PUBLIC HEARING MINUTES
APRIL 4, 2005
7:15 P.M.
SOUTH WINDSOR COUNCIL CHAMBERS
PURPOSE: TO RECEIVE CITIZEN INPUT ON THE PROPOSED GENERAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005/2006.
The Public Hearing was called to order at 7:15 p.m. by Mayor Edward Havens. The Clerk of the Council read the Call of the Meeting (a copy of which is attached). The following Town Council members were present: Mayor Edward Havens, Deputy Mayor John P. Pelkey, and Councillors Delnicki, Fine, Paquin, Pendleton, Prague, Streeter, and Williams. Town Manager Matthew B. Galligan and Town Attorney Barry D. Guliano were also present.
Town Manager Galligan gave a presentation of the Town of South Windsor 2005/2006 Town Manager’s Proposed & Targeted Budget (Exhibit A). He wanted the residents to be aware of the changes in the budget. As he said previously, there was approximately $2.8M in requests from department heads. He had to reduce that budget by almost $1.3M to $1.4M.
Town Manager Galligan then briefly explained the increases in the Town Budget. He also explained the calculation of the Taxable Grand List and Mill Rate, which is based upon no cuts to the budget by Council or the Board of Education.
The Target Budget for the Board of Education and the Town was also explained by Town Manager Galligan. He said that this is something that the Council put out there to look at and see what the effect to the taxpayers would be.
Various Capital Projects were also discussed by Town Manager Galligan. Exhibit A explains them in more detail.
The overall Town Budget Increase is 5.83% versus the 7.69% that was in the original Manager’s Proposed Budget. The Targeted Tax Increase is 2.497%. They are still using the same 98% for collection. The new Mill Rate will be 32.01. That is a targeted rate that the majority of the Council asked to be looked at, which is why he is presenting this tonight.
Town Manager Galligan said that a minority portion of the Council had a targeted budget and asked that the reduction to the Board of Education be $1.6M and to the Town’s side $211,000. The Target 2% Tax Increase Budget was also discussed in terms of the dollar increase and percent increase for the Board of Education Operating, Town Government Operating, Debt Service Board of Education & Town, and Capital Projects Board of Education & Town. The Mill Rate for these numbers would be 31.85. All of this is explained further in Exhibit A.
Town Manager Galligan then discussed the Summary of The Prior Five Fiscal Years. He wanted to highlight the tax increases and the average reduction to the School Board and the Town.
The October 1, 2004 Grand List was explained by Town Manager Galligan. He explained that the Town had a good revenue structure this year, mainly because of a lot of the new development. The Top Ten Taxpayers were also discussed.
Town Manager Galligan explained why the number of dwelling units pushes the budget. From 1970 to 2000 there was an increase of 121.2%, which causes the town to have a higher population, more roads to plow, more garbage to pick up, more leaves to pick up, and more things to take care of. He explained that the U.S. Department of Statistics will say that inflation is running at about 3% right now and these same costs are in the Town’s budget.
Mayor Havens said that Town Manager Galligan did a super job explaining that, but the one thing that may confuse the public is the Capital Expenditures. He said that the total amount is something like $2M. Town Manager Galligan said that it is an increase over last year of $357,000. Mayor Havens asked what the Capital Projects Budget is this year. Town Manager Galligan said that this year, under the general budget is $2,235,000 but there is also another $400,000 that the Town used in LoCIP Funds, to bring the total number to $2.7M.
Mayor Havens asked what was in the new budget to be spent on Capital Projects. Town Manager Galligan said that the total amount budgeted is $2.5M. Mayor Havens asked if that kind of money is normally spent. Town Manager Galligan said yes, that they have been trying to get the Capital Projects done.
Town Manager Galligan also wanted the Council to be aware of the Tax Impact that Dr. Wood asked him to prepare for the Board of Education, which was distributed to the Council.
Mayor Havens asked if there was anyone from the public that would like to speak.
