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Annual Town Budget Meeting Minutes 05/03/2010
ANNUAL TOWN BUDGET MEETING
MAY 3, 2010

Town Council Chairman Mark W. Zacchio called the Annual Town Budget Meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Avon Senior Center, Community Room.

Council Chairman Zacchio welcomed everyone to the meeting. The first order of business was to call for nominations for Moderator.

On a motion made by Thomas Harrison and duly seconded by Peggy J. Roell, it was unanimously voted to elect Diane S. Hornaday as Moderator of the Annual Budget Meeting.

The Moderator, Diane S. Hornaday, outlined the procedure of the meeting and advised citizens that in accordance with the Town Charter, there will be discussion on the proposed Budget then it would be submitted to a vote at Referendum on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at the Senior Center, 635 West Avon Road, during the hours of 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.  She further reported everyone will have the opportunity to speak on this item, but we ask that you identify yourself, including where you live, then make whatever comments you would like and whatever questions you may have regarding the question to be considered this evening.

She announced that the Town Clerk would act as the Clerk of the Meeting, in accordance with the Town Charter.  She called upon the Town Clerk, Ann L. Dearstyne, to read the Call of the Meeting, as follows:
LEGAL NOTICE
TOWN OF AVON
ANNUAL BUDGET MEETING

The Annual Budget meeting of the electors and citizens qualified to vote in Town Meetings of the Town of Avon, Connecticut will be held at the Avon Senior Center, 635 West Avon Road, in the Town of Avon, Connecticut on Monday, May 3, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. for the following purposes:

To receive and consider a resolution for the adoption of the 2010/2011 Annual Budget in the amount of $72,873,138. as recommended by the Board of Finance, for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2010.

Pursuant to Section 9.4.1 of the Avon Town Charter, the Annual Budget Meeting will be adjourned to a referendum vote on the aforesaid recommended budget to be held on Wednesday, May 12, 2010, between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.  Electors and persons who are not electors but who are qualified to vote at town meetings will vote at the Avon Senior Center, 635 West Avon Road, Avon, Connecticut.

Absentee ballots are available at the Town Clerk’s Office in the Town Hall.

The aforesaid question will be placed on paper ballots under the following heading:
“Shall the Annual Town Budget in the amount of $72,873,138. as recommended by the Board
 of Finance, for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2010 be approved?”
                        
                                                                        Voters approving the proposed question will vote “Yes”
                                                                                and those opposing the proposed question will vote “No”.

Dated at Avon, Connecticut, this 12th day of April, 2010.

The following is a summary of the budget showing estimated revenues by major sources and recommended appropriations by major sources.
                                                                               ________________________
                                                                               Thomas F. Harrison, Chairman
                                                                               Board of Finance
                                                                                                                                                                                                          
The Moderator reported copies of the Call to the Meeting are on the table by the door, and also there are copies of a summary of the budget and a tax calculation form which you are all welcome to pick up and apply to your own situation. She called upon Thomas F. Harrison, Chairman of the Board of Finance, to present the Annual Budget Resolution.

Thomas Harrison, Board of Finance Chairman, reported the Board of Finance at a meeting in April voted on the resolution, he will present the Resolution, and urge its adoption and the Moderator will call for a second to the resolution.  We do not actually vote on it tonight, it will be referred to a vote on May 12th, what we are doing tonight is formally adopting the resolution as presented.  

Mr. Harrison moved the adoption of the budget resolution which will go to referendum on May 12th as follows:  “Shall the Annual Town Budget in the amount of $72,873,138 as recommended by the Board of Finance, for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2010 be approved?”

The resolution was duly seconded.  The Moderator called upon the Board of Finance Chairman, the Town Council Chairman and Board of Education Chairman to make their presentations.

