ANSONIA – The Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday to approve a report from the charter revision commission, sending their recommendations to the ballot for a vote in November.
The board voted 11 – 0 (Aug. 25) to approve the changes, which could affect the city’s budget process and how the fire department is organized. It’s now up to voters to approve or reject the changes.
The charter change questions will be on the Nov. 3 ballot. You can view the proposed changes here.
The Aldermen also approved the language of the ballot questions, as well as explanatory text to be posted at polling places. The ballot questions as approved are at the end of this article.
Some of the proposed changes could overhaul the city’s budget process by changing how referendums are triggered and changing the deadlines for public officials to present a budget.
Other changes would institute a new system for promoting chiefs from within the fire department’s ranks.
Voters will be able to cast separate votes on the fire department and budget changes.
Budget Changes
One of the larger proposed revisions is a change in how budget referendums are triggered. Click here for a podcast interview with Javier Varas, vice chairman of the charter revision commission and Mayor Frank Tyszka’s chief of staff, about those revisions.
Currently, budget referendums are triggered whenever a proposed budget would increase the “net taxes to be collected” would increase by 3 percent or more. That’s the total number of tax dollars a city expects to collect in a given year.
Three budget referendums were triggered in 2025 under that rule, and one budget referendum was triggered in 2026. All of the proposed budgets failed at referendum.
The current budget rules and deadlines were created by a charter revision vote in 2013. The changes were written by then-Alderman John Marini, a Republican who went on to serve as corporation counsel in former Republican Mayor David Cassetti’s administration.
Under the proposed change, referendums would instead be triggered whenever a proposed budget would increase city spending by more than 4 percent.
Public officials say the change would allow Ansonia to maintain spending levels in line with other municipalities across the state, while still allowing voters a say if the city attempts to budget more than that.
Opponents of the measure, including members of the Ansonia Republican Party, say the measure would take power away from residents and allow the city to raise taxes without asking voters.
The proposed changes would also push most budget-related deadlines back by about a month.
In practice, city officials under both Tyszka and Cassetti have rarely followed the current charter deadlines.
Public officials under both administrations have said pushing the deadlines back gives them more time to get concrete numbers regarding state aid. The state does not finalize its budget until May or June most years.
The changes would also increase the public notice period for referendums. Currently, budget referendums must be held within five calendar days of a vote by the Board of Aldermen to adopt a budget. The revisions would change that to a 14-day notice period.
The charter revision commission at one point considered a change which would allow the Aldermen to disregard a budget referendum’s results if not enough voters showed up. However, they scrapped that idea before sending their report to the Aldermen, meaning the idea is no longer being considered or sent to voters.
Fire Department Changes
Other revisions would change how the fire department elects its chiefs. Click here for a podcast interview with Ansonia Fire Chief Jay Fainer and Deputy Chief Anthony DeLucia about those revisions.
Currently, the department has five fire companies and five chiefs. Members of each company elect their own chief, and the position of department chief rotates between the five companies.
Under the proposed changes, the department would reduce its number of chiefs to four. New assistant chiefs would be chosen through a written and oral testing process. The position of department chief would rotate between the chiefs selected through the new process.
Fainer and DeLucia said the change would make the promotion system more merit-based, as opposed to popularity-based. Fainer said it would also help the department consolidate, which he said is needed as volunteer numbers decline nationwide.
The proposed system would require interested applicants to first acquire professional certifications as written in the department’s policies. Then, they would take written and oral examinations, with the highest scorer being appointed chief afterward.
The written examination would be administered “by the Connecticut Fire Academy or another independent testing agency,” according to the proposal.
The oral examination would consist of an interview with the mayor, Aldermen on the Board of Fire Commissioners, a member of the department elected as a representative, a human resources representative from the City of Ansonia, and “one or more independent fire officers who are not affiliated with the Ansonia Fire Department.”
Each examination would be weighted equally, according to the proposal.
The proposal also includes language updates and would remove a charter section concerning a position which no longer exists.
The charter currently refers to the department chief as “chief engineer,” and all other chiefs as “assistant engineers.” The revisions would change those titles to “fire chief,” “deputy chief,” and “first/second assistant chief,” titles which the department already uses in practice.
It would remove a section of the charter outlining the role of the superintendent of fire alarm systems. The person in that position was responsible for maintaining the city’s fire alarm pull box system. However, Ansonia no longer has that system, and the position has been vacant for about twenty years.
Eleven members of the Aldermen were at the meeting. Alders Jacquelyn Daniels, Adam Prestin and Christopher Rogers were absent.
Ballot Questions
Below are the ballot questions voted on by the Board of Aldermen. Questions 1 and 2 relate to the budget process. Questions 3 and 4 relate to the fire department.
- Shall the City of Ansonia charter be amended to require that the Mayor submit a proposed fiscal year budget to the Board of Apportionment and Taxation no later than the second Monday in March each year, and if a public referendum is necessary, shall the timeline for the public referendum be changed to no more than 14 calendar days and no less than 10 calendar days after the approval of the Board of Aldermen?
- Shall a public referendum be held on the budget for the City of Ansonia whenever the Board of Aldermen approves a budget that increases total expenditures by 4 percent or more compared to the prior fiscal year?
- Shall Section 129 of the City of Ansonia charter be amended to replace references to the “fire superintendent” to the “fire chief,” establish the process for selecting the second fire chief, and specify the appointing authority for members of the Board of Fire Commissioners?
- Shall the City of Ansonia charter be amended to remove Section 130, “Superintendent of Fire Alarm Systems”?