ANSONIA – After a city budget failed at a referendum Monday (June 1), the Board of Aldermen met June 4 to discuss and possibly adopt a revised budget. However, the members voted to table all discussions and take no action until June 9.

Mayor Frank Tyszka, addressing the Board of Aldermen June 4, said he will reduce spending in the budget proposal by enough so that a second referendum isn’t required.

“We’ll make further cuts immediately and find more cost savings in the weeks and months ahead to get the budget under the percentage rate required by referendum language in the city charter. That’s what the vote reflects,” Tyszka said.

The Ansonia City Charter says any budget where net taxes to be collected exceeds 3 percent must go to referendum. That’s the total number of tax dollars the city expects to receive in a given year.

See the video below for Tyszka’s comments. The story continues after the video.

At the June 1 referendum, voters approved a $38.6 million education budget but rejected a $30.5 million city-side budget by about 16 votes. The budget would have increased the city’s mill rate by 1.8, from 28.55 to 30.35.

The Aldermen were scheduled Thursday to discuss a proposal which appeared to reduce city-side spending by $10,000 and which would have set the city’s new mill rate at 29.46. 

However, that did not happen, with the Alders instead saying they would give the mayor time to discuss budget revisions with departments.

“Hopefully, Tuesday night, at our regular scheduled meeting, we’ll have more information,” Alderwoman Anne Lynch said.

Tyszka said after the meeting that the revised budget will likely come in at around 29.46 mills, which was the number in the agenda.

Tyszka cited the cost of referendums as a reason to avoid a second one.

“They cost like $6,000, each one,” Tyszka said after the meeting.

A 29.46-mill budget would get the budget under the 3 percent ‘net taxes’ trigger in the charter, according to past statements from finance officials.

Last year, under former Mayor David Cassetti’s administration, the Board of Aldermen also cited the cost of referendums when they ultimately voted to adopt a budget that brought spending down below that threshold. That budget had failed at three separate referendums before the Aldermen’s final revisions.

Possible Mill Rate Impacts

A full revised budget proposal has not yet been made available.

However, if the Aldermen were to set the new mill rate at 29.46 mills – the rate discussed in past presentations and cited in the meeting agenda – then tax bills would be impacted as follows:

Under the new mill rate, a single-family house on Holbrook Street assessed at $180,000 would pay $163.80 more per year in taxes.

A house on Gardners Lane assessed at $248,000 would pay $225.68 more per year.

A house on High Acres Road assessed at $366,000 would pay $333.06 more per year.