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CORRECTION: The Valley Indy has been reporting that a referendum in Ansonia is required if a mill rate increase totals three percent or more. THIS IS WRONG.
Ansonia City Corporation Counsel John Marini and Ansonia Economic Development Director Sheila O’Malley told The Valley Indy on April 8 that a referendum is triggered if the budget approved by the Ansonia Board of Aldermen represents an increase of three percent or more in net taxes to be collected from the previous year’s budget.
The Valley Indy regrets the error.
April 8, 2025
ANSONIA – The city’s proposed budget for the coming year currently includes an 11 percent tax increase.
Any tax increase higher than three percent requires voter approval via referendum, according to the city’s charter.
Ansonia budget director Kurt Miller said the proposed mill rate could fluctuate – but that he doesn’t see it going down enough to avoid a referendum.
“If there’s a reduction to the board of education line, then that brings that number in,” Miller said. “But I don’t see any path that gets you to three percent at this point.”
The 2025 – 2026 budget was discussed March 24 during a combined meeting of two government entities – the Ansonia Board of Apportionment and Taxation (tax board), and the finance subcommittee of the Ansonia Board of Aldermen.
In February, Mayor David Cassetti proposed a budget with a mill rate of 29.1. The current mill rate is 26.49, so the mayor’s budget included an increase of 2.61 mills. That budget was adopted by the tax board, even though its members are still reviewing the budget with the Aldermanic subcommittee.
After some tweaking – and a funding request from the Ansonia Board of Education – the revised draft budget now proposes a mill rate of 29.62 mills. That’s an increase of 3.13 mills and is higher than the mill rate proposed by Cassetti.
Under the revised budget, a single-family home on Holbrook Street assessed at $180,000 would pay $563.40 more per year in taxes.
A house on Gardners Lane assessed at $248,000 would pay $776.24 more per year.
A house on High Acres Road assessed at $366,000 would pay $1,145.58 more per year.
Miller said the new, higher mill rate is due to an updated budget request from the board of education. Earlier this month members of the board of education adopted a $39.5 million budget and asked the city for an additional $2 million, a 5.3 percent budget-to-budget increase.
The tax board and the Aldermanic finance subcommittee are scheduled to meet again March 31. Members of the board of education are expected to present their budget request at that meeting. In previous meetings, board members have pointed to rising out-of-district special education transportation costs as a main reason for the school budget increase.
None of the numbers in the budget are final. They can change up until the Aldermen vote.
If the Aldermen say yes to a budget that increases the mill rate by 3 percent or more, a referendum would probably be scheduled in mid-to-late April. Click here for an explanation on how the referendum could work.
Fuel Cell Revenue Expected To Begin This Year
The budget includes $1,264,235 in “fuel cell revenue projection.”
That’s in reference to an energy-generating project on the 65-acre former SHW/Ansonia Copper & Brass site, approved last year by the Board of Aldermen.
The project would make money by allowing the city to save on its own electric costs. However, the fuel cells haven’t been built yet. The city has signed a contract with Johnson Controls, Inc. to have them build the fuel cells this year.
Miller said that the city hopes to have the fuel cells installed by August or September, and that the revenue projection is based on that timeline.
“There’s going to need to be a lot of focus paid to this, getting this project done and moving. We’re putting a lot of time and effort into it now,” Miller said.
The budget also includes $5,250,000 in “use of future revenue.” Miller said that future revenue is also based on revenue projections from the fuel cell project.
If passed, this would be the city’s third budget in a row that includes future income as revenue. Last year, the city budgeted about $7.4 million in‘use of future revenue,’ and $5 million the year before that.
If the budget were passed as-is, that would be a total of about $17.7 million the city has budgeted for‘future revenue.’
City Democrats have criticized the administration for the accounting practice, referring last year to future revenue as“ghost money.” Members of Cassetti’s administration say the practice allows them to ease taxpayer burdens by banking on development projects that are in the works.
The Valley Indy interviewed Miller about the practice last year.
The revenue sheet on the proposed budget says that the city ended up using $7,318,888 in‘future revenue’ last year, and $3,109,601 the year before that.
Miller said the revenue projection uses conservative numbers, but that it could still fluctuate up or down this year.
He said the city is putting out an RFQ (request for qualifications) later this week to look for data centers to lease space on the SHW site. He said the hope is that they’ll buy power from the city through the fuel cell project.
“We have started to receive interest from developers for the other 60 acres for potential use because of the fuel cells,” Miller said.
The next meeting of the two boards is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. March 31 on Zoom. To attend, go to the city website, click the ‘Meetings’ tab, and click the meeting to find the Zoom link.
