The Ansonia Board of Aldermen has proposed a budget that would result in the city’s tax rate increasing by 1.75 mills — or 6.6 percent — in 2012 – 2013.
The $58.47 million proposal was approved by the Board of Aldermen Tuesday (Feb. 14) and passed on to the Board of Apportionment and Taxation for further review.
A home assessed at $230,000 would see a tax bill increase of $403 next year, if this proposal is approved as is.
The Board of Apportionment and Taxation will spend the next several months reviewing the proposal.
That means by May, when the city budget is finalized, the numbers and tax rate could change.
Article continues after budget proposal.
The vote fell along party lines: The board’s nine Democrats voted in favor, while the four Republicans on the board opposed the budget proposal. The move came after a lengthy debate about how city leaders can move Ansonia forward, despite the bad economy and limited money.
A finance subcommittee of the board drafted the $58.47 million proposal — and approved it unanimously, according to Board President Eugene Sharkey and finance subcommittee chairman Edward Adamowski.
“I’m very disappointed in this board,” Sharkey said after the vote. “People who voted yes in committee then vote no.”
However, in an e‑mail sent after the meeting, Republican John Marini said he and fellow Republican finance committee member Phil Tripp voted against the Board of Education allocation during the subcommittee meeting.
“We disagreed with the amount set for the Board of Education in the Finance Subcommittee, and we voted against the budget at the Board of Aldermen on that basis,” Marini wrote.
Directives
The proposal came with a set of recommendations from the Board of Aldermen finance committee to try to help Ansonia “reduce the tax burden of the residents of Ansonia.”
The recommendations include:
- Find union concessions in the form of furlough days, increased health insurance payments, and salary freezes
- Ask the Ansonia Public Library to open on Saturdays and evenings, but find cost savings during other slow business hours. The library is closed on the weekends and some nights.
- Form an Ansonia Nature Center committee to review possibly charging admission to the center.
- Form a Board of Education committee to review regionalizing the district’s health insurance plan.
Debate
Before the vote, several parents spoke during public comment, urging the Board of Aldermen to give the Board of Education its full $27.8 million request.
The Board of Education has requested a 5.66 percent increase in its budget for 2012 – 2013 — from its current $26.3 million to $27.8 million.
The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday approved an increase — but not as much as the schools wanted. The Board of Aldermen approval for the schools is $27 million — a 2.3 percent increase.
Parents said the district needs to improve — or the city will lose valuable residents.
“You guys need to re-prioritize who is getting what money,” said parent Melissa Haas.
Haas, and other parents, said they have considered leaving Ansonia to move to towns where their students can attend better school districts.
“I honestly feel like a bad mother sometimes putting my children through the Ansonia school system,” Haas said.
Some members of the Board of Aldermen, such as Republicans Charles Stowe and Joan Radin, said it’s hard to justify any tax increases as their constituents talk about pay cuts and rising costs.
“Seniors in the fifth ward are on fixed incomes,” Radin said. “They want to help education, but haven’t received any increases.”
But aldermen Jerome Fainer said there is only so much control the city has over costs.
“You don’t just wave your magic wand and say no tax increases,” Fainer said. “You’ve got to cover the basic necessities.”
The problem, Sharkey said, is the city can only lower or keep taxes steady in two ways: Lower costs, or bring in more money. The city is looking to do both, Sharkey said.
“We have to reinvent ourselves as the city of Ansonia,” Sharkey said.
BUDGET BREAKDOWN
2011 – 2012 Tax Rate: 26.25 mills
2012 – 2013 proposed tax rate: 28 mills
Increases
City comptroller Joseph Miller said the city asked all departments to propose a zero-increase budget for 2012 – 2013.
Most complied with the request, Miller said.
The departments that asked for increases had specific reasons, according to Miller.
The assessor’s office, for example, asked for $10,000 increase to help pay for revaluation.
The Ansonia Police Department needed more money to pay for a higher percentage of the employee pension plans, Miller said.
The current Police Department budget is $4.95 million. The requested 2012 – 2013 budget is $5.39 million — an increase of 9 percent.
Other departments that were cut in the past have requested more money. The Ansonia Library, for example, was cut more than $50,000 last budget cycle. The proposal for 2012 – 2013 restores some of that loss — at $466,639, a $21,239 increase over current spending.
Decreases
Two line items have a decrease in the proposal: Flood control, and education grants.
The education grants line item reflects the amount of money the school district has budgeted to spend through grants it receives from outside sources.
In 2011 – 2012, the city received $6.6 million in education grants. Those grants will drop to $4.4 million in 2012 – 2013, according to district projections.
The decrease in grants means the city’s total expenses actually decrease in 2012 – 2013 — because there is less grant money to spend.
In 2011 – 2012, the city budgeted $59.2 million total. The proposal for next year is less — at $58.47 million.
While it looks like the city is spending less, many departments actually show increased budgets — and an increased tax rate is required to offset the difference.
Although Gov. Dannel Malloy has proposed increasing the state Education Cost Sharing grants to districts, including Ansonia, Miller said the city won’t count on that money until it is approved through the state legislature.
