UPDATE: Derby Mayor Proposes New Budget

DERBY — The mill rate is dropping but the average tax bill is rising, according to a budget presentation Tuesday (March 10) by Mayor Joseph DiMartino in front of the city’s tax board.

“Mill rate will decrease from 43.2 to 39.1. Net impact for the average resident . . . will be a 1.4 percent increase in their real estate taxes,” DiMartino said.

Click here to read the mayor’s budget presentation.

Click here to read a draft copy of the budget.

The Derby budget covering July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 is being put together with new property assessments from a state-mandated revaluation.

The average resident saw a 61 percent increase in property assessments from the revaluation. About 8 percent of residential property owners saw increases of 100 percent or more.

The Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen voted in February to phase in the new assessments over five years. Click here for a previous story.

Most of the residential property owners in the city will see a tax increase of some kind under the mayor’s budget proposal, even with the mill rate going down 9.5 percent.

City finance officials said they can only lower the mill rate so much for fear of losing a few million dollars in state aid connected to motor vehicle taxes.

The tax board (or the Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation) usually adopts a budget by the end of April.

Click the video below to watch the mayor’s presentation.

About $1 Million In New Spending Proposed

The current budget adopted last April totaled $52,891,986. 

However, the mayor’s budget presentation subtracts about $2.5 million in revenue and expenses from the approved budget.

That puts the current budget at $50.2 million.

“We removed $2.5 million for certain items from both revenue and expenses because they were just passing through and canceling each other out,” Derby Finance Director Brian Hall said in an email to The Valley Indy.

Without taking that money out, it looks like the city is spending $1.5 million less next year when in reality it is spending about $1.05 million more.

“Taking them out makes the budget easier to read and shows our true operating costs,” Hall said.

DiMartino’s newly proposed budget totals $51,375,200.

About $945,000 of that $1.05 million spending increase are coming from three areas, according to the mayor’s presentation:

• Derby Public Schools are asking for a $366,000 increase in funding
• The city’s sanitation contract is increasing by about $107,000
• The rest is employee benefits

The mayor’s presentation noted that while employee benefits are expected to increase next year, the city is still saving money overall compared to what it would be spending had officials not switched healthcare plans last spring.

Reaction

Jerry Borrelli, a member of the city’s tax board, cautioned against assuming a 1.4 percent average tax bill increase will be embraced by Derby residents.

“We’re saying it’s only 1.4 percent but I’m sure everybody realizes that most of the citizens in Derby are already paying beyond what they can afford,” Borrelli said.

Borrelli also said he was frustrated by the tax board’s inability to influence the budget, saying “at this point in the game, there’s nothing that can be done to change these numbers.”

Meanwhile, he said he and other residents are contemplating moving out of Derby because it has become too expensive.

“What do we really do except make the numbers work?” Borrelli asked. “We don’t have a choice. These numbers are given to us and we have to work with them.”

He said officials during budget season often cite “contractual obligations” as a reason spending is up. But those obligations are approved before the tax board gets a look.

“We are not at the table when contracts are negotiated,” he said.

Borrelli mentioned the new teachers’ contract, which was approved by both the school board and the Alders. Click here and here for previous stories. It provides a 21 percent salary increase over four years.

“I get it, we need teachers. But who’s paying for this?” Borrelli asked.

Click play on the video below to watch Borrelli’s remarks.

Resident Phil Martino, 84, said the city should hold the line on taxes, especially for senior citizens.

“This revaluation is going to kill us,” he said.

Martino said he worked hard all his life to pay taxes. He said seniors should be exempt.

Martino and tax board chairwoman Colleen Germain-Ezzo said the city recently launched a shared services committee to see if money can be saved by merging some functions of the school district and the city. Click here for a previous Valley Indy story.

The mayor, in his budget address, said financial reporting and financial transparency have been improved under his watch. He said the budget’s fund balance was expected to increase from $2.6 million to $4.8 million.

He said the city has received $1.3 million in grants for downtown redevelopment, and $500,000 from blight fines was used for a new playground at Bradley School.

Hall said the city is on good financial footing, and with continued progress the city should be able to get out of state oversight in the form of the Municipal Finance Advisory Committee.

Let’s Look At A Few Properties

Editor’s note:

Derby City Hall contacted The Valley Indy Thursday, March 12 saying The Valley Indy’s tax increase data previously published in this section of the story were incorrect.

The Valley Indy pulled the info pending a conversation with the finance director.

The tax bill increases The Valley Indy originally cited were examples of what property owners would pay if the proposed mill rate was adopted as-is, with no five-year phase in.

THIS CHART SENT BY THE FINANCE OFFICE shows examples of what the tax bills could be in year one of the phase in. The chart is also embedded as an image below.

Column J of the embedded image below shows what year one tax bills would look like with the phase-in schedule adopted by the city.

The full March 10 Derby tax board meeting is embedded below.

The data below shows what single-family houses in Derby would pay in taxes next year if the proposed mill rate and draft budget were adopted today, as-is, with no phase-in of the new assessments from revaluation.

The last line in each entry shows the projected tax increase using the phase-on program adopted by the city.

Keep in mind the budget can change between now and late April, when it comes up for a vote in front of the Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation.

Anson Street
Old: $98,420
New: $203,280
Tax bill increase: *$3,697
This property would pay an additional $416 in property taxes next year under the phase-in.

Belleview Drive
Old: $174,020
New: $292,390
Tax bill increase: *$3,915
This property would pay an additional $212 in property taxes next year under the phase-in.

Bradley Terrace
Old: $163,380
New: $263,620
Tax bill increase: *$3,249
This property would pay an additional $114 in property taxes next year under the phase-in.

Caroline Street (three-family house)
Old: $132,160
New: $291,130
Tax bill increase: *$5,674

This property would pay an additional $701 in property taxes next year under the phase-in.

Chestnut Drive
Old: $171,920
New: $272,501
Tax bill increase: *$3,229
This property would pay an additional $83 in property taxes next year under the phase-in.

Coppola Terrace
Old: $129,360
New: $191,940
Tax bill increase: *$1,916
This property would pay $41 LESS in property taxes next year under the phase-in.

Hawthorne Avenue
Old: $112,000
New: $255,000
Tax bill increase: *$5,132
This property would pay an additional $659 in property taxes next year under the phase-in.