The reports of the Board of Finance, Town Council, and Board of Education were presented, are attached, and made a part of these minutes.  The Board of Finance, Town Council and Board of Education are recommending the Annual Town Budget in amount $72,873,138 for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2010; go to referendum on May 12, 2010.  
                                                                                                                             
Mr. Jody Goeler – Good evening – Thank you to those who have attended the weekly Board of Education meetings, over the past several weeks, since the Board of Finance workshop.  For those in attendance you have heard me describe our work as finding a way to build a million dollar bridge to maintain as many programs and services for us to use as possible.  The list of proposed reductions was a first stab at looking at various levels of funding from the 6.91% Board of Education adopted maintenance budget to a 0% increase, and it was a reasonable first step.  Since this list was presented publicly, we have been meeting and listening to the community.  Even our athletic booster club developed and sent out a survey to ensure the greater community had a chance to contribute or consider biblical questions regarding how we structure our pay to play program, and how much more we could expect parents to pay to keep the athletic program in tact. So what will it take to maintain our programs for the 2010/2011 school year in light of the million dollar funding reduction?  First the Board of Education must carefully consider whether it joins the Town in adding to the Insurance Reserve Fund.  We will need to decide whether or not to hire an Elementary Health Teacher to replace the retiring teacher, resulting in further degradation of what was once a premier health program in our State.  We made this decision recognizing that alcohol is more available, and drugs more dangerous, to our students than ever before.  In addition we will need to place a greater burden on families, in the form of increased fees to maintain programs, we will need to decide carefully how to structure our pay to play fee structure to raise additional revenues.  The Board of Education is also considering increasing school lunches by 50 cents per lunch, the first increase in 12 years. We are raising parking fees from $100 a year to $150 a year, these additional fees will go directly to pay the salary of a high school security guard.  In addition during this time, the Board of Education has appointed a strategic planning committee to begin the process of looking forward beyond this difficult budget season.  

For those of you following this process since the Board of Finance Meeting, you have heard me say several times that it was an open dialogue with the Avon Education President, John Seagel, over a concession agreement.  At the Board of Finance Workshop here at the Senior Center, I was asked directly ‘if the Board had publicly requested give backs from its unions”.   One member noted that the Hartford Courant had announced East Hampton teachers had just agreed to split their next year increase of 2.8% over two years, and postpone their 3% increase to the third year of the new contract.  The question was asked, ‘Why doesn’t the Board of Education do something like that?’  Well, in fact that was one of the ideas Mr. Cziepel were talking about at that time. From the beginning our approach was to keep the lines of communication open and not draw a line in the sand, and demand that consideration. In fact, we did not have to, the Teachers wanted to be part of the solution that would save programs and the jobs of their colleagues in this unprecedented economic downturn.  The teachers and the Board of Education both believe that it is never in the best interest of children to increase class sizes or decrease opportunities for them to broaden their horizons.  It is completely counter productive to have high school students in study halls, because there are not enough elective classes for them to take.  

Now this being Teacher Appreciation Week, I would like to conclude with the remarks recently made by East Hampton CT’s Superintendent on the eve of a settlement of the concession package, she noted ‘that the teachers realized that despite how hard they work and the tremendous responsibility they have every day, ‘it would be in our Community’s best interest to engage in talks that would provide solutions to our district’s funding crisis’.  By doing this they saved many jobs in the school system, which is better for our students.  So at this point I would like to say that I am proud to introduce the Avon Education Association President, John Cziepel, who will share with the what we expect to be a ratified concession agreement between the Board of Education and the Avon Education Association.

Mr. Cziepel, President Avon Education Association President – Thank you Jody.  Since most of you do not know me, I am a West Hartford resident, believe me well familiar with the property tax debates that go on in all towns.  I am here to announce a concession package of the AEA. I have taught for 22 years in Avon High School, I have had your sons and daughters in Ancient History, I teach the Law Seminar, and a class in economics. For about 22 years I have been the President or Vice President of the AEA. I have been involved in every contract since 1988, and I would like to feel that both sides always left the table in those contract talks whether mediated or arbitrated with a feeling that there was good value we had for the students of Avon.  As an invitation to any of you, now is the time to tell you if you ever want to contact me and debate or talk about what the AEA does or what we do since we are nothing, if not transparent. Please feel free to contact me at the high school, and I would be glad to talk to you about that. Our philosophy guide in this is very simple, we do advocate for teachers, as that is our role, and for public education, we believe in the theory that if you hire people, expect much of them and ask for a lot of them that they should be rewarded accordingly and that is what translates best into a secure education system, that best speaks to the needs of our students.  

