Kurt Miller, the city's budget director, addresses the Board of Aldermen via Zoom during a budget meeting June 10.
ANSONIA – Members of the Ansonia Board of Aldermen voted unanimously June 10 to adopt a $68.1 million budget that will raise taxes by 2.06 mills.
In a 12 — 0 vote, the Aldermen brought to a close a budget season that has spanned six months and three failed referendums. The new budget goes into effect July 1.
The 2026 – 27 budget totals $68,118,206. That’s a 1.5 percent increase from the current, $67.1 million budget.
The new mill rate is 28.55 mills. That’s a 2.06 mill – or 7.8 percent – increase from the current mill rate of 26.49 mills.
Under the new mill rate, a single-family house on Holbrook Street assessed at $180,000 will pay $370.80 more per year in taxes.
A house on Gardners Lane assessed at $248,000 will pay $510.88 more per year.
A house on High Acres Road assessed at $366,000 will pay $753.96 more per year.
The city’s budget director did not share a budget packet with the Aldermen or the public during the Zoom meeting. He said one would be posted in city hall in the morning.
Budget Keeps City Spending Flat, Following Referendum Rejections
The city’s side of the budget remains flat over the current year, at $29,506,117.
The schools’ side of the budget is $38,612,089. That’s a 2.8 percent increase over the current $37.6 million budget.
Both budgets have been trimmed significantly since April 25, when the city sent the first of three proposals to referendum for voter approval. All three proposals failed by wide margins.
Since then, the Aldermen have trimmed the city’s spending proposal by about $544,000. They have also cut about $949,000 from the schools’ initial proposal.
The earlier proposals required voter approval because they contained larger tax increases. Charter changes made by Mayor David Cassetti’s administration require voter approval for any budget with an increase in “net taxes to be collected” of 3 percent or more.
“Net taxes to be collected” refers to the total amount of taxes the city expects to collect in the year. That number changes based on factors including the mill rate and changes in the city’s grand list.
The budget adopted by the Aldermen keeps that number just below the referendum threshold – an increase of 2.99 percent compared to the current budget, according to Kurt Miller, the city’s budget director.
New Budget Will Lead To Cuts, Officials Say – But Not Layoffs
Both city and school officials have said they will struggle to fund operations under the new budgets. However, city officials on June 10 walked back previous statements that layoffs could be on the table.
Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini said during the meeting that the city had been looking at a “worst-case scenario” in terms of cuts, but that administration officials were able to find savings to avoid layoffs. He did not share specific dollar amounts for the savings he described.
“I worked with Kurt (Miller), and I worked on my own a bit, and we did come up with a solution – a solution that really is a constellation of factors, but it includes new, reliable revenue, savings to non-wage items – for example, some savings on health insurance – and some other positions where we have departures where we do not need to make replacements,” Marini said.
Administration officials had previously circulated a list of potential cuts which would have included canceling the 2026 Memorial Day parade, moving to half-days on Saturdays at the transfer station, and reducing aid to nonprofit and charity organizations. Neither the Aldermen nor administration officials directly addressed that list during the June 10 meeting.
School officials did not extensively discuss their budget during the June 10 meeting, and Superintendent of Schools Joseph DiBacco was not present. However, prior meetings on May 15 and June 2 give an idea of where that budget stands.
On May 15, school officials talked about an expansive, $400,000 set of cuts which would have included eliminating middle school sports and losing a full-time lead security officer position. However, the state legislature has passed a budget since that meeting – and it includes more state aid than the school board had expected (and budgeted for).
That means the schools likely won’t have to make as many cuts as officials feared. On June 2, Alderman Steven Adamowski, a former superintendent in Hartford and Norwalk, pointed out the new state numbers in an address to the Aldermen. (Adamowski was not at the June 10 meeting and did not vote on the final budget.)
Adamowski said on June 2 that, once the new state numbers are accounted for, the schools should only need to make about $100,000 in cuts as compared to their original proposal.
Twelve out of 14 Aldermen were present at the June 10 meeting. Adamowski and Alderman Gary Farrar were absent.
