If the Board of Finance is worried that a proposed education budget would fail at a town referendum because the dollar amount is too high, resident William Ferris wants to put members’ minds at ease.
Ferris has offered to personally pay for the cost of the referendum — estimated at $5,000 — at which residents vote on the proposed school and town budgets.
There’s a catch: The Board of Finance has to forward the school budget as initially proposed by the Board of Education — with a $1.12 million increase.
The Board of Finance March 9 voted to give the schools $500,000 next year — roughly $600,000 less than school officials requested.
The move disappointed dozens of parents and school officials who packed the Town Hall meeting room in support of the original proposal.
“What they did was a travesty of democracy,” said Ferris, who attended last week’s meeting and spoke during public comment.
Ferris said he believes the Finance Board voted to cut the request not on its merits, but on the belief it could not pass with voters.
So Thursday, Ferris hand delivered a letter to First Selectman Paul Roy offering to donate the $5,000 cost of the referendum.
Seymour residents vote on the town and school budget proposals during a referendum in the spring. If either proposal is rejected, another referendum is held. Each one costs about $5,000.
Article continues after Ferris’ letter.
“I personally find it regrettable that the heartfelt beliefs of these Board of Finance members were subverted by the $5,000 cost of the referendum,” Ferris said in his letter.
Who Is Bill Ferris?
Ferris owns a business, CSA Data Solutions, in Seymour. He has two daughters — a junior and a senior — in the high school.
He describes himself as politically independent, and not a member of any parent group, board or commission.
In an e‑mail distributed Saturday morning, Ferris said he’s donated just $100 to a political cause during his lifetime.
He’s lived in Seymour 30 years — and he’s not Mr. Money Bags, according to his e‑mail.
“If you come to my house you will see the following: The couch in the family room is torn, there are no drapes, carpets or pictures in the living room, there are no marble counter tops, downstairs half the carpet has been torn out and it has not been replaced because we still have to fix the drainage problem, though we’ve lived in our house for 25 years there is no front walkway, the deck in the back needs to be replaced,” he said.
“So there’s no lack of things on which I could choose to spend $5,000. But for me, right now, this is the most important use of $5,000,” he said.
Reaction
Robert Koskelowski, chairman of the finance board, said he was offended by Ferris’ offer, and likened the gesture to someone trying to buy his vote.
Koskelowski said he would refer the letter to the police chief to determine if there is anything illegal about the offer.
“My vote has never been for sale and will never be for sale,” Koskelowski said.
The finance board members did not vote the way they did because of the fear of a referendum cost, Koskelowski added.
“I voted on behalf of the entire town of Seymour,” Koskelowski said.
Ferris said he doesn’t see how his offer could be illegal because he doesn’t stand to gain anything personally if the budget passes. He said he is interested in the democratic process.
It’s not clear if a private resident can pay for the cost of a referendum.
“I have no comment now because it may not be something that can even be done,” Roy said Friday.
Roy plans to bring the topic up at the next Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday.
Ed Strumello, chairman of the Board of Education, welcomed the gesture as possibly being positive for the school district.
School Funding
At the heart of the matter is the school budget.
School district officials, after several years of flat funding, had requested a $1.12 million increase, with a $30.2 million proposal.
On Wednesday, the Board of Finance voted 5 – 2 along party lines (Republican – Democrat) to push forward a $29.6 million budget to voters.
That proposal is still a $500,000, or 1.7 percent, increase over current spending, but nowhere near what school officials said was needed to bring the district back up to par.
Last year the budget was approved on the fourth referendum. Voters had rejected a previous proposal, even though it had a zero percent increase.
At last week’s Finance Board meeting, several members brought up last year’s multiple votes.
Peter Jezierny, a retired teacher who serves on the Finance Board, said residents sent a clear message to town officials — we won’t pass anything that raises our taxes more than a mill.
He said the town wasted money on multiple budget votes.
“Doing that more than twice is irresponsible, where we’re putting out referendums in an effort to find something that the voters will accept,” Jezierny said.
A copy of the proposed Seymour school budget is posted below:
