The Board of Apportionment and Taxation struggled for more than two hours Wednesday night with the question of what to do with the city’s proposed $57.07 million budget.
No vote was taken Wednesday, but several hypothetical situations were floated.
Several of the suggestions involved some increase to the Board of Education.
Tax board members suggested increases ranging from $200,000 to $850,000 — and evaluated how much they would have to increase taxes to manage each scenario.
For example, increasing the Board of Education budget by $500,000 would mean half a mill increase in the tax rate, from 25.25 to 25.75.
In tax dollars, that would mean a homeowner with a home assessed at $200,000 would pay $5,150 — a $100 increase over the current year’s tax bill.
One tax board member, Lawrence Commune, said he wanted to increase the school budget, but not by taxing citizens more.
Vice-Chairman Ed Norman responded by saying there’s not many other places to cut the budget.
It seems no matter what decision is made, someone will be unhappy.
When the proposal including full funding for the Board of Education, residents formed anti-tax groups urging a zero-percent tax increase.
When the tax board whittled the proposal down to a zero percent increase, they left the Board of Education with no more money next year. Parents and school administrators came out in large numbers to request more funding.
As proposed, the school budget makes up $23.4 million of the total $57.07 million proposal.
Now the tax board is in the middle, and the clock is ticking.
By city charter, a budget must be adopted at the Board of Apportionment and Taxation’s meeting on May 17.
To read past Ansonia budget coverage from the Valley Indy, click here.
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