After three different budget amendments and three separate votes, the Legislative Council approved the school board's proposed budget at its March 27 meeting.
After the Finance Committee review in February, the school board's final revenue was $88,817,373, an increase of $3,747,722 or 4.4% from last year. The school board approved $89,826,756, an increase of $4,747,105 or 5.56%. The city's budget was approved by the BOF without reduction in the final revenue of $48,834,506, which was an increase in spending of $1,308,366, or 2.75 percent.
The current total budget is $137,651,879, an increase in spending of $5,056,088 or 3.7%. Currently, the mill rate is proposed to increase from 26.24 to 27.24, which would be a 1 mill or 3.82% tax increase.
These are the final numbers that will be given to voters in a referendum on Tuesday, April 23rd. Despite historically low turnout, Councilman Chris Gardner said it's a time when voters can review the budget and let the town know if it's too high or too low.
In 2023, Newtown saw increased participation in the April budget vote, with turnout of about 8.8 percent, after years of declining participation, especially after the coronavirus pandemic. This was the first year that I did so. In 2022, the participation rate was only 7.7%. Voter turnout in 2021 was 8.98%. There was no budget referendum in 2020 due to the pandemic. Voter turnout in 2019 was 17%. Voter turnout in 2018 was 15.7%. Voter turnout in 2017 was 19.9%.
A single amendment was proposed to reduce the Newtown Health District's reserve fund item by $10,000, but First Selectman Jeff Capeci said the health district is a local organization that the town cannot cut, similar to the health district. Therefore, it was not approved in the budget. Board of Lakes Management, the council took aim squarely at the BOE budget, with Republican Derek Pisani proposing a cut from the proposed 4.4% spending increase to a 2.75% increase. This would result in him cutting $1,408,307 from the increase approved by the Finance Committee.
Much of the two-hour meeting was spent discussing the school budget and bickering among members over what the final numbers should be.
The proposal was supported by Republican Ben Reuben, but did not come to a vote. Pisani said after analyzing the school system's performance over 20 years compared to its budget, there is “no correlation” between increased spending and academic success. He said the budget has increased from $49 million in 2000 to $85 million in 2023, while test scores have gone from “the top 7 percent to 64.9 percent failing.”
“There's an inverse correlation,” Pisani says. “We don't need money to change trends, we need leadership.”
Both Mr. Pisani and Mr. Ruben expressed the need to be considerate of the town's economically disadvantaged residents, who are struggling with rising utility bills, inflation and housing costs.
Pisani also said he has documentation with about 400 homeowners who are struggling to pay their current property taxes.
When asked about the impact of the $1.4 million reduction on the increase request, Superintendent Chris Melillo said “spit” could mean 10 to 13 positions, including teachers. He said that there is a high possibility that Melillo noted that much of the increase was due to insurance, contractual wage increases and other inflation-driven cost increases.
Democratic lawmakers also pointed out that the BOE budget was approved because members at the Finance Committee level “couldn't find anywhere else to make cuts.”
City Council Vice President Jordana Bloom said that while “leadership was as important as money,” there were “real problems” in the school system and those “we need money to fix them.” Stated.
Republican Jennifer Nicoletti said all members of Congress want better education, but the current budget is “on an unsustainable trajectory.” He also noted that Congress is talking about “budget cuts,” but said Congress is “cutting increases, not cuts.”
“We're aiming for an increase that taxpayers can support,” Nicoletti said.
Republican John Zachos said many residents are “living paycheck to paycheck” or “spending on retirement savings,” but current budget increases “outpace inflation.” Ta.
Democratic Rep. Laura Miller said the average cost per home would be $400 to $500.
“Instead of cutting your budget, we recommend following the advice of the experts who came before you,” Miller says. “It takes money to get results.”
Gardner said he has heard from many residents, some of whom said they could not afford to increase the amount to residents who supported the original BOE proposal before the BOF was reduced, calling the decision “really difficult for me.” Stated. Gardner indicated that he would like to see a compromise number, but felt that matching numbers in the middle would not pass. As it turns out, he was right.
Republican Tom Long proposed the first compromise, cutting $900,000 and increasing the proposed budget by 3.34% to $87,917,373. After debate, the amendment failed in a 6-6 tie, with all five Republicans, including Miller, voting yes, and the remaining six Democrats voting no.
Gardner's second proposal, which cuts the budget by $450,000 to increase the budget by 3.73% to $88,367,373, passed on a 9-3 vote with only Gardner, Miller and Long voting in favor. It was rejected.
The vote then returned to the original motion, a budget approved by the Finance Committee. The budget passed along party lines, with seven Democrats voting for it and five Republicans voting against it.
Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.
