SEYMOUR — Residents likely won’t see their taxes increase under First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis’ proposed budget for the 2021 – 2022 fiscal year.
Drugonis unveiled her first official budget proposal since replacing former First Selectman Kurt Miller last October. She made a presentation during the Board of Finance’s virtual budget workshop held Tuesday night (March 8).
The board will continue budget deliberations this week and next. Once the board approves a budget, it will go to residents for a final vote at the annual budget referendum later this spring. Last year, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Ned Lamont issued an executive order that allowed the finance board to approve a budget.
Drugonis proposed a $59.1 million budget for next year, which represents an increase of about $1.1 million, or 1.8 percent, more than the current budget. It also calls for a reduction in the mill rate from 36 mills to 34.74 mills, which Drugonis attributed in part to the town undergoing revaluation last year.
If Drugonis’ budget were to pass as is, a homeowner with a home assessed at $105,000 (or 70 percent of the appraised value of $150,000), they would pay $3,647 in taxes next year, or about $133 less.
Drugonis has served as on the board since 2007, having served the last two years as deputy first selectwoman. But this was the first time crafting a budget of her own.
“This was a team effort,” she said. “This is a conservative budget, keeping in mind that we’re still in a pandemic and families are feeling the financial strain.”
Drugonis credited Miller for holding the line on taxes the past few years.
“My predecessor worked hard to keep the mill rate down while moving the town forward and I have tried to continue that legacy,” Drugonis said.
Drugonis said the main factors driving the overall increase include a bump in health insurance and trash and recycling fees, along with contractual obligations which are around 2.5 percent for town employees. She added the town was able to negotiate the spike in health insurance from 13 percent to 8 percent.
Some of the budget highlights include $45,000 for a part-time economic development director; hiring an additional seasonal employee for Public Works; $4.4 million for the police department, which includes funding for a second deputy police chief along with some new equipment associated with a new police accountability bill, and hiring additional supernumery officers to help cut overtime costs.
There’s also $1.7 million budgeted for public works; $1.2 million for garbage collection and a $5,000 boost for the Seymour Land Trust to mark the return of the Christmas fireworks.
The largest chunk of Drugonis’ overall budget includes $35.4 million for the Board of Education, which represents a 2 percent increase. The school board, earlier this year, approved a slightly higher budget with a 2.6 percent increase.
“I cut the school budget by $190,000, making it equal to the 2 percent increase they received last year,” Drugonis said, adding more than $1 million in COVID relief came to the school district last year, with another $500,000 anticipated this year.
Drugonis’ proposal also includes a $300,000 capital plan to fund bigger ticket items such as a new dump truck and a storage building for public works, and police body and dash cameras (as mandated by the new police accountability bill), among other things. The town annually budgets $300,000 in the CIP to fund larger purchases, which can be paid in cash in one year, or spread out over several years.
Finance Board Chairman Bill Sawicki applauded Drugonis on a job well done.
“This is a good start and we got a pretty good feel based off of an excellent presentation by our First Selectwoman,” Sawicki said. “We want to digest all of this and then we’ll reconvene to look at all the numbers.”
