Board of Finance seeks further cuts

KENT — The Board of Finance, after a marathon five-hour meeting, came to the reluctant conclusion that the combined budgets of the boards of education and selectmen plus the five-year capital plan were too high, and asked for cuts in capital spending plans from those boards.

Informing the discussion was the impending firehouse vote Friday, April 27. Finance chairman George Jacobsen had warned board members they would need to construct two budgets, one including the firehouse and one omitting it, during earlier meetings.

But as the numbers were crunched, with or without the firehouse, what emerged was a tax increase that board members were uncomfortable with.

If the board presented to the town all three components of the budget as submitted, with no changes, the town would be looking at a mill rate of 19.53, which is an 11 percent increase from last year’s 17.58.

The mill rate determines property taxes in Connecticut towns. A mill represents $1 in tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value. A 15-mill tax rate would translate into a tax bill of $1,500 for the owner of a home assessed at $100,000.

Early in the meeting, Jacobsen polled the members, asking what they believed was an acceptable mill rate (with and without the firehouse) and also what they thought was the "drop-dead" point for either scenario, that is, the maximum mill rate the voters would accept.

The highest mill rate number from this group of responses was 18.75 — a 6.66 percent hike.

"The firehouse really forces the question," commented board member Paul Abbott. "It means we will have to cut the capital fund if we want to get this mill rate down."

One past practice has been to defer capital spending projects to a point in the future not covered by the five-year plan. The board showed no enthusiasm for this maneuver, with Jacobsen noting that for every dollar that is put off until fiscal year 2013 the real savings are only about 20 cents for this year, and board member Lynn Perry objecting on general grounds, saying that to defer simply shoves the problem off on succeeding generations of taxpayers.

Board member Todd Cole said, "We set up the capital fund for roads and bridges because we paid through the nose" for repairs in the past.

"I have a bad feeling. I see us moving from a good, well-planned capital plan to a reactionary budget."

Cole and Board of Education Chair Karren Garrity, from the audience, both advocated presenting the higher mill rate to the voters. "Let the town decide if they’re ready to pony up for the gold-plated budget," said Garrity.

Abbott added, "What’s terribly frustrating is that these are all good budgets."

Board member Chris Garrity repeated at several points during the discussion that he believed the school board and the selectmen should be responsible for establishing the spending priorities, and for making the necessary cuts.

After several runs at the problem, that approach is what the board adopted, passing two resolutions: one asking the selectmen to cut $1.44 million from capital spending associated with their budget, and one asking the Board of Education for $360,000 in cuts, amounting to about 57 percent of the capital plan, as board memberTom Sides noted.

The selectmen and Board of Education have until Tuesday, April 24, to respond.

When the dust settled on the meeting, the Board of Finance was looking at a mill rate, after the requested cuts in the capital plan, of 18.75 (6.66 percent increase) with the firehouse and 18.43 (4.84 percent) without.

The Board of Finance next meets Tuesday, April 24, 7:30 p.m.