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North Stonington Board of Finance
Draft Town Budget Hearing Minutes
of
Monday May 14, 2012
Elementary School
North Stonington, CT
- The hearing was opened at 7:00 PM by Dan Spring, chairman of the Board of Finance, with an introduction of Board members including Emile Pavolvics, Peter Nimirowski, Mustapha Ratib and Brent Woodward. Elwin Bresette was absent. Dan Spring started the presentation by noting that the Town’s A1 rating from Moody Corporation indicated a low risk to securing loans. A detailed presentation of the Town’s overall financial state, both current and future, followed. A summary of the proposed FY 2012-13 budget is shown in the following table. This budget is $2,681,180 higher than the current and requires a mil rate increase of 6.35 (20.29 vice 26.64).
Govt Operating |
$ 6,379,625 |
Capital |
$ 453,227 |
Debt |
$ 1,334,370 |
Education |
$ 12,523,087 |
Total |
$ 20,690,309 |
First Selectmen Nick Mullane stated that the government operating budget reflected reduced hours/compensation to Town hall employees and additional cost for storm damage including bridge repair.
Walter Mathwich, BOE member, provided an overview of the school budget. The following educators addressed the hearing with budgets specific to their areas of responsibility.
- Veronica O. Wilkison, Elementary School Principal
- Christopher Sandford, High School/Middle School Principal
- Susan E. Costa, Special Education Director
- Greg Pont, Information Technology Director
The combined school budget totaled $12,522,327, which is a slight variance of what is shown above.
- Subsequent to the budget presentations, budget comments were solicited from the audience. These comments are as follows:
- Elaine Boissevain questioned why the Town was striving to be debt free by 2014 in light of how cheap money was to borrow.
- Liz Haddad and Eleanor Johnson spoke on behalf of the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center telling how grateful the Town was to be a recipient of the services.
- Brad Borden had numerous questions regarding teacher and student totals and wanted to know what the cause(s) for the tax increase. He thought it would be beneficial to provide an example of the revaluation and its impact on the mil rate. He stated his displeasure with shortening the hours in the Town hall. In closing he cautioned that with a declining student population it may be time to reevaluate the schools as they are.
- Brian Rathbun said he would like to see an itemized list of computer equipment and wanted an explanation of spending $5,000 on the Hewitt property. This was provided.
- Joe Gross also did not like the $5,000 Hewitt property expense. He questioned what the debt would be after 2014 knowing that the firehouse complex and school modifications were coming. He asked if the BOF was developing a future spending plan and did not like cuts in the Town hall employee compensation. He encouraged the BOF to adopt a “show me” approach to reviewing budgets at the department level.
- Larry Southwick inquired if the Main Street bridge repair was on schedule and on budget and if FEMA could be expected to reimburse the Town.
- Tim Main thought the school had a plan for the future but the Town did not. He questioned the need for three troopers and was opposed to cutbacks in the Town hall. He noted how sparsely populated the chairs in the auditorium were for budget hearing.
- Louis Steinbrecher wanted to know if the undesignated reserve could be increased from 7 to 10 percent in the next year.
- Nita Kincaid asked if the budget would go to referendum or be decided at a Town meeting.
3. The meeting adjourned at 9:30 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Brent Woodward
Secretary, Board of Finance
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