File Photo
Ansonia City Hall, in the pre-Zoom era.
ANSONIA — Members of the public had their first chance to comment on Mayor David Cassetti’s proposed 2020 – 2021 budget Thursday.
The budget totals $57.4 million, including $32.4 million for the school district.
The budget’s bottom line carries a 1.5 percent spending increase over the current budget.
Click here to read the budget.
The school allocation is a $300,000 increase over the current school budget. However, it is about $971,000 less than what the Ansonia Board of Education requested to operate the schools.
The budget does not raise taxes, something Cassetti’s administration stressed as important given the economic fallout brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Ansonia’s household and businesses are struggling. I implore you to mitigate their financial hardship by not adding an additional tax burden this year,” Cassetti said in a letter to the members of the Ansonia Board of Apportionment and Taxation (or, “BOAT”) May 1.
Thursday night’s public hearing was in front of BOAT and the Board of Aldermen’s Finance Subcommittee. The meeting was held using the ZOOM video conferencing platform.
While the city was able to pull off a pretty much perfect public hearing on ZOOM a few weeks back, Thursday’s meeting was plagued with technical problems that made it difficult to hear what was being said.
Richard Bshara, the city’s part-time comptroller, said the budget uses about $625,000 from the city’s $4.4 million undesignated fund balance, or rainy day fund. The city expects to replace that money with federal reimbursement connected to COVID-19 expenses. In addition, the city is moving money from an old capital reserve fund into the fund balance to make up for money used.
The mayor’s proposed budget cuts current funding to the Ansonia Library by about $13,000. It cuts the senior center budget by about $8,000. It cuts the recreation budget by $17,000.
Bshara said that the cuts targeted programs that include public gatherings — summer camps, summer concerts, the Harvest Festival, Rock the Valley — all things that may not happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also facing budget cuts: recreation programs such as basketball, youth football, soccer, and cheerleading.
However, in case the sports programs proceed, the city plans to set up a $10,000 sports contingency line item within the BOAT budget. That is money that previously went to the mayor’s youth boxing program (and was recouped through donations). The boxing program isn’t happening this year, corporation counsel John Marini told The Valley Indy.
“Those programs face reductions in their budgets if their summer and fall seasons do not go forward. If they can play, a contingency account has been set aside for a future allocation,” Marini said.
Alderwoman Diane Stroman questioned why the budget allocates an additional $4,000 for an “events coordinator” if all the events are being canceled. The mayor’s budget includes $10,000 for the position.
“I guess I need to understand if there’s going to be less activity, why would we need to increase the event coordinator line by $4,000?” Stroman asked.
She suggested that money could be better spent elsewhere, such as on the Boys & Girls Club or TEAM Inc., two nonprofit entities that provide an array of services to Ansonia, the most economically distressed city in the state. Both groups are poised to get less money from the city under Cassetti’s budget.
The budget shows a $63,000 cut to Ansonia Rescue Medical Services, the city’s ambulance service. However, ARMS actually requested less money — about $34,000 less than its current budget. The mayor whittled that request down by another $9,000, roughly.
The questions from the public during Thursday’s online public hearing centered around Mayor Cassetti’s budget preparation. Specifically, several speakers wanted to know how much input and discussion city department leaders had with the mayor before the mayor proposed his budget. In addition, residents wanted to know if department heads were meeting with the Aldermen’s finance committee.
Bev Tidmarsh asked about the annual city allocation to the Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley. The organization operates the Joel E. Smilow Clubhouse at 28 Howard Ave.
The city allocated $10,000 to the Boys & Girls Club in the 2017 – 2018 budget. That number has been reduced over the years. The mayor’s budget proposes $3,000 for the organization.
Some nonprofits receive money from local governments for the services provided, including TEAM, the Boys & Girls Club, and others.
“All groups are deserving of this money, but there’s a limited amount of funds to do it,” Bshara said.
BOAT will be taking a closer look at the budget next Wednesday, and another public hearing will be held in front of the Board of Aldermen, who have ultimate say on the budget.
