A still image from the hybrid meeting of the Derby Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen on June 20.
DERBY – The city’s Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen voted on June 20 to use $1.796 million in American Rescue Act Funds (ARPA) to cover shortfalls in the 2023 – 2024 budget.
The city’s legislative body had previously voted in March to use ARPA funds to bolster Derby’s budget. The June 20 vote specifically spelled out how just under $1.8 million would be used.
The board voted to use $1.4 million to cover a deficit in employee benefits. Derby Finance Director Brian Hall has repeatedly said the city’s 2023 – 2024 budget, approved under Mayor Rich Dziekan’s administration, underestimated those expenses by more than $1 million.
The board also voted to use $396,000 to close three holes in the school budget.
DERBY – A budget that carries a 11.9 percent increase in the mill rate could be approved at a meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 16 in Derby City Hall.
The meeting will be held in-person on the second floor of the building at 1 Elizabeth St. The meeting will also be carried on Zoom.
The $53.1 million budget adds 4.6 mills to the Derby mill rate, bringing it to 43.2 mills from the current 38.6.
A single-family house on Hawthorne Avenue assessed at $112,000 would pay an additional $515 in property taxes next year if the budget is adopted as is.
A house on Sentinel Hill Road assessed at $220,150 would pay $1,000 more in taxes next year.
The board voted to hire Hall at a salary of $150,000. He has a one-year contract with the city, according to Mayor Joseph DiMartino’s office. Hall’s new title is official on Monday (April 15).
“The obvious is that he’s very bright and extremely good at what he does,” Mayor DiMartino said in an email to The Valley Indy. “What is less obvious about Brian and even more valuable, is his ability to explain his work, findings, and recommendations in terms that everyone can understand.”
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Eugene Driscoll | Apr 11, 2024 7:02 am
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DERBY -– Only one person from the public shared an opinion Tuesday on a proposed city budget that will increase the mill rate by 11.9 percent.
The tax board (the Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation) hosted the budget public hearing, which was held in person in Derby City Hall and carried online.
“I’ve been watching the tax board for many years, so I understand the dilemma you are experiencing right now,” said resident Karen Kemmesies. “It’s unfortunate. I don’t want to see my taxes raised either, but hopefully going forward we’ll be on a positive step,” she said.
Kemmesies urged the tax board to pay attention to capital planning expenses – that is, big ticket items in the city such as purchasing new vehicles for the fire and police departments. She noted new equipment and vehicles are needed.
Cassetti is scheduled to present his budget to the Aldermen and the Ansonia Board of Apportionment & Taxation at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 25 via Zoom.
The school district posted a budget summary in January showing they were seeking a $2.2 million funding increase from the city, but then said the document was posted by mistake.
DERBY — A public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday (April 9) on a budget that could raise the mill rate by 11.9 percent.
Colleen Germain-Ezzo, the chairwoman of the Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation, said her board doesn’t have many options due to past budget mistakes made during former Mayor Rich Dziekan’s administration.
She said Dziekan’s administration’s last budget under-funded employee benefits by about $1.3 million and didn’t budget for a $648,000 increase in trash costs. In addition, that budget over-estimated tax revenue.
Those factors, along with the fact Derby is under the eye of the state’s Municipal Advisory Finance Commission, make a tax increase unavoidable, both Germain-Ezzo and new Mayor Joseph DiMartino said.
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Eugene Driscoll | Apr 1, 2024 7:16 am
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DERBY – Members of the Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation, after spending a week digesting Mayor Joseph DiMartino’s proposed budget, say they can’t see how they’ll pass a budget without a tax increase.
At the March 26 meeting of the tax board, members wrestled with the fact they’re looking at a budget that would add 4.6 mills to the mill rate.
Mayor DiMartino unveiled his budget on March 19. Under DiMartino’s budget, the tax rate would go from 38.6 mills to 43.2 mills.
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Eugene Driscoll | Mar 25, 2024 5:47 am
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Derby City Hall
DERBY – The Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen voted unanimously to put $2.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to help close a hole in the city budget.
Earlier this year new interim finance director Brian Hall warned the budget approved by the city in April 2023 had a deficit of an estimated $2 million to $2.5 million.
The deficit was because the previous administration under-budgeted benefits by $1 million, didn’t budget for a $648,000 increase in sanitation costs and over-estimated how much money would be collected in taxes tax collections, Hall said.
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Eugene Driscoll | Mar 21, 2024 6:54 pm
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Derby Mayor Joseph DiMartino at a tax board meeting on Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
DERBY – Mayor Joseph DiMartino unveiled a $52.6 million budget on March 19 that would raise taxes by 4.6 mills, or 11.9 percent, if approved.
This is the first budget presented by the mayor, who took office in December 2023.
The mayor said previous city budgets were built off bad financial forecasts. A tax increase is needed to start getting Derby back on its feet, he said.
“I certainly don’t want to go up 4.6 mills. Nobody wants to do that. But in order to get out of this hole that we’re in, I think we are around that area,” DiMartino said.