As Jody mentioned, after a series of discussions, with my members and by Board of Directors, and my fellow colleagues, we have agreed in principle to concessions that will provide to the Town of Avon $350,000 to the Board of Education to apply to programs in this years budget. The way we are going to accomplish that is by taking our arbitrated salary settlement for this year which was 2.4%, and divide it over the next two years, so teachers would be at 1.2% raise in 2010/2011 and a 1.2% raise in 2011/2012, and to extend a year onto that contract to avoid a contract negotiation of 2.59% in 2012/2013.  Additionally teachers who are on staff and moving toward a 12 step salary schedule, have agreed to delay their raise in each of the first two years from September to February so they will be delaying their raise for half a year, in each of the first two years.  The average cost to a teacher, in concessions is about $1,100, something more for someone who is moving up those steps, but the vote on Friday which was basically a green light for giving me the permission to announce tonight, allows us to offer that concession package. Thank you very much.   

The Moderator asked if any other Town Official wishes to comment.  

The Moderator stated there can be no addition or reduction in the resolution that was presented and seconded to be sent to referendum.  She opened the meeting up to citizens who wish to comment.  Would you please stand, state your names and address, go to a microphone so that everyone can hear you.  Please speak for yourself, by that I mean, I think or this is what I observe, not as a representative of a group. Please try to limit your comments to three minutes so that everyone gets a chance to speak, once you have been recognized by me.  We will have alternating positions presented.  I am aware that there was some confusion about who is called on to speak at these meetings.  The qualified people to speak, are those who are registered voters in the Town of Avon, and/or own personal property valued at $1,000.  There were people who spoke at the Board of Finance hearing who were not qualified, the Registrar is here with the lists of all people eligible to speak, and I have asked her to be prepared.  So please do not embarrass yourself or her, and have her state you are out of order.   If you are uncertain, whether you are qualified, she is right over here, you can quietly ask if your name is on the list. We will stay as long as people have comments that they wish to make.  
 
Florence Stahl, 2 Sunset Trail – Before I speak, I have a question for the Board of Education.  Is there a caveat to the Teachers concession that is based on whether or not the referendum passes?  That was a NO. The answer is no.

Flo Stahl – Well the recreation position regarding the proposed 4.4% tax increase, and maybe with that concession they can restore some programs and avoid layoffs.  But for the taxpayer, nothing has changed, it is still a 4.4% increase and it is still the highest in a very long time.  We hope it is a genuine concession, and not based upon whether the referendum passes or not, and we congratulate you on doing that.  Thank you very much.        

Linda Merlin, 48 High Gate Drive – I did not write a speech, but have been jotting down notes, and I have had a change in outlook, so please bear with me a little.  If you want to talk about a bad economy, if you want to talk about jobs, if you want to talk about how to fix things in our Town, in our State, in our Country, then you cannot continue to cut education. Making sure our children are adequately educated to compete and create in this ever more challenging world, then there really is only one answer to these problems.  There is nothing more important than education.  This particular budget does not quite do that, we will still have a lot of the problems in our schools and in our Town that we have right now.  We are not maintaining the Town the way we used to, and we are certainly not maintaining education.  The Chair had a slide that said that Avon is operating sufficiently, but those are not statistics that I think anyone in this Town should be proud of.  Those changes to our system, the less we spend on our students per student compared to other towns – we have fallen so low on that list.  The list that the administration has, those changes have cost education in this Town severely and people should recognize that.  This budget is a compromise budget, there are a lot of people who wanted it higher, there are a lot of people who wanted it lower.  I hope that as a community however, we will come together and find a way to support this budget and invest in our Town.  It is adapted to the needs of our community and our willingness to be conservative statewide, this is a community problem and it is a community responsibility. It is clear that portions of our community are stepping up to the plate now.  The teachers who often go above and beyond as to the needs of our children, they do not have to and certainly are under no obligation to do it.  The Board of Finance has even kicked in by giving some of their precious reserves, which she has always been told were off limits.  It is time for us to all step up as well, and join these efforts, and come together as a community.  I urge everyone to find a way of supporting this community, to support this budget and to vote yes.  Thank you.

