SEYMOUR – A review of budget votes going back 12 years shows an obvious pattern: Seymour voters do not approve of school budgets with more than a 3 percent increase in spending.
Here’s a look back at school budget votes over the past five years. The dollar amounts come directly from the ballots people voted on at the polls.
*May 11, 2017, voters approved a $32.9 million school budget (1.2 percent increase)
*May 10, 2018, voters approved a $33.4 million school budget (1 percent increase)
*May 9, 2019, voters approved a $34.2 million school budget (2.3 percent increase)
*May 12, 2020, no referendum vote, due to COVID-19 pandemic; Board of Finance approved a $34.7 million school budget (1.5 percent increase)
*May 4, 2021, voters approved a $35.4 million school budget (2 percent increase)
In Seymour, voters get the final say so on the annual budgets at a referendum.
The town budget and the school budget are posed as two separate “yes” or “no” questions on the ballot.
If a budget is rejected by voters, the failed budget is adjusted before another vote.
In 2010, it took four budget referendums before voters eventually approved a $29.1 million school budget. The public approved the school budget once it carried a zero-percent spending increase, just as they did in 2009.
The pattern of repeatedly rejecting school budgets at the polls continued from 2011 to 2015.
In 2016, voters approved both a town and school budget on the first go-around. And each of those years, the increases to the school budget were averaging about 2 percent or less.
Superintendent of Schools Susan Compton, who came onboard last year, said in researching past budgets, she found the last time the school board received a sizable request was back in 2004 – 2005, when voters agreed to a 5.2 percent increase.
Fast forward to present day, and the school board has proposed a 6.9 percent, or $2.4 million increase, for the 2022 – 2023 school year.
The ask, officials said, isn’t due to hiring new staff, adding new programs or upgrading facilities.
Rather, according to Compton and business manager Salvatore Bucci, it’s needed to make up for an initial $839,000 deficit in the current budget, as well as to keep the current level of services at status quo.
Compton publicly unveiled what she called a “deficit situation” at the board’s Jan. 24 budget workshop (this was streamed live via YouTube, and Compton begins explaining the deficit about 23 minutes into the recording). The deficit, according to Compton, was due to a “miscalculation of employee benefits” made by the former business manager.
Seymour Board of Education Meeting — YouTube
The deficit now stands at $594,000, as school finance officials make adjustments.
Bucci said he expects to have an update on the shortfall for the school board during its next regular monthly meeting scheduled for March 7.
The town’s finance board has asked the school board to take another look at its $37.8 million budget proposal, in an effort to reduce the 6.9 percent ask.
Bucci said without the budget mistake, the budget requires a 4.5 percent increase to cover contractual obligations and a 12 percent spike in health insurance costs. The budget includes $23 million in employee salaries and $7 million in employee benefits.
Bucci and Compton both said the only way to make a significant reduction to the proposed 6.9 percent increase is to reduce staff and the associated employee benefits.
The finance board is continuing to meet with town department heads this month to discuss their individual budget requests for next year.
The board will then begin budget deliberations in March.
They will approve a budget and mill rate by April 1, hold a public hearing, and set a townwide referendum later this spring where voters get the final say on both the town and school budgets, which are posed as two separate questions on the ballot.
More information about the annual budget process can found on the town’s website:
The Official Website of the Town of Seymour, CT — 2022 — 2023 Town Budget (seymourct.org)
