The city’s charter calls on Aldermen to have a spending plan — and a tax rate — in place for next year by the end of April.
Instead, they met Thursday and voted to “recess” the meeting until May 24, by which time they hope to have agreed on a plan to save money on insurance with the Board of Education.
The city’s corporation counsel said after the meeting the move was OK under the city’s charter, and other towns have done it in the past.
In the meantime, residents will have to wait to find out what will happen with taxes — and more than 40 teachers will spend another month wondering whether they’ll have jobs — next year.
Previously
The Aldermen’s vote Thursday mirrored action taken Tuesday by its finance subcommittee, which has been reviewing the 2016 – 2017 spending plan for the past several weeks.
Click here for a story about Tuesday’s meeting.
Briefly, the major sticking point in the discussion has been school spending, the biggest single department in any municipal budget.
The school board has asked for $2 million more for next year. Mayor David Cassetti’s request called for a $750,000 increase contingent on school employees moving to high-deductible health savings accounts he said would save $600,000.
The mayor, his staff, and several Aldermen are convinced the city can also save big bucks by moving to self-funding its health insurance plans for school and city employees.
The school board, whose president, William Nimons, was a close ally of the mayor’s until a sudden fracture last month, is skeptical of the self-funding plan.
Recess Redux
Those divisions emerged Tuesday, and again during an Aldermen’s meeting Thursday ostensibly called to set the city’s budget for 2016 – 2017.
Second Ward Alderman Lorie Vaccaro, the chairman of the finance subcommittee, said that the committee’s work in progress budget would increase taxes by .462 mill if passed as-is.
It would carry a $750,000 increase for schools, as Cassetti had recommended.
Vaccaro said Aldermen want to fight for a tax decrease, but also want to fund schools adequately.
But he said the only way to do that would be by moving to self-funding insurance. He then made a motion to have the Aldermen meet with the Board of Education May 2. It passed unanimously.
Vaccaro said he would “fight like hell” for taxpayers and schools.
“We better exhaust every avenue and every effort before setting a budget,” he said.
Frank DeLibero, a Seventh Ward Alderman, agreed.
“I think it’s time to put politics aside,” he said. “We need to roll up our sleeves and do the best we can working together to make this self-funding work.”
Vaccaro then spotted Seymour First Selectman Kurt Miller in the audience and asked if he had anything to say.
Miller said he was just there to listen because Seymour is thinking about moving to self-funded insurance.
First Ward Alderman Charles Stowe asked if any of the several members of the school board in the audience Thursday wanted to say anything.
Nimons rose and reiterated what he said during a finance committee meeting Tuesday — that the school board isn’t champing at the bit to move to self-funded insurance.
During Tuesday’s meeting Nimons disputed in detail possible savings cited by Vaccaro.
“The Board of Ed will not be badgered into making an irrational and quick decision unless it benefits everybody, and that’s all I’m going to say at this point,” he said, referring further questions to the school board’s lawyer.
“Monday is the meeting,” he went on. “We will start talking. We will not be forced to make a decision quickly. Sorry.”
Vaccaro later moved to recess Thursday’s meeting to May 24 to see if the city and school board can agree on an insurance plan. It passed unanimously.
Click the play button on the video above to see the discussion and vote.
Is This Legal?
After the meeting, David Knapp, the chairman of the local Democratic Party, said it was his understanding the budget had to be passed by April 30.
The relevant section of the city’s charter says that “Not later than April 30, the board of aldermen shall adopt the budget for the ensuing fiscal year and fix the tax rate to be levied on property in the city in the ensuing year.”
John Marini, the city’s corporation counsel, pointed to another part of the charter that he said allowed the city to delay having a budget in place until June 20. If no budget is passed by then, he said the city would have to send out tax bills based on this year’s tax rate.
“Obviously the charter contemplates being able to set a mill rate tonight. A meeting was certainly held in accordance with the charter,” he said. “But given considerations of the tax rate and crafting a better budget, which is a legitimate public interest, the Board wants to recess the meeting to a later date.”
He said other towns in Connecticut have done the same thing before, which allows Ansonia to follow their lead.
Will It Happen?
Cassetti said he’s sure school and city officials will come to a meeting of the minds.
“When you see the savings that’s there it’s a no-brainer,” Cassetti said. “I promised that I would lower taxes and fund education, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing. And this is the proper way to do it.”
He said the city could reduce its property tax rate by .66 mill by moving to self-funded insurance.
Nimons said the school board is open to the city’s idea but said they need to do due diligence on the proposal first.
“We have to do what’s proper for the teachers,” he said. “We cannot take all the unions and throw them into a plan that may go belly-up.”
Mathew Hough, the president of the Ansonia Federation of Teachers, noted the comments made by Miller during the meeting.
“Seymour’s taking a year to make a decision that we’re now going to attempt to make in less than a month,” he said.
Phil Tripp, the president of the Board of Aldermen, said he is “hopefully optimistic” an impasse will be avoided.