Claire Henderson, 1 Keystone Circle -  First I would like to thank everybody for all of the hard work. I am sure you are all thinking, here she is again, that little old lady that twice a year, on a fixed income, who probably hates kids, and always opposes the education budget.  Most of that is right, except hating the kid’s part.  But why do I do what I do?  Let me tell you.  I have worked hard my entire life, I have educated myself, supported myself, saved some money, and made some decent investment decisions.  I am not one of those people, some of you suggested, receives assistance with taxes, nor am I one who chooses to move, if I cannot afford to pay the taxes.  I could pay this proposed tax increase if I chose to without a change in my lifestyle, so why then am I still opposed to this increase.  As part of my career and in my personal life, I have made many investments and two things I have learned was that each investment must have intrinsic value and that one never throws good money after bad.  Right now I feel that my spending more for Avon’s Education is not a good investment because the money is not going towards your children’s education.  Instead despite a reduction in salary increases, the majority of the increase in Education budget will be used to pad the pockets of teachers and administrators in the form of salary and benefits.  This budget if passed will still adversely impact your kids educational and sports opportunities. There is no easy solution, removing the elements from the rows.  I tried by electing those to the Board of Education who said they were going to attack the problem head on, sadly they have not followed up those words with actions.  Now I suggest that the parents confront them, in the meantime not one to throw my money down a black hole, my only choice is to vote no.  I know I am not alone in my thinking and strongly urge all of you who have seen this myth of a black hole system will also vote no.  

Sue Henneberry, 488 Huckleberry Hill Road -  I have three questions, two directed to the Board of Finance and one rhetorical question.  First question for the Board of Finance – I am voting yes for the budget, however if the vote for the budget is no, what will be the response for the Board of Finance.

Thomas Harrison, BOF – The question has to do with what would the Board of Finance do, if this referendum is defeated?  What we would do would be look at the size of the turnout, look at the spread between the yes and the no, and hope that would give us some kind of signal, was it an overwhelmingly no vote or a very narrow no vote, we would be guided by how those numbers work out.  So I guess I am, and none of us on the Board are in the position to say, if it is defeated we would reduce it by ‘x’ or ‘y’, we would have to look at the size of the turnout and the spread on the votes.  

Sue Henneberry – But reduce is what you would do, right?

Mr. Harrison - Yes.

Sue Henneberry – The other question is the process in the budget process. At the Public Hearing, there was a huge difference this year in the public hearing, we had to change the venue of the public hearing, we shut down a State road.  However I did not in my perspective observe a change in behavior on those speaking from the Board of Finance, in fact if I look at my notes for the last six years, I could have scripted the comments that I heard that evening.  So my question is, what is it prior to referendum that the public can do to convince the Board of Finance that we were willing to increase our taxes.  

Bill Hooper, Board of Finance - That turnout changed his mind and that he increased the number.  

Sue Henneberry -My question is just to the community, who is paying as I hear tonight, the children are paying potentially $900 more a year for lunch, anybody taking high school sports is currently paying $150 per sport.  Now the teachers are paying an average of $1,100 per teacher per sport. My taxes are going up by about $300.  I am paying more too, my child’s lunch is costing more than my taxes are going to go up.  So my question is if my child is paying, high school sports children are paying, and the teachers are paying, certainly the taxpayers should be.  Thank you.

Del Tepley, 10 Highwood Circle – I personally will support the budget as proposed, however there is a problem.  The tax relief program that is made available to the senior citizens is not generous, for those people who are responsible for putting the CC4A together, and those people who are responsible for putting the Town of Avon Newsletter together, and the people who are responsible for putting the handout material tonight, are misleading the citizens of Avon.  To qualify for a tax credit of $2,000 a senior citizen couple would have to have an income of $16,000 a year.  Now how could anyone be a citizen living in Avon, paying $6,000 a year in taxes, live on $16,000 a year.  The homestead exemption should be increased.  If a senior citizen family moves from our community now, they normally have been replaced with a family with two or three children, so that when that family moves into that same house the senior citizen family occupied, they bring in three students into the school system for a total cost of $39,000.  The senior citizens were paying $6,000 in taxes, the family is paying $6,000 in taxes, from what the community had previously been supporting will pick up an additional $32,000 in education costs.  So we should be doing something to encourage the senior citizens to remain in the community, not discourage them, and to do that you should raise the homestead exemption so that, for a person making $45,000 a year the homestead exemption is $345 in tax relief, that is not a generous program.  So if you want to successfully raise taxes in the Town of Avon, you should combine it with a program that would increase the home exemption, along with an increase in the tax rate and the whole community would support it.   Thank you.

