Ansonia’s Board of Apportionment and Taxation is scheduled to meet tonight (Monday, May 12) to take public comments on a tentative 2014 – 2015 budget that would deliver a slight tax decrease to city residents.
The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Aldermanic Chambers at City Hall, 253 Main St.
As it stands, the budget totals $61,385,660, and would deliver a mill rate of 38.61.
The mill rate is currently 39.34.
The decrease amounts of .73 mill, or about 1.9 percent.
That means for the owner of a house assessed at $150,000, property taxes would decrease about $109.
Meanwhile, overall spending would increase $299,232 year over year, or about .5 percent.
Article continues after a copy of the budget proposal.
Ansonia Tentative 2014 – 2015 Budget
The city’s Aldermen sent a proposed budget to the tax board, which has final say over the numbers, in February.
Since then, BOAT has met several times in workshop meetings to speak with department heads and fine-tune the numbers.
Click here to read minutes from the budget workshops — select “Apportionment and Taxation” from the first dropdown menu, and “BOAT Minutes and Agendas 2014” from the second menu.
After hearing comments Monday, BOAT has meetings scheduled for May 15 and May 19 at which it could make further changes to the budget.
Mayor David Cassetti on Friday said he’s happy the spending plan delivers some tax relief to residents, but added it’s not nearly enough.
Asked how he plans to deliver that tax relief in coming years, Cassetti answered with two words: “Economic development.”
Economic development is everything,” he said. “We’ve been filling a lot of stores lately on East Main Street and Main Street, but we’re not done. We have a lot more to do.”
“Every day there’s meetings,” Cassetti went on. “We’re working real hard, overtime, on this.”
Schools
The school system, by far the largest single line item in any municipal budget, would receive $29,338,981 under the spending plan.
That’s an increase of $1,338,981, or about 4.78 percent, over their current budget.
But it’s $240,568 less than the Aldermen proposed spending on schools when they passed the budget to the tax board in January.
Board of Education President William Nimons said Friday (May 9) that the school budget as proposed by the tax board would mean layoffs for next year, but school officials were working on specifics.
Click here for a previous story on the school board’s budget proposal.
In an email to the Valley Indy Friday Superintendent Carol Merlone said she and James Gaskins, the school district’s business administrator, were still working out the details.
At the school board’s March meeting members voted unanimously to inform 46 first- and second-year teachers that their contracts won’t be renewed next year.
The step has become an annual ritual for the school board, but Nimons said school officials don’t think there will be that many layoffs once the budget is finalized.
Dan King, the chairman of the tax board, said BOAT members did “the best we could” to fund schools.
“Of course everybody would like to give more, to see our students get the best of everything, but being responsible to taxpayers, we just don’t have endless funds available,” King said.
King and other city officials noted the proposed school funding increase is the largest in years.
Last year, the school district received a $1 million, or 3.7 percent, increase in its budget.
Police
Among the other adjustments made to the budget by the tax board — adding $160,000 to the police department’s budget for next year.
As it stands, the police department would receive $5,722,165, and decrease of $128,867, or 2.2 percent, year over year.
After Aldermen had proposed cutting the police department’s budget by about 5 percent, police officials raised concerns that they’d have to lay off nine crossing guards and a part-time records clerk.
Click here for a previous story.
Cassetti said Friday the new numbers mean four crossing guards may be cut, and that the records clerk position is still on the chopping block as well.
The department may have a number of retirements occur next year which would reduce its bottom line, but Cassetti said the city is still working out the details.
The Valley Indy left a message at Police Chief Kevin Hale’s office Friday seeking comment.
