Cassetti Promises ‘Thoroughly Transparent’ Budget Process

The Cassetti Administration has started the process of preparing the City Budget for 2013 – 2014.

It is Mayor Cassetti’s intention to take a fiscally conservative and thoroughly transparent approach to developing a city-wide spending plan.

Mayor Cassetti has announced that he will take a hands-on approach to crafting the budget, even though the Ansonia budget process afford the mayor’s office no official role in the process.

I was elected to make tough decisions, not avoid them,” Cassetti said. It is my intention to work closely with the Board of Aldermen and Board of Apportionment and Taxation to produce the most fiscally responsible budget possible.”

This year Mayor Cassetti has publicly requested that all city departments submit a budget that represents a 4 percent decrease in spending from the previous year.

The Ansonia Budget Process

  • December-February: City department leaders submit their estimates of revenues and expenditures to the Board of Aldermen. The Finance Committee of the Board of Aldermen then holds a series of public meetings with the department leaders to discuss the submissions in detail. The Finance Committee concludes its work by voting to recommend a proposed city budget to the full Board of Aldermen.
  • February 11, 2014: The full Board of Aldermen will meet to consider the recommendations of its Finance Committee and vote to adopt a proposed City Budget for 2013 – 2014. The proposed city budget will be sent to the Board of Apportionment and Taxation for review and approval.
  • February-May: The Board of Apportionment and Taxation will review the proposed budget adopted by the Board of Aldermen and hold another series of public meetings with department leaders, as necessary.
  • May 19, 2014: The Board of Apportionment and Taxation will meet to approve a city budget for 2013 – 2014.
  • May-June: In the event that the city budget approved by the Board of Apportionment and Taxation carries a net tax increase of 3 percent or higher, the budget will be put to public referendum for final approval. If the budget fails at referendum it will be sent back to the Board of Apportionment and Taxation for revision and then put back out to referendum. This process will continue until the budget is approved or until the net tax increase is revised below a 3 percent net tax increase.

Public Meeting Schedule

All budget meetings are public. Ansonia residents are encouraged to attend.

The meeting schedules of the Board of Aldermen Finance Committee and Board of Apportionment and Taxation will be available at the Clerk’s Office in City Hall and posted on the city’s website when available.

The finance committee’s budget workshop schedule is posted below.

Questions

All questions regarding the Ansonia budget process should be directed to Ansonia’s Chief Administrative Officer Christopher Tymniak at ctymniak@ansoniact.org

Budget Workshop Schedule

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