Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Legislative Council
Held in the Board Room in the Newtown Municipal Center,
3 Primrose Street, Newtown, Connecticut
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
* Minutes are not finalized until approved at the next regularly scheduled meeting.
Chairman Jeffrey Capeci called the meeting to order at 7:33 pm.
PRESENT: George Ferguson, Ben Spragg, Dan Amaral, Jan Andras, Gary Davis, Rich Woycik, Kevin Fitzgerald, Jim Belden, Bob Merola, Kathy Fetchick, Mary Ann Jacob, and Chairman Jeff Capeci
ABSENT: none
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Patricia Llodra, Finance Director Bob Tait, School Superintendent Janet Robinson, Board of Education Chairman Bill Hart, Board of Finance Chairman John Kortze, 3 members of the press and 8 members of the public.
VOTER PARTICIPATION:
Kinga Walsh, 21 Horseshoe Ridge Road, recommended that the Council put forward the budget as it stands now. She asked that they honor and trust the recommendation of the Board of Finance, Board of Education, Finance Committee and Education Committee. Ms. Walsh noted that it would be nice to keep services without a tax increase. She added that she hasn’t heard anyone asking to cut school programs that exist, noting that in fact it is just the opposite.
Ms. Walsh questioned where the long-term planning was 15 or 20 years ago when the significant building of single family and 55 plus homes began. She noted that the past few years this has caused a significant increase in the population relative to school enrollment as well as the senior population.
In addition, Ms. Walsh noted that the state unfunded mandates currently at 104, compounded by changes in special education as well as main stream student needs have created an even heavier strain on available resources.
In regards to Newtown moving forward, Ms. Walsh asked that the Town be better defined as a family town, a senior town, or a balance of both. She suggested that once defined, clear objectives and implementation paths can be determined and held accountable to and added that without these the Town will keep moving in circles.
In conclusion, Ms. Walsh urged the Council to please send the budget as it is and let the people make the decision.
Po Murray, 38 Charter Ridge Drive, thanked everyone for working collaboratively this year and noted that she thought the approach was fair. She indicated that the tax increase was actually higher than the budget increase because not one dollar was taken from the fund balance, but despite this the tax increase was reasonable. Ms. Murray added that this budget increase was one of the lowest in the past ten years. She asked the Council to keep in mind that the Board of education reduced its budget by $500,000 and the Town reduced its budget by $250,000.
Ms. Murray urged the Town to wean from the use of the fund balance rather than cut from the school or town. Additionally, she urged the town to commission a new Charter Revision Commission to take another look at the charter.
In conclusion, Ms. Murray stated that the proposed budget is reasonable, fair and balanced; and she asked the Council to try their best to get it passed on the first try.
APPROVAL of MINUTES: Regular Meetings of March 2 and 16, 2011 – Mrs. Jacob moved to accept the minutes of the regular meetings of March 2, 2011 and March 16, 2011. Mr. Ferguson seconded.
According to Mr. Fitzgerald, he went back to the video of the meeting March 2 for clarification of the bifurcation vote, got the transcript together and highlighted salient points he thought should be in the minutes. Chairman Capeci indicated that the points should have been forwarded to the rest of the Council before the meeting. He suggested the March 2, 2011 minutes be tabled to allow Council members a chance to review Mr. Ferguson’s changes before they voted.
Chairman Capeci tabled the minutes of the March 2 meeting and called for a vote on the March 16, 2011 minutes, and the motion was unanimously approved.
COMMUNICATIONS: none
COMMITTEE REPORTS: none at this time
FIRST SELECTMAN’S REPORT: Mrs. Llodra told the Council that she wanted Finance Director Bob Tait to share his status report with the CIP projects.
She noted that the first of the reviews had been completed and they were looking for feedback from the Council. She noted that the report is a summary document with specific breakout pages of the projects.
Mr. Tait informed Council members that the CIP report is a work in progress. He stated that the report is broken into three sections: Project Status Summary Report, Project Status Report for Each Project, and Capitol Project Financial Summary Report for each project. He added that they will start putting photos of the projects into the report.
Chairman Capeci suggested that Mr. Tait email copies of the report in the future. He indicated that with such things as the High School project some accounting adjustments need to be done.