Mr. Lymon Maytubby, of 16 Lake Street, asked Town Manager Galligan if the numbers that he reported matched the Board of Education’s. Town Manager Galligan said that his were actual numbers after the Town Council cuts the budget. He said that what Mr. Maytubby has is the Board’s proposed budget, which could be different than the actual.
Mr. Donald Belleville, of 18 Alison Drive, asked why is Capital Projects at $2.2M, but in the past it was at $1.7M, $1.7M, $1.6M, why is the Town jumping a half million last year and then another half million on top of that for this year. Town Manager Galligan responded that what has happened in the past is that prior Councillors had a policy that every time Debt Service went up, they lowered Capital to try and balance out between Debt and Capital. He said that in the past before that, they cut Capital Projects in half and they were never able to catch up with projects. So now they are trying to catch up over the years to take care of some of those Capital Needs. He explained that the Capital Projects Committee likes to make sure
that there is enough money there in case something happens unexpectedly, because one year a school roof failed and they needed $500,000.00 and nobody had the money. In a sense it was kind of embarrassing and everyone had to cut Operating Budgets in order to correct the roof, and they don’t want that to happen again.
Mr. Bruce Miller, of 119 Quarry Brook Drive, he asked who was responsible or where does the budget fall in terms of a heating unit being put into a school. Town Manager Galligan said that it would be the Board of Education, that they have their own Facilities Maintenance Budget and they are responsible for all of the operational items.
Mr. Miller then asked if the Town’s budget includes any sinking funds to basically pay for the roof. He asked if it would maybe be better to go out and borrow because the debt service might actually be better than the Town taking the money and not using it for anything and getting a .5% interest on it. Town Manager Galligan said that the Town does not have a true sinking fund because that would be a very expensive proposition for the taxpayers. He explained that the projects are scheduled out 5 to 6 years when they know that something has to be replaced.
Mr. Tom Lines, of 43 Wedgewood Lane, said that the thing that strikes him every year is that it seems to be a contest amongst the different Members of the Town Council about who can propose the lowest possible number, without even knowing a lot of the value of what they might be proposing. He said that one of the Councillors said at one point that South Windsor should model themselves after East Hartford, and he doesn’t understand why they would want to do that, why can’t South Windsor be a model. He said that every year it seems like a game on who can cut the Board of Education money before they even see the details. He said that perhaps the Town should fund a Lobbyist for the purpose of gathering a consensus and approach different legislatures in different towns and gain a consensus for
this.
Mr. Belleville spoke again and asked why the budget keeps going so much higher. He said that even with a 2% increase in taxes there is still a 5.21% increase in the budget. He said that there is additions to the budget even though moneys are coming in from new properties and new land, the budget is jumping quite a bit. He said that the Town is almost up to the value of revaluation, which is at 6-½%, which was very hard on everyone in the Town. He said that the budget should be below 5%.
Mr. Miller stated that the use of numbers is really very subjective. One of the points that he made was that if people take advise from financial advisors one of the things that they say is to take care of yourself first. He said that whether the budget increase is 5 ½ or 6%, this is not the item that is going to push anybody’s budget out of whack. The thing that he said everyone is getting is that they are taking care of themselves, that this is one of the times that people are going to spend something on the services of their own town. Each citizen is benefiting themselves for a change. He said that for the citizens that don’t have children in the schools and that they don’t want increases in taxes, in fact, the school Board has increased the value of their total
assets more so than if they had a bad school system.
There being no further discussion, Mayor Havens called for a Straw Vote of the audience, the results of which were as follows:
Those in favor of increasing the Proposed General Government Budget for Fiscal Year 2005/2006. – 2
Those in favor of decreasing the Proposed General Government Budget for Fiscal Year 2005/2006. – 4
Those in favor of the Proposed General Government Budget for Fiscal Year 2005/2006 as presented. – 0
Respectfully submitted,
________________________________
Vanessa Perry
Assistant to the Clerk of the Council
Attachment (Exhibit A)
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