The Newtown Board of Finance held a Public Hearing on Wednesday, March 2, 2005 in the cafetorium at the Reed Intermediate School, Newtown, CT. Chairman John Kortze called the hearing to order at 7:40 p.m.
PRESENT: John Kortze, James Gaston, Harry Waterbury, Joseph Kearney, Peter Giarratano ABSENT: Michael Portnoy
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal, Finance Director Ben Spragg, Schools Superintendent Dr. Evan Pitkoff, Asst. Superintendent Alice Jackson, Schools Business Manager Ron Bienkowski, Board of Education Chairman Elaine McClure, Board of Education members – Andrew Buzzi, Thomas Sheehan, David Nanavaty, approximately 35 members of public, one member of press
Chairman John Kortze advised that this hearing is to receive input from the public regarding the proposed 2005/2006 Budget. He opened the floor to comments.
Ms. Sara Beier, 7 Yogananda – spoke at public hearing last year. In the past year, has learned more about how things work in town. This has been a tough year with the oil spill, health insurance costs, contracts with unions in town and mandates for special education. This is not a big budget. The goal this year was not to fill the auditorium and listen to a lot of personal stories. There is a lot of growth in town. She found that there were 1,200 building permits issued from 1997-2003. Schools enrollments have grown every year. There are not a lot of new positions in this budget. We are trying to work with what we have. She asked for everyone who agrees with her comments to stand so that the Board of Finance does not have to listen to people say the
same things over and over. (majority of those present stood)
Ms. Suzanne Zimmerman, Pine Tree Hill Road – asked that cuts not be made in requests for guidance counselors, social workers and psychologists. There is a drug problem and it is starting at younger ages. We need to add adequate staff to help in those areas. She urged the Board to leave the budget as it is. We need to be fiscally responsible but also need to be realistic. She feels last year’s budget was not realistic.
Ms. Christine Crudo, 17 Misty Vale – her son is doing very well. She thanked the Board of Education and Board of Finance and people of Newtown who voted for the budget last year. Because of that, her son was in a smaller class this year.
Mr. Keith Jacobs, 27 Ashford Lane – feels the town is getting a bargain with Dr. Pitkoff who puts in a lot of hours. We need to address issues of progress. It does not seem like budgets are being based on allowing progress for the Board of Education. Neighboring towns seem to be in better shape. They have smaller classes and more programs. The kids in Newtown are losing. He asked the Board to approve the budget the Board of Education presented. He will then ask the Legislative Council to do the same. He feels that last year there was a mandate for progress.
Ms. Joyce LaForte, 1 Skytop Drive Ext. – regarding guidance counselors/social workers, there should be one per 750 “healthy” students. She works in the schools system and feels we are stretching the work load because there are not enough people to do the work. Her school has 800 students and is sharing a social worker with two other schools. We continually cut back.
Ms. Elaine McClure, 32 Ashford Lane (Board of Education Chairman) – appreciates the hard work done by the Board of Finance. This has been a different budget year for the Board of Education. Last year, we had a good year and money left over. This year has not been a good year. After the oil spill, the Board of Education was asked to put a freeze on accounts to come up with as much money as possible for the clean up. Now, there has to be a town vote on borrowing $1 million above the $216,000 the Board of Education has come up with. She read a list of items that have been frozen in the 04/05 schools budget. In addition, there was a $50,000 cost to move the central office employees to the Kendro building; an additional $100,000 necessary for special education
transportation and higher than budgeted fuel costs. She urged that no more cuts be made this year.
Mr. Herbert Rosenthal, 70 Main Street (First Selectman) – the Board of Selectmen has set a Town Meeting date of March 9, 2005, 7:30 pm in the Middle School Auditorium. One item will be appropriation of $1 million for the oil spill clean up.
Ms. Ruby Johnson, 16 Chestnut Hill Road – asked for clarification. One of the things said is that the reason the school budget continues to rise is the number of people moving into town. Buying open space keeps tracts of land from being kept from development. She does not know why a marina is being considered open space. There are other reasons for purchasing a marina and it is good for the town. She is not opposed to that. We don’t know what the plan is for buying open space in the future. Regarding long-range planning, ten years ago we knew that the high school was going to be overcrowded and still no decision has been made and we don’t know where we are going. The Board of Finance needs to help us know where we are headed. She asked
for an explanation of what is considered open space. Chairman Kortze advised that he would be happy to talk with Mrs. Johnson after the meeting. This is a hearing for input from the public.
Ms. Myra Leuci, 7 Sawmill Ridge – stated that she had a list of people to call about tonight’s meeting. Everyone on the list supports the budget but no one could be here tonight. There were more people present during last year’s budget meetings. This does not mean that there is a lack of concern this year. There is support for the budget.
Ms. Laura Carminucci, 4 Galilee Way – supports the school budget. She has a child in special education who has made progress this year. She supports the early intervention program.
Ms. Andrea Spencer, 8 Grand Place – asked if there is insurance to cover the oil spill at the Reed School? First Selectman Rosenthal responded that the town has two policies – one has a $50,000 limit but this incident does not fall under that coverage. The second insurance for $250,000 is being looked into to see if this incident would be covered. Our attorneys are looking into whether anyone is culpable.
Ms. Joan Salbu, 1 Stonewall Ridge – thanked the Board of Education and Board of Finance on the time they spend. She supports both the town and school budget. Many people here have strong emotional issues about what the schools and town have done for them, but it is important to understand the facts. The Chairman of the Board of Education has outlined the facts. There is no mechanism in place to help if we slip behind in either the town or school budget. She strongly supports both budgets.
Ms. Karen Craig, 141 Hanover Road – the focus is on continually increasing property taxes. We need to focus on economic development. The Fairfield Hills buildings are old and need a lot of work. She knows there are plans for some economic development there. She feels we need to increase corporate tax instead of property tax.
Hearing no further comments, the public hearing was closed at 8:20 p.m.
Jan Andras, Clerk
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