Mr. Spragg asked that Mr. Tait go over #107 the High School report. Mr. Tait indicated that he had additional information regarding the project that was not in the report and he did not have with him.
In regards to the High School expansion, Ms. Fetchick asked the Finance Director how much of the contingency was left. Mr. Tait indicated there were three accounts: Construction, Owner/Manager and Contingency.
NEW BUSINESS:
Discussion and possible action on: 2011-2012 Town of Newtown Budget –
Mr. Spragg made the motion to adopt the $106,626,075 2011/2012 budget as proposed by the Board of Finance. Ms. Andras seconded.
Mr. Spragg informed the Council that the Finance Committee met last night. He explained that both the Town and school system reported there was no more spending to remove; and noted that both showed more restraint than in the past years. Mr. Spragg suggested that cutting to 0% was not possible this year without affecting services. He added that to cut the 2.7% increase to 2% would have been appropriate, but Mr. Spragg suggested that he voted for the contracts because he felt obligated to pay for them.
Mr. Spragg stated that it was for these reasons that the Finance Committee recommended the Legislative Council adopt the 2011/2012 Budget of $106,626,075 as was approved by the Board of Finance and pass the proposal to referendum.
Mr. Fitzgerald supported the Board of Finance budget as it stands and thought the process was very effective and that there was a lot of open dialogue. He noted that as they did their homework they came up with areas where the Town and Board of Education are struggling. Mr. Fitzgerald reported that there was a lot of focus and discussion on what they could do next year and the year after to pull the dollars out. He noted that during the discussion Mr. Ferguson had indicated that more could be done with less and that Mr. Woycik suggested that there be more of a focus on Math and Science versus other things. Mr. Fitzgerald concluded that he felt the Town and Board of Education had done everything they could to keep the budget as low as possible.
Mr. Woycik told the Council that he personally recognized the time and effort put into compiling the budget but that he doesn’t feel they are and the destination the need to be. He indicated that Board of Finance member Joe Kearney had made a point based on an 8 year time frame.
According to Mr. Kearney, the total Town budget increased from $77 million and $177, the Board of Education’s budget alone increased from $46 million to $69 million, inflation is a little over 21%; both, the Town population up 10% and school population up 2%, are decreasing; inflation is up 18% to 20%.
Mr. Woycik continued, noting that the Board of education budget has risen by twice the rate of inflation and that education staffing has grown by 7% where the population has grown by 2%. He noted that for the year 2011/2012 the school added 1 full time staff member for every 2.5 students. Furthermore, Mr. Woycik indicated that school salaries were up 43% and benefits were up 89%, where as the Town budget had risen 21% only slightly higher than inflation. He stressed that the gap between the Town and Board of Education budgets is widening. Mr. Woycik added that both are suffering problems with staffing and benefits and concluded that the budget on a local and state level will be unsustainable and if not addressed will cause greater pain to Newtown citizens.
Mr. Woycik noted that unemployment is up, home devaluation is evident, the school enrollment and the population are declining, wages are decreasing, and although inflation is low there is an ever increasing cost debt to daily essentials. Additionally, he noted that the tax burden will fall most heavily on those with a fixed income, the under employed or the not employed.
For these reasons, Mr. Woycik proposed that Newtown must reduce its budget band curve to a more sustainable level.
Mr. Woycik offered an amendment to reduce the Town budget by $200,000 from account 570, contingency account, and reduce the Board of Education budget by $800,000 from the bottom line. A total combined reduction of $1 million, reducing the budget from $106,626,075 to $105,626,075. The mill rate would be reduced from 24.64 to 24.38, reducing the tax increase rate of 2.68 to 1.59. Mr. Merola seconded the motion.
Mr. Merola agreed with Mr. Woycik and commended the cooperation between the Board of Education and Board of Selectmen. He reminded Council members that at public hearing they heard from three individuals who all expressed a desire to have a 0% increase. Mr. Merola indicated that those who are on social security received a 0% increase this year and will likely receive a 0% increase next year. He added that debt service is on the Town side, but when one splits the debt service the schools make up $67 million and the Town makes up $27 million.
Mr. Merola turned the Council’s attention to the school enrollment. He noted that the High School enrollment analysis as of March was down from the high in November. Mr. Merola reminded the Council that he wasn’t for the expansion originally and now the numbers are proving they overbuilt He added that if you design to build at a peak, you inherently build to excess. Mr. Merola indicated that the original projection for this year was 1893 students where as the actual is 1724 students.
