It took tax board members nearly three hours, two caucuses and six rejected proposals Wednesday to decide on one figure — $150,000.
That’s how much was added to the Board of Education budget proposal after a marathon meeting of the tax board.
It’s a number that will still likely mean layoffs and program cuts at Derby schools.
The tax board wrangled with the school budget — and some Robert’s Rules of Order — for several hours, as members tried to reconcile the school district’s needs with the desire to keep city taxes low.
In the end, the tax board approved a $34.9 million budget that raises the tax rate by 1 mill.
The spending plan includes $17.6 million for schools — a figure far below the $18.5 million the Board of Education had initially requested.
The new tax rate — 27.4 mills — will mean a resident with a home assessed at $150,000 will see an increase of $150 on their next tax bill.
The budget passed, 7 – 3, with Anita Dugatto, Frank Lazowski and Carlo Malerba voting against it.
Round And Round
The tax board members took seven votes on various school funding proposals Wednesday. Two votes ended in 5 – 5 ties, and four failed.
Going into the meeting, the city was willing to give the schools some increase over its current budget.
Several motions were made to boost the total school spending beyond that.
The tax board rejected motions to add nothing; $80,000; $100,000; $200,000; $213,000; $293,000; and $373,943; before agreeing to $150,000.
At one point, the whole process became so tedious, members considered calling it quits for the night and continuing on Monday.
Only Monday is a holiday.
During the process, both the Democrats and the Republicans on the board took 20-minute breaks to “caucus” in private to talk about the budget.
Schools
The small increase, especially in light of the increased costs from the first full year of operation of Derby Middle School, will inevitably mean layoffs, Superintendent Stephen Tracy said.
“A cut of this magnitude will definitely affect staff, and sports and academics,” he said. “This is a cut of $850,000 from what we initially requested. A $200,000 or $300,000 cut, we’re talking about non-personnel items. We’re well beyond that point — $850,000 is people.”
Tracy couldn’t say Wednesday where the cuts would come from, but the school board will discuss the cuts at a special meeting June 8.
Mayor Staffieri urged the superintendent to be as creative as the city has been making cuts.
“We changed health plans, we got concessions from town employees last year. We produced a no-growth budget, while the Board of Education got one of the highest increases in the state,” Staffieri said during public comment. “In towns and cities across the state, voters are saying no more” (to big tax increases). The days of government solving problems by simply asking for more money are over.”
