ANSONIA – Members of the city’s Board of Aldermen are still waiting for the tax board to pass a budget along, more than a month after a charter deadline to do so passed.
At an Aldermen meeting April 14, city budget director Kurt Miller said that the budget needs to be moved along, so that the city can organize referendums if needed and send out next year’s tax bills on time.
Miller said the Aldermen should start reviewing the budget with the tax board.
“Based on the current situation, I think it would be prudent if there’s joint meetings that are called at this point, because you’re starting to run the clock at this point,” Miller said.
In Ansonia, the mayor presents a budget, which is reviewed by the tax board, and then a recommended budget is sent to the Aldermen who have final say (unless the proposed tax collection rate triggers a city-wide vote).
Members of the tax board are sharply split on the budget proposal, according to tax board chairman Edward Norman, and the members are a long way from consensus.
“We still have a lot to do,” Norman said at the Aldermen meeting.
Tight Schedule
The tax board is working on a tight schedule. They didn’t receive a budget to review until March 10 – the same day the charter said they were supposed to recommend one.
Norman said he’d schedule a meeting of the tax board to recommend a budget next week. He said they could recommend a budget with a 29.40 mill rate at that meeting, which would be an increase of 0.85 from the current mill rate of 28.55.
As of April 15, no meeting has been scheduled or filed with the town clerk’s office. Norman said in a phone call that he is aiming to hold the meeting on April 22 (next Wednesday).
However, the tax board’s schedule has been prone to changes. Check the city website for the most recent schedule.
In Ansonia, the city’s Board of Aldermen have the final say over the budget. If they approve a budget with an increase of more than 3 percent in ‘net taxes to be collected,’ then that budget goes to voters for approval in a referendum.
Note: the referendum is NOT triggered by a 3 percent increase in the mill rate. It’s triggered by net taxes to be collected, which is confusing.
Last year, the city sent three separate budget proposals to referendum between April and May, all of which failed by wide margins. The Aldermen then adopted a budget which did not trigger a referendum in June.
When all is said and done, the city has a deadline of June 20 to adopt a budget. If it misses that deadline, then it sends out tax bills based on the prior year’s tax figures and mill rate.
Tax Board Is Reviewing Past Administration’s Finances
This is the first budget being prepared by a tax board whose members were all appointed by Mayor Frank Tyszka. Tyszka beat former Mayor David Cassetti last November.
Norman has said that his board is working to figure out how to fix budget holes created after Cassetti’s administration budgeted for revenue it didn’t receive. He said the city has also faced financial pressure after it used most of the money from the $41 million sale of its WPCA in 2024.
“We have to talk to the mayor about some of the funds that he allows. How much are we going to take from that reserve? How much is there from the WPCA?” Norman said.
Additionally, Norman said the members of his board were all appointed too recently to realistically meet budget deadlines. Norman himself was appointed in January.
The city’s charter includes a deadline for the tax board to recommend a budget by the second Tuesday in March. However, the tax board did not receive a budget to review until that same day.
The Cassetti administration also rarely followed charter budget deadlines, saying the city relies heavily on state money, and the state money isn’t set until after the local deadlines.
The Aldermen voted in February to extend the city’s budget deadlines, in order to give Tyszka’s staff more time to review the financial status of the city.
Miller and Norman said April 14 that holding joint meetings with both boards would allow the tax board to continue to work on the budget, while also looping the Aldermen in before the budget is passed along.
Tax Board Divided Over Spending
In recent meetings, the city’s tax board hit an impasse. They’re split between two potential spending plans:
- One which would set city-side spending at about $28.3 million, favored by Norman, Tyszka, and city finance staff including Miller
- One which would set city-side spending at about $23.3 million, favored by tax board vice president Nunzio Parente and tax board member Richard Thayer.
Both proposed budgets would set board of education funding at $38,612,089 – the same as the current year and the lowest number allowed under state law.
The $5 million difference between the two budgets comes out of a debate over the city’s history of funding its budgets with reserve money.
The current city budget, adopted under Cassetti’s administration, is set to use at least $6.5 million of the city’s reserves. The city has about $15 million in total reserves, according to a presentation from Thomas Hamilton, a financial consultant hired by Tyszka.
The $15 million in reserve money is split between a $6.1 million fund balance and a $9 million operations account leftover from an old WPCA line item (note: the $9 million is not from the $41 million sale of the WPCA).
Members of elected and appointed boards appear unanimous in their desire to see reserve spending brought down from current levels.
Norman’s spending plan could still use around $3 million in reserve funds. That aligns with plans outlined by Hamilton and Miller to gradually “step down” the city’s use of reserve money. Supporters of the plan say gradually weaning the city off the money will allow it to find sustainable financial footing, while avoiding large impacts to city operations.
However, Parente wants to go cold turkey.
He said his $23.3 million number aims to eliminate the city’s use of reserve money entirely and immediately.
Supporters of that plan say the city’s spending problem is so pervasive that it must be cut off entirely. They say it doesn’t make sense to spend money the city isn’t making back.
Supporters in both camps said Parente’s plan would require layoffs across city departments, while Norman’s plan aims to avoid those.
“A**-Wipe?”
Miller, a Republican former First Selectman of Seymour who still works in Seymour Town Hall, is a holdover from the Cassetti administration.
Parente, who worked for Cassetti’s company before becoming a vocal critic, has taken to insulting Miller at meetings.
Amidst the deadlock over the budget April 13, Parente called Miller an “ass-wipe.” Miller was not at the meeting.
Miller, in a phone call, said he had no comment in response to Parente’s use of the language.
The discussion happened after the tax board attempted to meet to adopt a budget, but did not have enough members present to cast any votes. The members who attended – Norman, Parente, and Dan King – held an hourlong budget discussion.
Parente used the term after Norman suggested inviting Miller and Bshara to participate in the board’s future budget meetings.
“Mr. Miller’s an ass-wipe. I don’t care,” Parente said.
Miller said he is available for meetings when needed. He noted several meetings have been scheduled a day in advance, which can make attendance difficult. He was present at a March public hearing of the tax board and an April Aldermen meeting where the budget was discussed. However, he said it has been difficult to follow the tax board’s schedule.
“I think we can all agree the schedule is a little challenging the way they’re doing it. I’d absolutely come, but I’m not going to just show up at meetings just to be there. That’s not really fair to me. I’m a part-time employee,” Miller said.
He said members of the city’s finance staff are also available to discuss budget specifics with the tax board.
City treasurer Joseph Confinante, former assistant comptroller Richard Bshara, and Aldermanic President Frank Pergola also participated in the April 13 discussion.