In regards to housing, Mr. Merola stated that there has been no growth in Town for a while. He noted that foreclosures are up, collected conveyance taxes have dropped, and banks are not getting loans. Furthermore, Mr. Merola noted that the largest demographic group in town is Senior citizens who are on social security.
In conclusion, Mr. Merola addressed the number of teachers. He noted that Newtown has too many teachers and way too many electives, yet no room in core classes; and suggests that something should be done at the high school in terms of reduction of staff.
Mr. Amaral addressed the hidden costs suggesting that a good deal of it is money towards the upkeep of the schools. He questioned whether or not all that money needs to be spent there. As a possible solution, Mr. Amaral suggested having a purchasing agent.
According to Mrs. Jacob, she doesn’t disagree with the points brought up and thinks these concerns were brought up last year, but she doesn’t agree with the method and so she doesn’t support the amendment to the motion. Mrs. Jacob noted that she thought the Board of Selectmen led by Mrs. Llodra and the Board of Education worked together and except for the Vice-Principal and social studies teacher they came in with a same services budget. She noted that this budget represents the nature of where the real costs are today. Going forward, Mrs. Jacob suggests that they need to think about all the issues when negotiating contracts and noted that they are already seeing the benefit of the self-funded insurance. She reminded her fellow Council members that efforts are underway
by the Board of Selectman and Board of Education to continue working together looking to provide services without increasing costs.
Mrs. Jacob concluded by telling the Council they should acknowledge the effort put in by the Town and school and put the budget forward setting the stage for further collaboration and effort.
Mr. Davis said he appreciates all the information and their perspective. He blames the increase of property taxes on the state because they saw increasing property taxes as a way of making money.
He noted that there has been a lot of discussion around the second high school expansion and he noted that Newtown knows now that it has a high school expansion that will last and will never have to do it again. He added that the community supported it. Mr. Davis noted that he appreciates looking into rising costs but stressed that he does want to have services.
Mr. Davis told his fellow Council members that they owe it to the voters to present this budget and let the voters decide. He added that he is not ready to support the amendment. Mr. Davis noted that this is a “same services” budget, and he suggested that Newtown look into the question of how they can use technology to expand course offerings without expanding services. He also indicated that he was interested in pressuring the state for alternative revenue resources.
Mr. Belden suggested that the budget was a good step for this year, indicating it was well prepared. He noted that when one spoke with the staff and administrators one saw where they were at with services.
According to Mr. Capeci, this budget process was different than all the others since he joined the Council.
He told the Council that both came together and energy and health care costs were all agreed upon before coming to the Legislative Council, which was a big change from the past.
Mr. Capeci suggested that the amendment was arbitrary and that the person who made it did not know where to make cuts. He noted that any cuts would affect services as proposed. Mr. Capeci indicated that the budget was greater than last year.
He concluded that he would not support the amendment but will support the main motion.
Mr. Woycik explained that in the amendment seeks a budget which will provide same services and suggests removing the money from contingency. He noted that the contingency is for the unexpected.
Regarding the reduction in the Board of education budget, Mr. Woycik reminded the Council that they don’t have the ability to do inline item reductions in their budget.
Unlike the Council, Mr. Fitzgerald noted that many residents were not able to attend the meetings and he suggested that the impact of any cuts would have to be understood. He suggested that when the education committee looked at the impact, there was not anything that could be done on either side and not be felt.
Mr. Fitzgerald suggested that the Council move forward with the budget.
Mr. Hart there has been a 10% enrollment increase in the Language Arts Program in the past 5 years. Since then they’ve added four more language selections to the curriculum. He noted that it was their conclusion they were correct in how they were managing their language department. Mr. Hart informed the Council that the reason the students are taking languages is because they need them to get into colleges. He pointed out students who take world languages score higher on the SAT’s.
Regarding staffing, Mr. Hart noted that the Board had discovered there were too many study halls and to solve the problem they needed teachers to increase the level of classes. Mr. Hart explained that although they don’t have 2 or 3 study halls per student, they still need more credits to graduate.
