ANSONIA – Mayor Frank Tyszka proposed his first budget, which contains a tax increase, at a meeting of the Board of Aldermen Tuesday (March 10).

The budget contains a proposed mill rate of 30.82 mills. That’s a 2.27 mill, or 7.95 percent increase compared to the current mill rate of 28.55 mills.

Tyszka said that, while his proposal keeps the school budget flat and slightly decreases city-side spending, a tax increase is still needed due to budget decisions under the administration of his predecessor, David Cassetti.

Past budgets “were based on deeply flawed and unrealistic revenue,” Tyszka said in the presentation. 

He referred specifically to the city’s sale of its sewer system for $41 million in 2024, the proceeds from which were mostly used to pay off old debts and fund city budgets.

He also said the city needs to raise taxes to fill an approximately $1.5 million budget hole, created after finance officials budgeted to receive money from a fuel cell project which hasn’t been built.

The city booked that money “despite the fact that the fuel cell project was going off the rails,” Tyszka said.

Tyszka’s budget uses $3 million from a reserve account leftover from the sale of the city’s WPCA. He said the city will continue to draw down that account, using less of it each year.

Tyszka’s proposed city-side budget is $29,484,066, which is a decrease of $22,051 compared to the current year. 

The proposed school budget is $38,612,089, the same as the current year.

Tyszka said his proposed city budget would eliminate staff positions, but declined to share which positions after the meeting. He said the positions would be decided in coming meetings with the Board of Apportionment and Taxation (tax board) and Board of Aldermen.

Referendum Likely

If the budget were adopted as-is, it would require approval from voters at a referendum. Under charter changes passed in 2014, city budgets require referendum approval if the increase in ‘net taxes to be collected’ is more than 3 percent.

Tyszka’s budget contains a 9.98 percent increase in ‘net taxes to be collected,’ according to the presentation.

Last year, under Cassetti’s administration, the Board of Aldermen sent three separate budget proposals to a city-wide referendum. All three proposals failed by wide margins, with the Aldermen ultimately decreasing the budget by enough so that a fourth referendum wasn’t necessary.

The budget in Tyszka’s presentation will undergo review and possible adjustments from the tax board and Board of Aldermen before it can go to voters (assuming those boards don’t make reductions that bring it below the referendum threshold).

The tax board scheduled a series of meetings throughout the month of March to discuss the budget requests from various department heads.

Those meetings are open to the public. You can view the schedule here.

Mill Rate Impact

Tax bills are calculated by multiplying the assessed value (not the appraised value) by the mill rate and then dividing by 1,000. Click here to look up your address and find the value.

Under the proposed budget, a single-family home on Holbrook Street assessed at $180,000 would pay $408.60 more per year in taxes.

A house on Gardners Lane assessed at $248,000 would pay $562.96 more per year.

A house on High Acres Road assessed at $366,000 would pay $830.20 more per year.