Illustration from Canva.com
DERBY — Mayor Rich Dziekan just unveiled a budget that reduces spending by about $756,000 — and includes a mill rate decrease.
The mayor’s proposed budget, discussed Tuesday night with the Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation (tax board), totals $47,602,227. That is $755,901 less than the budget unanimously approved by the tax board last year.
The mayor’s budget sets the mill rate at 38.2, 0.4 less than the current mill rate of 38.6. A single-family house assessed at $160,000 would pay $64 less in taxes if the budget is adopted as is.
The total grand list of taxable properties grew by 2.5 percent, or about $21.6 million between 2021 and 2022, according to documents supplied by the mayor’s office.
The budget is now with the tax board, an elected board whose members have final say on the budget’s bottom line and mill rate. The video of Tuesday’s meeting is embedded above.
“In preparing the budget this year I wanted to address two areas that I believe are essential for the future health of Derby,” Dziekan told the tax board. “Providing tax relief to residents and getting our school district from being one of the 30 worst in the state to being comparable with our neighbors in Seymour and ultimately Shelton in terms of our scores and our state ranking.”
Click here to read a copy of the budget the tax board approved last April.
Click here to read a copy of Mayor Dziekan’s newly-proposed budget.
Overview
The mayor’s proposed budget allocates an additional $291,344 for Derby schools, bringing the total school budget to $19,468,708. That bottom line combines the local contribution of $12,510,000 from the city and $6,958,708 from the state.
The mayor’s budget increases total school funding about 1.5 percent over the current school budget. The school board had requested a 4.29 percent increase from the city, or $823,479.
The Derby Police Department receives a funding increase of $25,873 in the mayor’s budget, bringing the department’s total budget to $4,195,007. The department had requested an increase of $35,368.
The mayor’s budget cuts about $42,000 from the town clerk’s current budget, and cuts the city’s IT budget by about $10,500 after bringing on a new firm.
The budget adds a human resource director, a position not included in the current budget — so the human resources total budget goes from just $10,000 to $91,000. The mayor’s budget also includes the position of economic development director for $89,500. That position was not a line item in the budget approved last spring.
There’s also roughly $100,000 in the budget’s special working balance to hire a finance director.
The city’s insurance costs are projected to drop by about $178,000 — with employee benefits dropping by another $664,316.
The tax assessor’s budget is increasing by about $50,000 to pay for half of a state-mandated revaluation.
The budget does not take money from the city’s fund balance. Last year’s budget moved $947,000 from the fund balance but Mayhew said that money has yet to be spent.
Mayor Says Derby Schools Are Failing
The mayor read from a 1,606-word prepared statement while unveiling his new budget. About half of the statement castigates Derby Public Schools, saying the school district remains poor performing despite extra money from the state. Derby Public Schools, like Ansonia, is designated an “alliance district,” and gets additional state aid that is to be used for school improvement efforts.
Dziekan said money has not improved the school district.
“We’re spending the money to succeed and (we’re) failing, for ten years,” Dziekan said. “A failing school district negatively affects our city in so many ways, not the least of them is economic.“
Dziekan said he wants to consolidate the school’s business operations with the city’s finance office but has been unable to meet with the superintendent to talk about it. Jim Gildea, the school board chairman who previously helped to run Dziekan’s re-election campaign, requested that the mayor have the discussion in public with the school board.
“I was surprised that my request generated an email response from the BOE chairman resulting in no meeting taking place,” Dziekan said. “Funny, when the superintendent wants to meet on matters he considers important, a simple call or email is sufficient for me to arrange to meet and include whatever staff are necessary. When I, as the mayor, request a meeting to talk about things I consider important, why do I not get the same courtesy?“
Last year Dziekan said he wanted to tie education funding in Derby to test scores and school improvement plans, a proposal he first put forth last year.
Derby school officials did not speak during Tuesday’s meeting, but The Valley Indy reached out to Derby Board of Education Chairman Jim Gildea for comment.
“I am deeply disappointed in Rich Dziekan’s tone and negativity. This is not the Rich Dziekan anyone knows or remembers,” Gildea said. “The fact of the matter is that the Rich Dziekan administration has decimated the Derby school system by freezing our budget three of the first five years of his administration. Rich’s legacy is that Derby has consistently lagged behind every other valley community when it comes to education funding.”
Gildea said the mayor “was less than honest” regarding the school board’s willingness to work on cost-saving measures with the administration.
“It is on the record that we have offered to meet with him on at least four different occasions. Any other comments are simply not true,” Gildea said.
Waiver?
At the start of Tuesday’s meeting, Jennifer Desroches, a member of the tax board, asked about whether another member of the tax board, Jim Blaskewicz, needed a waiver from the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen to serve on the tax board since he recently became an employee of the Derby Public Works Department.
Traditionally, city employees get a waiver from the city’s legislative body, as spelled out in the Derby City Charter (see image below).
However, Blaskewicz, citing meeting minutes of the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen from April 2022, said the city’s corporation counsel said no such waiver is needed.
Alderwoman Sarah Widomski then read from the “dual office” section of the Derby Charter, pointing to it as proof that Blaskewicz did, in fact, need a waiver. Desroches asked whether Blaskewicz should refrain from participating since there were conflicting answers.
However, Mayor Dziekan said the city received a “ruling” from the corporation on the matter. Widomski noted she has never seen an opinion from the corporation counsel on the matter.
Voters had the option to delete the dual office holding requirement in 2016, but opted to keep it.
Chris Carloni, another member of the tax board who is employed by the city, previously received a waiver from the Aldermen/Alderwomen.
