The preliminary budget was approved 8 – 0 by a bipartisan panel.
A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 24 in Derby City Hall.
If adopted as is, many Derby homeowners could see a tax bill increase of roughly $300, officials said.
But the dollar amount will vary due to the recent state-mandated property revaluation.
In fact, some people could see their tax bill decrease if the assessed value of their homes went down during the revaluation. It’s important for homeowners to get information on their most recent assessment to compare whether they’ll be paying more.
Derby was in a similar situation in 2012, after another revaluation. The tax board was considering an increase of 8 mills at one point in 2012, but that didn’t mean massive tax hikes for all houses in Derby. That 8 mill increase would have increased the tax bill just $25 for a single-family house on Hawthorne Avenue, because the property lost so much value during revaluation.
But the budget forecast is much more difficult this year than 2012, tax board members said.
The tax board walked into the meeting Tuesday in Derby with a $3 million budget shortfall, according to Judy Szewczyk, the tax board’s Republican chairperson.
Officials blamed the shortfall on three things — a decline in property values after the revaluation, a decline in state aid, and an increase in employee benefit costs.
Tax board member Sam Pollastro, also the head of the city’s Republican Party, said the lack of significant economic development is hurting Derby’s budget.
Szewczyk and Pollastro said the tax board has been trying to find a way to reduce spending, but there’s nowhere left to cut.
“We’re at the point the only way thing to cut is bodies, and we don’t want to do that,” said Szewczyk, referring to possible employee layoffs.
Szewczyk said she wants to hear from Aldermen, Mayor Anita Dugatto, and the public for suggestions as to what to trim from the proposed budget. The tax board can make changes to the proposed spending plan after the May 24 public hearing.
At tax board meeting last month, elected officials said that Derby was looking at a 2‑to‑3 mill increase simply to adjust for the property values lost due to revaluation.
In Derby, the various town departments — police, fire, public works, the school district, and so on — submit budgets to the tax board (the Derby Board of Taxation and Apportionment) to review.
The tax board — an elected body — then votes on a bottom line for each department.
The tax board did not fully fund all department requests in this budget. For example, Derby Storm Ambulance and Rescue asked for a $100,000 allocation, but received $50,000.
Storms Chief Louis Oliwa is scheduled to meet with the tax board to go over his request in greater detail.
Under the budget adopted Tuesday, Derby Public Schools would receive a 3.5 percent increase, or $606,000. That is the full amount requested by the Derby Board of Education.
The video at the top of this story is from April 27, when Derby school district administrators reviewed their budget request with the tax board.
