Former Alderman William Phipps addresses the Board of Apportionment and Taxation during a public hearing.
ANSONIA – Two speakers raised questions about Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti’s proposed budget at a virtual public hearing on Monday (May 6).
Cassetti’s $67.1 million budget is a $2.6 million – or about 4 percent – more than the 2023 — 2024 budget approved last June.
Cassetti’s budget includes a 0.25 mill rate increase, from 26.24 mills to 26.49 mills. If approved, this would be the first mill rate increase in Ansonia since 2019.
If the budget is accepted as proposed, a single-family house on Holbrook Street assessed at $180,000 would pay $45 more per year in taxes.
A house on Gardners Lane assessed at $248,000 would pay $62 more per year.
A house on High Acres Road assessed at $366,000 would pay $91.50 more per year.
The budget allocates an additional $1.8 million to Ansonia Public Schools. That’s a 5 percent year-to-year increase, bringing the proposed education budget to $37.6 million.
Other spending increases include a $650,000 increase for public works, almost all of which is due to increased waste collection costs, and a $700,000 (or 9 percent) increase for public safety.
Tax bills are calculated by multiplying the assessed value (not the appraised value) by the mill rate and then dividing by 1,000. Click here to look up your address and find the value.
Residents Ask If “Future Revenue” Exists
Former Ansonia Alderman William Phipps asked whether the city has the money its budget says it has.
He pointed to a $5 million line item in the current budget titled “use of future revenue,” which budget director Kurt Miller had previously said was supposed to come from development of the former Ansonia Copper & Brass Complex downtown.
The city does not own the property, though they are attempting to take it through foreclosure..
Phipps pointed out that the proposed budget contains an additional $7.8 million in anticipated future revenue. He asked for clarification as to whether the city ever got the money it budgeted for.
“Allocating rather substantial sums of money on a hope and a prayer is what it appears to the public,” Phipps said in the hearing.
Thomas Egan, a Democrat who ran against Cassetti in last year’s mayoral election, said that the city had not been transparent about where the city’s “future revenue” is coming from.
In a Great Give interview last week, Miller said that this money could come from one of several projects, including the city’s proposed $41 million sale of its WPCA.
In that interview, Miller also told The Valley Indy that the city was working on another proposed deal that could bring in that $7.8 million. He said details about it would be made public in six to eight weeks.
Miller said that budgeting for future revenue has allowed Ansonia to keep its mill rates low. An analysis prepared by Miller in support of the proposed WPCA sale said that, if the deal doesn’t go through, the city may need to increase its mill rate by about seven mills next year.
Miller clarified to The Valley Indy that the earliest that mill rate could come is July 2025 – the WPCA sale has no impact on the mill rate increase proposed by Cassetti, he said.
On Facebook, the Ansonia Democrats echoed the concerns of the two speakers at the public hearing.
“Did the city ever fill the $5m hole (‘future anticipated revenue’) in the current budget or are they scrambling to fill that hole by selling the WPCA?” they asked in a comment on a Valley Indy post.
The Democrats described the ‘future revenue’ as ‘ghost money.’
Board of Education
The steepest increase in Cassetti’s proposed budget is a $1.8 million increase for the Board of Education. Details about the Board of Education’s budget have not been made available to the public.
In past years, the Ansonia Board of Education would vote on a budget in public (click here and here for previous stories). That budget book would then be sent to Ansonia City Hall. The city would have final say over a bottom line.
That is also the general process in Derby and Seymour.
This year in Ansonia, the school board has not voted on a school budget. School board meeting minutes do not show a public discussion of a school budget.
Officials said the school budget – or, at least, the school budget referenced in the ‘mayor’s budget’ – was prepared by the school board chairman, the superintendent, and city finance officials, outside of the public’s view.
The school district sent a one-page document to The Valley Indy showing a“BOE proposed budget” of $37.6 million, which is being fully funded by Cassetti.
When asked last week when and why the Board of Education changed its process to take place behind closed doors, Superintendent Joseph DiBacco referred a reporter from The Valley Indy to Kurt Miller, Ansonia’s budget director.
Miller said last week that he could not speak to the Board of Education’s budget process.
DiBacco said the school board will probably vote to adopt a budget at its next meeting on May 8. The agenda for that meeting does not show a budget vote, as of May 6.
The city is scheduled to vote to final adopt a budget on May 30 for the fiscal year starting July 1.
What’s Next?
The Board of Education could vote on its budget as soon as its next regular meeting on May 8, at 6:30 p.m. in the Mead School cafeteria, though the agenda shows no vote.
The city has several upcoming meetings scheduled before a budget can be passed. A full budget timeline is pasted below. BOAT Chairman Gary Cassetti said on April 25 that some meetings may be held on Zoom, rather than in-person. Check the City of Ansonia website for the latest updates:
Wednesday, May 8, 2024 (6:30 p.m.) — Board of Apportionment and Taxation and the Board of Aldermen Finance Subcommittee will hold a special budget workshop in the Aldermen Chambers at City Hall. Also at this meeting, the Board of Apportionment and Taxation will vote to forward the proposed FY 2025 budget on to the full Board of Aldermen.
Tuesday, May 28, 2024 (6:30 p.m.) — Board of Aldermen will hold a Public Hearing on the proposed FY 2025 budget in the Aldermen Chambers at City Hall. After the meeting, a budget workshop will be held.
Wednesday, May 29, 2024 (6:30 p.m.) — Board of Aldermen will hold a special budget workshop in the Aldermen Chambers at City Hall.
Thursday, May 30, 2024 (6:30 p.m.) — Board of Aldermen will hold a special meeting via Zoom to vote on adoption of the FY 2025 City of Ansonia budget.
