The Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation will consider adopting a $37.1 million budget Wednesday in City Hall.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m.
The budget carries a $1 million spending increase over the current Derby budget.
It will raise the tax rate roughly three mills, to 36.2, after revaluation is taken into account, according to information from tax board members.
The Derby school district is poised to receive $15,969,000 if the tax board adopts the budget as is Wednesday. That is a 2.7 percent increase in funding for the schools.
The school board originally requested $16.1 million from the tax board, then trimmed the request by $200,000.
Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri wanted to hold the schools to a zero percent increase, saying the school district ran a surplus this year and is poised to get additional funding from the state’s education reform initiative, which targets the state’s worst-performing school districts, such as Derby.
The possibility of a zero-percent increase drew a large turnout of Derby parents and teachers at a meeting in City Hall Tuesday.
A zero percent increase would trigger layoffs and a severe cutback in programs, including full-day kindergarten, Superintendent Stephen Tracy told the tax board.
Parents and school officials said Derby needs to invest in its schools in order to improve the city.
“A zero is going to tear the school system apart,” school board president Ken Marcucio, Sr. said.
After a tax board meeting Friday, city department managers were supposed to have trimmed their budget requests by 3.5 percent Tuesday. That didn’t happen.
City/town clerk Laura Wabno, Derby Fire Commissioner Kelly Curtis, Building Official David Kopjanski and Fire Marshal Phil Hawks all said their budgets were bare bones and that they couldn’t find an additional 3.5 percent to cut.
Derby Police Department Chief Gerald Narowski said a 3.5 percent cut to his funding request would result in police layoffs.
Instead, the tax board will be considering a budget Wednesday that is about $175,300 less than the preliminary budget they approved about two weeks ago.
In an interview with the Valley Indy after the meeting, Staffieri said his intent wasn’t to hurt the school district, but to protect Derby’s taxpayers.
“I wish I could give every department what they want, but this is a recession that is worse than the Great Depression. There are people who don’t have jobs. There are people whose unemployment benefits ran out. There are seniors who have to choose between food and medication. I’m sorry, but I have to think about everybody,” Staffieri said.
In an informal poll at Friday’s tax board meeting, Judy Szewczyk, Richard P. Dziekan, Jeremy Bell, Carlo Malerba, Carolyn Duhaime and Dan Sexton all indicated they did not support spending $15.9 million for the schools.
Whether they changed their mind Tuesday will be revealed when the budget comes up for a final vote Wednesday.
Just before adjourning Friday’s meeting, Democratic tax board member Anita Dugatto said Derby could save some $43,000 if they eliminated the mayor’s administrative assistant, a position currently held by Phil Robertson.
The city could then hire someone to work as both finance director and the mayor’s aid, Dugatto said.
She noted such a move would have to come from the Derby Board of Aldermen.
The video below shows Dugatto making her suggestion:
