ANSONIA — Members of the Board of Aldermen are on track to adopt a new city budget at a meeting on Thursday, officials said.
Members of Mayor David Cassetti’s administration have been touting the fact the budget lowers the mill rate by 11.56 mills — from the current 37.8 to a proposed 26.24. In addition, the budget fully funds Ansonia Public Schools.
Tax bills are created by a formula that includes property assessments and the mill rate. This year the numbers in the equation changed due to a state-mandated property revaluation.
The mill rate cut means the owner of a single-family house assessed at $193,000 would pay $125 less in local property taxes if the budget is adopted. However, the owner of a two-family house assessed at $202,810 would pay $366 more in taxes if the budget is adopted.
A public hearing on the proposed $64 million spending plan for the 2023 – 2024 fiscal year was held Tuesday at Ansonia City Hall.
Eight people spoke in favor of the budget, while four people spoke against it.
“I want to express my disappointment over the fact the budget was more than two months late,” said resident Karen Reynolds, referring to the fact the administration no longer complies with the budget deadlines spelled out in the Ansonia City Charter. “After 72 days being late it’s still not complete.“
Reynolds also asked about the budget marking $5 million as “use of future funds.” It’s money the city doesn’t have at the moment, but expects to get from the redevelopment of old factories downtown.
“The information regarding the $5 million you anticipate receiving prior to July 1 has yet to be explained in any detail to the public so that we can respond to it and understand it. That’s a slap in the face to the members of the public in this town,” Reynolds said.
But the administration is pointing to the fact that economic development in Ansonia has been on the upswing, as evidenced by a grand list that now exceeds $1 billion.
Resident Richard Tylinski pulled out a “Mega Millions” lottery ticket which he said he bought for Ansonia Chief Financial Officer Kurt Miller, saying the odds of Miller winning the jackpot and the city actually getting the $5 million in future revenues is slim to none.
“I’m looking forward to seeing you guys miss the $5 million revenue,” Tylinski said. “Kurt, I decided to buy you a Mega Millions that because I think that’s about the same odds as you achieving this budget. It’s a joke. How can you put this out there?“
Cassetti administration officials dismissed the criticism as election-year politicking. Ansonia Republicans told The Valley Indy that the Democrats claim the sky is falling during every campaign, and then lose the elections by landslide margins.
“You’re hoping for failure, and I think that’s pretty despicable,” Alderman Tony Mammone said.
Resident Brian Laskey praised the Cassetti administration for the progress made since Cassetti was elected mayor in 2013. Laskey said while revaluation caused his assessment to increase by $65,000, the proposed mill rate reduction will likely give him a small tax decrease.
“Getting a tax reduction, while the Board of Education, the police, fire and the other departments are all being funded without a loss in services is a win-win,” Laskey said. “I’m glad to see all the progress downtown, with all the demolition, the Riverwalk, the splash pad, just look around. I urge the board strongly to pass a yes vote on the budget.”
Spending in the proposed Ansonia budget is up by $3.4 million compared to the budget currently in place.
The budget gives the Ansonia Board of Education an additional $1.8 million — a 5.4 percent increase — for a total school budget of $35.8 million.
The budget in part also includes $7.5 million for public safety ($5.8 million police, $353,035 fire, $1,1 million ARMS, $193,617 emergency operations center, $81,019 fire marshal); $6.8 million for city employee benefits; $4.7 for public works; $3 million for city government expenses; $2.4 million for debt service costs; $1.2 million for utilities and $974,512 for insurance.