Dr. Robinson reasoned that if the students do not take an elective, they have to take something else; and if that something else is an extra study hall, they will not have enough credits to graduate.
According to Ms. Fetchick, when Dr. Robinson first came to the district one of the biggest complaints was that there were too many study halls. She noted that now there are approximately 20-28 students in each class and there is a need for an additional teacher due to a greater enrollment in social studies.
Ms. Fetchick pointed out that it is not the Council’s position to dictate the size of classes to the Board of Education. She added that she thinks Newtown should look into using technology to advance course offerings and rather than increasing the number of teachers. Ms. Fetchick suggested Newtown look at other high schools that use technology. She also told fellow Council members that she believes the older students can handle more people in class and suggests Newtown needs to find a balance.
Mr. Hart noted the school is putting on the list, courses that make sense.
Regarding cost savings - particularly the facilities study, Mrs. Jacob said she was disappointed there was no progress with it. She added that she believes a savings could be found closing a school or combining to keep classes.
Chairman Capeci called the amendment which failed in a roll call vote 3-9. Mr. Amaral, Mr. Merola and Mr. Woycik voted “Ye”.
The original motion to endorse the budget passed in a roll call vote 8-4 with Mr. Amaral, Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Merola, and Mr. Woycik voted “Nay”.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Discussion and possible action on: 2011-2012 to 2015-2016, Capital Improvement Plan – Mr. Spragg made the motion to approve the 2011/12 - 2015/16 Capital Improvement Plan with the goal of reducing overall debt service as a percent of the budget to 9%.~ And, refer the supporting policies to get the debt cap. to 9% to the Legislative Council Finance Committee.~ And that a copy of the Capital Improvement Plan be attached to these minutes. Ms. Fetchick seconded.
Mr. Spragg suggests the CIP be referred back to the Board of Finance to establish a policy to get to 9%.
The First Selectman briefly went over the CIP with the Council. Mrs. Llodra noted that the Board of Selectmen approved the CIP, shared it with the Board of Finance and brought it to the Legislative Council for their approval. She noted that combined with other strategies the Board of Selectmen looked at how to achieve a 9% debt cap in an incremental fashion. The First Selectman noted that Newtown needs to make plan to invest in the infrastructure through bonding to reduce the fund balance.
According to Mrs. Llodra, the amount of money in a fund balance should be the target to a financial goal. She noted that the fund balance policy needs to be reviewed. Per policy, the fund balance cannot be less than 5%, but she thinks that is too low; similarly she believes the upper limit of 16% is too high. Additionally, the First Selectman believes that contained in the Fund Balance Policy should be a policy that the Fund Balance Policy is reviewed periodically.
Mr. Davis said he thought this was a great idea, but said he had questions about the debt cap. He noted that Newtown has had a 10% debt cap for a long time and now the town looks to lower the debt cap. Mr. Davis expressed two primary concerns with this: Newtown boxes itself in with the rating agencies; and if the 10% debt would have same impact without changing the policy.
Mrs. Llodra indicated that the preference is to lower the bond rating. She noted that the package that evolves over time is a better gift to give to the community.
Chairman Capeci noted that this was the start of a conversation.
Mr. Spragg noted that in the original policy it was 9%, but Newtown saw the need to raise it to 10%. He suggested that if you go over 9% you need a plan to get back to 9%.
Mr. Fitzgerald said he supports the reduction of the cap to 9%.
The motion was unanimously carried.
NEW BUSINESS (continued):
Discussion and possible action on: Transfer $170,000 from Contingency for various Snow Removal Accounts – Mr. Spragg moved to transfer $170,000 from Contingency to various Snow Removal Accounts. Ms. Fetchick seconded. The motion was unanimously approved.
Discussion and possible action on: Transfer $9,000 from Contingency to Field Service – Mr. Spragg moved to transfer $9,000 from Contingency to Field Service. Ms. Fetchick seconded and the motion unanimously carried.
According to Mr. Tait, Field Service is a company that does personal property audits and the transfer is to pay an old bill that was overlooked from 2008.
Discussion and possible action on: Transfer $19,587.63 from Contingency to Primaries – Mr. Spragg moved to transfer $19,587.63 from Contingency to Primaries. Ms. Fetchick seconded and the motion was unanimously approved.