Mrs. Hornaday – This is an important issue that this gentleman has brought up.  Town Council Chairman Mark Zacchio will respond.

Council Chairman Zacchio – The Town Council does look at the Tax Relief program usually every couple of years, and we most recently looked at it this year and indexed it just slightly higher.  There are two programs, as I understand it, that in the State of CT that we are allowed to do for tax relief programs.  We have asked our Tax Assessor to talk to us more about those programs, so we are taking that under advisement.         

Recording tape skipped and missed dialogue of two and a half speakers.  

Diane Carney – 36 Rosewood Rd.  – Spoke in opposition

Joanne Beers - 48 Brookridge –  Spoke in support stating the jewel of the Town are the schools.

Joseph Bartosiewicz – 5 Colby Way – I normally support the budget, but I would like to take the floor now, if I may.  I would like to respond to the parent.  He promoted students selling items with all money going to education.  

Robin Schwartz – 88 Harris Road  -  I have lived in Avon since 1987, and I would like to comment on what I think it really means to me, in my mind and spirit. How we look forward in the spirit of compromise.  Because at this point there are a lot of people who wanted the budget to be higher and there a lot of people who wanted the budget to be lower, but we are faced with a budget that at this point is going to be difficult for some people to swallow from many perspectives.  I am sure there a lot of people who think there are some very good reasons to vote no, I have not really heard specifically what they are because I do not believe that the Board of Education is running this Town, and I do not believe that paying teachers less is the answer.  When people complain about somebody’s salary being very high, and in any organization, any business, you are always going to find somebody that says oh that person is making too much money, or find people who say “wow, that person really works hard and should receive more”.  I think that is a fact of life, but at this point I am going to support the budget and do everything I can to convince other people to support the budget, if people will listen to me.  I think that is the way to move forward at this point and I hope that many of you will join me on that.  Thank you.

Jay Caruso – 2 Arlington Drive – I just have a couple of comments I thought I would make and direct this to everyone in this room.  My daughter wakes up every Thursday morning and she loves to tell Dad, that it is her favorite day of the week   I like to ask her, why is that?  With a big smile on her face she says, Dad I am taking Spanish today.   My oldest daughter, my seven year old, happens to say that her favorite day of the week is Wednesday, and I ask her why.  She says, ‘I am taking art today.’  I state that is wonderful, and I am proud of them, they love and they have a passion. What I am not so proud of is the fact that these programs, language, arts, music, and everything between when it comes to the languages and the arts are being looked at in a very unfavorable light in this Town.  I think we really need to look at some of the things that we take away from our children, because that is the future, and the bright lights in our town, something that we really need to expand on.  My kids, obviously are very important to me, like they are for all of us here in this room.  If we do not help them now, we will hurt them later.  I think that, while I empathize with the generations that have come before me, that are worried about their specific economic situation, my mother is on a fixed income, we understand that, we deal with it.  What I want you to think about is you need to pay it forward. My generation, my kid’s generation, who will inherit social security problems, who will inherit the Medicare problems that we have in this country.  We do not think about the problems that we have here today, as Tom Gugliotti said, in this room two to three weeks ago, ‘This Town will break”. So I caution all of you, whether you are older or are younger, wherever you sit, education is so important, and I want you to take that seriously and vote yes.  Thank you.  

