Shelton residents will see a tax decrease next year, under a $111.9 million budget approved Thursday night.
The 2011 – 2012 budget results in a tax rate of 18.57 mills, a decrease from the current 18.61 mills.
That means a taxpayer with property assessed at $200,000 will pay about $8 less in taxes next year.
The Board of Aldermen approved the budget unanimously, without any discussion.
“Come on, somebody complain about something,” Mayor Mark Lauretti joked to board members before they voted in favor of the spending plan.
An Oasis
Board of Aldermen President John Anglace talked about the budget for about 10 minutes before the vote.
His comments focused mostly on the state and federal budgets.
Anglace said while the economy might be in the dumps, Shelton has found a way to balance its budget and offer residents a tax decrease.
“Shelton stands out among Connecticut communities,” Anglace said. “Having been chosen nationally as the most affordable community to live and work in Connecticut for the second year running, we are an oasis of sorts.”
Anglace said the state should “study and copy our progress.”
The Board of Aldermen made some minor rearrangements in the budget proposal they received from the tax board, but kept the bottom line the same.
Schools
The line item for education is $63.7 million, about $600,000 more than the schools are getting this year.
The Board of Education had requested a $1.86 million increase.
But, there are some silver linings in the budget.
The city will pick up the tab for Board of Education unemployment costs next year — as they did this year.
And the Board of Education will get the remaining funds from this year’s unemployment costs, according to Superintendent Freeman Burr.
That figure is about $400,000.
Also, Burr said, the district saved about $650,000 over three years by negotiating its teacher contracts.
However, the approved budget likely won’t allow the district to hire back some library workers and guidance counselors, as it had hoped to do after massive layoffs last year.
“We won’t be able to restore any positions we were looking to restore,” Burr said.
The Board of Education finance committee will meet next week to discuss the approved funding.