Mrs. Llodra indicated that the reason for the transfer is that the primaries are not in the budget. She added that there is a potential to have primaries in a given year but you don’t always know.
EXECUTIVE SESSION - Potential resolution of litigation with United Water: Mrs. Llodra stated there was no session to be held that evening; however, she indicated that there would probably be a need for one at the next Council meeting.
POSSIBLE ACTION ON ITEM(S) DISCUSSED IN EXECUTIVE SESSION: none
VOTER PARTICIPATION: none
ANNOUNCEMENTS: none
Mr. Davis indicated that a constituent sent a letter asking who paid for the banner over Queen Street. Chairman Capeci noted that it was not a new banner, but rather the same budget banner modified at a low cost and paid for with funds from the Registrar’s budget.
ADJOURNMENT:
Mr. Spragg made the motion to adjourn at 9:35 pm. Ms. Fetchick seconded and the motion was unanimously carried.
Ted Swigart, Clerk
MOTIONS of the Regular Meeting of the Legislative Council
Held in the Board Room in the Newtown Municipal Center,
3 Primrose Street, Newtown, Connecticut
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
* These are draft minutes and as such are subject to correction by the Legislative Council at the next regular meeting. All corrections will be determined in minutes of the meeting which they were corrected.
Chairman Jeffrey Capeci called the meeting to order at 7:33 pm.
PRESENT: George Ferguson, Ben Spragg, Dan Amaral, Jan Andras, Gary Davis, Rich Woycik, Kevin Fitzgerald, Jim Belden, Bob Merola, Kathy Fetchick, Mary Ann Jacob, and Chairman Jeff Capeci
ABSENT: none
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Patricia Llodra, Finance Director Bob Tait, School Superintendent Janet Robinson, Board of Education Chairman Bill Hart, Board of Finance Chairman John Kortze, 3 members of the press and 8 members of the public.
APPROVAL of MINUTES: Regular Meetings of March 2 and 16, 2011 – Mrs. Jacob moved to accept the minutes of the regular meetings of March 2, 2011 and March 16, 2011. Mr. Ferguson seconded.
Chairman Capeci tabled the minutes of the March 2 meeting and called for a vote on the March 16, 2011 minutes, and the motion was unanimously approved.
Discussion and possible action on: 2011-2012 Town of Newtown Budget –
Mr. Spragg made the motion to adopt the $106,626,075. 2011/2012 budget as proposed by the Board of Finance. Ms. Andras seconded.
Mr. Woycik offered an amendment to reduce the Town budget by $200,000 from account 570, contingency account, and reduce the Board of Education budget by $800,000 from the bottom line. A total combined reduction of $1 million, reducing the budget from $106,626,075 to $105,626,075. The mill rate would be reduced from 24.64 to 24.38, reducing the tax increase rate of 2.68 to 1.59. Mr. Merola seconded the motion.
The amendment failed in a roll call vote 3-9. Mr. Amaral, Mr. Merola and Mr. Woycik voted for the amendment.
The original motion to endorse the budget passed in a roll call vote 8-4. Mr. Amaral, Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Merola, and Mr. Woycik voted against the motion.
Discussion and possible action on: 2011-2012 to 2015-2016, Capital Improvement Plan – Mr. Spragg moved to approve the 2011-2012 to 2015-2016 CIP with hope of reducing debt budget to 9% and refer to Finance Committee the annual CIP. Ms. Fetchick seconded. The motion was unanimously carried.
Discussion and possible action on: Transfer $170,000 from Contingency for various Snow Removal Accounts – Mr. Spragg moved to transfer $170,000 from Contingency to various Snow Removal Accounts. Ms. Fetchick seconded. The motion was unanimously approved.
Discussion and possible action on: Transfer $9,000 from Contingency to Field Service – Mr. Spragg moved to transfer $9,000 from Contingency to Field Service. Ms. Fetchick seconded and the motion unanimously carried.
Discussion and possible action on: Transfer $19,587.63 from Contingency to Primaries – Mr. Spragg moved to transfer $19,587.63 from Contingency to Primaries. Ms. Fetchick seconded and the motion was unanimously approved.
Mr. Spragg made the motion to adjourn at 9:35 pm. Ms. Fetchick seconded and the motion was unanimously carried.
Ted Swigart, Clerk
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