Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti proposed a $124,092,880 budget 2018 – 2019 that would, if ratified by Aldermen, result in a slight tax decrease.
The Valley Indy live-streamed the joint meeting of the city’s tax board and Aldermen at which Lauretti delivered his budget proposal — his 27th since his first election in 1991.
Click the play button to watch. The mayor’s speech begins about the 1:27 mark.
In a roughly six-minute speech, Lauretti, who is seeking the GOP nomination for governor in 2018, bemoaned what he called a “financial quagmire” at the state level.
By contrast, he said, Shelton has prospered, developing while keeping taxes stable for residents and businesses.
Lauretti said his budget proposal, which represents a 0.63 percent increase over the 2017 – 2018 budget, maintains the status quo in terms of city programs.
The mayor proposed a property tax mill rate of 22.15, a 0.27 percent decrease over the current 22.31 mill rate.
That means a percent with a house assessed at $200,000 would see their property taxes decrease $32, from $4,462 to $4,430.
ethan fry photo
Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti.
Schools
The city’s public schools would receive $72,700,000 under Lauretti’s proposal.
That’s an increase of $1,230,000 from this year, but $1,618,407 less than the school district’s “goals-based” proposal of $74,318,407.
Click here to read more about the Board of Education’s budget proposal.
Board of Education Chairman Mark Holden said after the mayor’s speech that the school district sought more money to bring back positions it had cut before.
“We needed $1.98 million to tread water and we had asked for $2.8 million looking to bring back some of the teaching positions that we lost to make this year’s budget balance,” Holden said. “It’s going to hurt our goal to move into the top 25 percent for student achievement.”
Holden said the school board hopes to save some money in the coming weeks on transportation for costs next year, “but we could be looking at not replacing some people who might retire.”
He pointed out the Aldermen have two months until they have to pass a final budget and that the school district’s bottom line could improve.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to reach somewhat of an understanding,” Holden said.
