mayor to reconsider, or delay voting on the rainy day fund allocation until they have a better idea of the city's finances in the current year, she said.
Bob Kolenberg, a Republican member of the finance board who for years has lobbied to increase hours at the Bennett branch, said he is not prepared to increase library funding until his board goes over the books one more time and he is convinced cutting hours is the only option.
"I think we need to have the library director, Ernie DiMattia, and the Board of Trustees come before us and explain the situation before we hand over a blank check to them," Kolenberg said.
Kolenberg and Joseph Tarzia, the other Republican member, said they plan to ask library officials to come to their meeting Tuesday prepared to talk about their budget. Both said they tried to get the issue on a meeting agenda but were blocked by the Democrats.
"I do agree with the concept of setting aside money for this. How much do we need, I don't know," Tarzia said. "I think the smart way to approach this is to have these people come in and have a dialogue with them."
Kolenberg, who also is up for re-election, said Rinaldi is only taking interest in the library cuts now because the election is less than four weeks away.
"It's probably a political ploy to get her name in the papers before the election," he said.
Any surplus funds not approved by the boards for a specific purpose will roll over to the next fiscal year, Malloy said.
It would be a mistake if surplus funds end up offsetting next year's tax increase when the money could be used immediately to avoid service cuts, Rinaldi said.
"Quite frankly, $350,000 going back into the general fund . . . if you divvy it up among the people who pay taxes the next year, it won't a make a big difference," Rinaldi said. "But it will make a big difference to the library and the fire department."
Copyright © 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.