Scott Bernard – 2 Churchill - I am a good investor, I make sound investments, and I personally think Avon is a Town worth investing in.  I agree with the person that said we should take a closer look at tax relief for people on fixed incomes. It sounds like we are really not doing justice there.  But most of us in this room, we can afford to spend an extra dollar a day on a better Town.  I am proud to live in a town where the Board of Education, the School Administration and the Teachers Union, can come together on such short notice and negotiate amicably.  I think that says worlds about the Town we live in, the people that we have as friends and neighbors, I am proud that they can come together that way and come up with such a generous give back from the teachers.  How many of us in this room can say we are giving back next year an unexpected $1,100, we are talking about a real substantial give back here.  I am proud of that.  We will be talking about a give back for years, not just students, but a give back to park services, to our Police, to our fire fighters, to our Town, to our Senior Citizens. We are talking about give backs that help all of us, we are all making contributions.  I agree with Jay, it is pay it forward time, we need to get past this, we are really talking about giving so little to do so much for our grand community, so let us get past this, let’s get the budget passed May 12th and get on with it.

Rick O’Connor – 16 Rockledge Drive – I have lived here since 1992, have not grown up here, but in my business career I travel to 47 out of the 50 states, and in those travels I have spent a lot of time in  communities, such as in Texas, or Seattle, Massachusetts, you name it I have been all over the place.  I am constantly amazed at the value we actually get for our taxes, but I understand there are people here that think the taxes are going up and that they are not necessary, I think we are not investing in some of the infrastructure, and in all of the places where I have been all over the country I have seen the value that we get for our taxes here. For a community that has open space, recreation, the school system, I just think that quite frankly at this point, my taxes are almost a bargain in comparison to everywhere I have been in the United States.

Alison Jackson – 223 Huckleberry Hill Road –  I am kind of new to this community, but I would like to share that I do not see this as a senior versus a family issue. And I am hearing some people stating out there like it is.  That is really not true about our community.  I get there are some folks on fixed income, but it does not mean that people with families, small children, high school kids actually have a big income.  In fact I have no income right now, but I really support this budget, not because I have the money to pay any more taxes, but because I will find a way to do it, because that is what a responsible citizen in a community does.  What I am concerned about is looking at the lunches going up, looking at pay to play, this is a public school system, and just because someone lives in Avon does not mean they are wealthy.  Now I can make this work, our family is of some means, but there really are families here in this community that are not, and do you know what the threshold is for a free or reduced lunch, it is $28,000 a year.  Imagine struggling on $28,000 a year, with three kids single family, just as an example out there.  How are they going to do pay to play, imagine $30,000, how are they going to pay for a $900 increase in school lunches. So I want to put out there, as a Town, as we look at all of the decisions, and everyone is making compromises, that there are people in this community that are struggling with families.  I do ask that we consider, as we look at a threshold change for seniors, that we may consider as a Town contributing to families that are struggling for their children and how to support them with scholarships and how to support them with increased money programs if they are in that gap between what the State is going to contribute and what is really realistic when we look at these types of increases.  Because really a public education is not a privilege for these children, it is a right, and it is our responsibility as adults in this community to provide that.   So please, I urge you, support this budget, and to look at additional ways, and look at options as to how else we can support families that really cannot afford it.  Thank you.                             

Felice Wilson – 10 Yorkshire Lane -  As a community, and neighbors we need to support our families.  Today our daughter went into anaphylactic shock, and to save her life the policemen and paramedics came to help.  I tell you this because without supporting our Town, our Police, our Fire Fighters, our Teachers, and our community, we are not a community.  Without supporting and having the support, who knows what would have happened to my family today.  I am sorry.  For the safety of everyone in our Town, for raising our children, for offering programs to seniors and business, and those who are disabled, we need a budget as a community, for our community.  I am proud Republican, I want my money spent here in Avon, I do not want Capitol Hill to take it.  I want you to have it.  That is it.

There being no further discussion, the Moderator thanked everyone for coming and for participating.  The budget will be submitted to a referendum vote, to be held on Wednesday, May 12, 2010, here in the Avon Senior Center at 635 West Avon Road, Avon, between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

On a motion made by William Stokesbury, seconded by Peggy Roell, all were in favor.
The Annual Budget Meeting was adjourned to referendum at 9:00 p.m.   
  
Attest:


Ann L. Dearstyne
Town Clerk