SEYMOUR – Members of the Seymour Board of Finance voted March 23 to recommend a budget of $70.7 million to run the town and the school district next year.
The vote tally was four members voting “yes” and three voting “no.”
The $70.7 million budget carries a spending increase of $2.6 million, or 3.8 percent, above the current, $68.2 million budget.
The bottom line combines two budgets: $27.6 million for the town and $43.1 million for Seymour Public Schools.
The budget puts a new proposed mill rate at 29.25 mills. That’s an increase of 1.53 mills, or 5.5 percent, over the current mill rate of 27.72 mills.
Members of the finance board deliberated for nearly two and a half hours before casting their votes.
How Much For Education?
During Monday’s meeting, the finance board grappled over how much money to allocate to the school district.
The school board initially approved a $43.3 million budget in January that carried a 4.7 percent increase. Click here for a previous Valley Indy story.
Seymour First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis had previously recommended the school district receive a 3.5 percent increase, or $1.4 million.
Members of the finance board landed on a 4.3 percent increase, which would give the schools an increase of $1.8 million.
Superintendent of Schools Susan Compton said a 4.7 percent increase was necessary just to maintain the status quo, and anything under that could mean cuts to personnel.
She asked that the budget approved by the school board be sent to voters.
Compton said increases in health insurance costs, utilities, transportation, and special education costs, along with staff salary increases, are the driving forces behind the budget increase.
“We can only get down so low, and we have to meet contractual obligations,” Compton said. “If our budget is cut more, we’ll have to cut people and services.”
The school board approved a three-year teachers’ contract in December 2025 with 2.5 percent raises in each year of the contract.
Finance board member Quinn Levey made a motion to reduce the school budget by $500,000, but later withdrew it.
Compton said if that happened, the district wouldn’t be able to meet the minimum budget requirement, the Connecticut law that prohibits municipalities from budgeting less for education than it did the previous year.
Levey said the only path he sees to reduce the overall budget is to cut personnel on both the town and education sides of the budget.
“We have to cut salaries and people,” Levey said.
An earlier budget presented by Drugonis proposed spending $27.6 million for the town side of the budget. That’s a budget-to-budget increase of 2.9 percent.
The finance board voted March 23 to allocate $27,629,758 to the town. That’s about $25,000 less than Drugonis’ initial request.
Levey also asked Drugonis if she has an alternate plan to reduce the town budget if voters reject it. Drugonis said people and programs would be cut. Drugonis said she’d furlough a town employee, cut the hours of operation at town hall, the library and the community center, and close the transfer station on Saturdays.
“The town is pretty much at its lowest operating course,” Drugonis said. “We are at the cost of living. There is no capital in this budget, there is no money for major road repair. The small amount of money that we have in there will be used for potholes and minor road repairs. This budget severely puts Seymour behind the eight ball. I am not sure where we will go if this budget does not pass. We have to look at cutting jobs as well as cutting services on the town side.”
Robin Andrews, an alternate member of the finance board, said the budget will not pass.
“I don’t agree with the budget, we’re sending it out knowing full well it won’t pass,” Andrews said. “You’re going to have a riot at the town meeting, and people are going to go berserk.”
Finance board Chairman Richard Demko, along with board members Bettyann Peck, Kristyn Haniewicz, and Andrew North voted in favor of the budget. Finance board members Quinn Levey, Beverly Kennedy, and Tracy Rappa voted no.
Tax Bill Impact
Under the new proposed mill rate of 29.25 mills, a single-family house on Brookfield Road assessed at $436,170 would pay $667 more per year in taxes.
A house on Colony Road assessed at $268,800 would pay $417 more per year in taxes.
A house on Bungay Road assessed at $195,790 would pay $299 more per year in taxes.
Budget Drivers
Here’s a breakdown of the items driving the overall $2.6 million increase in the proposed budget:
*Board of Education: $1.8 million increase
*Emergency services: $372,698 increase
*Employee benefits and town insurance: $335,786 increase
*General government: $49,231 increase
*Utilities: $20,775 increase
*Senior Citizens Tax Relief: $15,000 increase
Next Step: Annual Town Meeting
In Seymour, the finance board recommends a budget to present to voters at the annual town meeting.
If at least 50 residents attend the town meeting, they have the power to decrease or increase the bottom line of the town and school budgets.
The proposed budget is scheduled to be presented to voters at the annual town meeting 7 p.m. April 7 at Seymour Middle School.
Next Next Step: Referendum
The budgets then go to the annual referendum, where voters get the final say. The town and school budgets are presented separately on the ballot.
The referendum vote is scheduled for 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. April 21 at the Seymour Community Center, 20 Pine St.
If needed, additional referendums have been scheduled for May 5, May 19 and June 2.