MINUTES
PUBLIC HEARING
BOARD OF FINANCE
MAY 6, 2003
A PUBLIC HEARING was held by the Board of Finance on Tuesday, May 6, 2003, in the City Hall Auditorium on the proposed budget for the Torrington Public Schools for the fiscal period July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004.
In attendance were Mayor Owen J. Quinn, Jr., members of the Board of Finance Theodore Miasek, Diane Libby, and Bruce Cornish (7:18 p.m.) Board of Education members Margaret Chadwick, CHM., Laurene Pesce, Thomas Slaiby, A. Bates Lyons, Dawn Lambert, Kenneth Edwards, Ronald Bourque, Robert Kelly, and Hans Reichardt, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Gregory Riccio, Business Services Administrator Hugh Murphy, and Directory of Human Resources Gary Lambour.
Mayor Quinn called the public hearing to order at 7:10 p.m.
Chairman of the Board of Education Margaret Chadwick turned the meeting over to Hugh Murphy who conducted a powerpoint presentation on the 2003-2004 school budget.
He noted that enrollment for the forthcoming year was basically flat.
He explained that the Board of Education and the City were on a self insured plan for health insurance whereby the cost was split between the two entities. The Board of Education will be responsible for 63.6% of the total cost next year. An anticipated health insurance credit comparable to recent years had not yet been built into their budget. The credit would potentially decrease their overall budget increase of 6.44% by 1%.
Director of Human Services Gary Lambour reviewed staffing positions. Included in the budget was the addition of one Special Education teacher at Forbes School. If the merger between Gateway and Southeast took place, the addition of the following would be needed: four regular teachers, 4/10ths guidance counselor, one instructional assistant and a Southeast special education teacher. They were adding .25 secretarial assistant, and one Technician to handle computer issues throughout the school system. The proposed additional staff totaled 8.65.
The board proposed reducing 2/10ths of an administrator whereby one current administrator would work 8/10ths instead of full time, one less teacher at Torrington High School, one less teacher at Torringford through attrition, eliminate one Instructional Assistant at East School, two at Forbes School, two at Vogel, and one at Southwest, eliminate one Medicaid Secretary due to the reduction in funding, and eliminate one custodian at the High School, for a total loss at 10.2 positions. The overall net savings was 1.5 less staff under this budget.
Mr. Murphy indicated that salaries and benefits attributed to three quarters of their budget. Torrington ranked 11% less than the average when compared to the state and 6% less when compared to other districts within the same ERG (economic reference group). Torrington ranked 13th out of sixteen towns comparable in size and 124th out of 169 towns for per pupil cost in the year 2001-2002.
Mrs. Libby asked the public to specify whether they were willing to pay additional taxes in support of the Board of Education budget as proposed. If they were not willing to pay more taxes but supported the budget, where would they be willing to see the Board of Finance make cuts on the city side. She noted that the budgets, as presented, would increase the mill rate by 3.5.
Robert Ross, 116 Winthrop Street, indicated that he wholeheartedly supported the passage of the Board of Education budget as is because cuts would eliminate teachers and create larger class sizes which would ultimately compromise the education of the children. He urged the Board of Finance to accept the budget as is and favored a tax increase even though it would be difficult.
As a point of order, Ms. Lambert stated that the expected mill rate should be broken down for the city side as well as the Board of Education side.
Mrs. Libby indicated that the breakdown wasn’t available at this time.
Ms. Proulx indicated that she had not yet received revenue figures for the Board of Education, however, their expenditures were close to $3 million, which was close to two mills.
In terms of dollars, Mr. Miasek indicated that spending for the proposed education budget was up by 10.1%.
Mr. Cornish indicated that Mr. Murphy’s figures were somewhat misleading because the Board of Finance used $1.6 million of prior year surplus funds last year to write down the overall tax increase for the town. Since those dollars aren’t available this year, $1.6 million in additional revenues will be required because of the one time use of funds last year, and that’s before they even take the city’s budget into consideration.
Beth Michalec, 265 Highland Avenue, a teacher of second grade students at East School, spoke in support of the budget. She indicated that she would be willing to pay higher taxes if she had to because the educational system of the city is what helps to make the city what it is. She urged the Board of Education not to increase the student / teacher ratio.
It made no sense to cut resources at a time when school systems are being held accountable for the new “No Child Left Behind” Act. She noted that the school system had spent a lot of money on technology in the recent past years and it was unfortunate that the staff didn’t have the support to help them with it.
Noel Croce, 155 Sycamore Drive, indicated that she was willing to pay more taxes for education even though she had no children in the school system, and she is not a teacher. She believed the most cost effective way to spend tax dollars was to have a well-educated community. Not providing children with a well-rounded education will cost the city dearly in the long run.
Jack McKeon, 142 Cedar Lane, noted that it was his choice to send his children to parochial school and therefore was paying twice, but, even so, he was not speaking against the school budget. He inquired about the number of personnel in the school system. (Total of 621.7)
Anthony Basso, 31 Chamberlain Street, thought the school budget should be drastically reduced. He noted that the bulk of the budget was made up of salaries and benefits and that contracts should be better negotiated. He inquired whether the Council read and analyzed the contracts prior to approving them.
Mayor Quinn said he couldn’t speak for every Council person, but ostensibly, all contracts were read and understood before being accepted.
He inquired about the cost per pupil. ($8,970.00).
Mr. Basso stated that he was not in favor of paying more taxes since he was a senior citizen on a fixed income. An increase in taxes would mean that he and his wife would have to deprive themselves of certain things and he didn’t believe it was fair to him and many other seniors who were in the same position.
He inquired why contractors and inspectors weren’t being held responsible for unsatisfactory work, leaving the burden of repairing school buildings to the taxpayers.
Mr. Basso suggested basing Torrington’s budget on what the city could afford rather than comparing it to other towns.
Doug O’Connell, 156 Red Oak Hill, noted that his daughter had benefitted greatly from the education she had received from the Torrington School District. She profited, not only by reading writing and arithmetic, but through TAG, sports, being on the Student Council, etc., and he believed that all students should be afforded the same opportunities. He was prepared to pay more taxes in order for other children to have the same opportunities that his daughter was given. He hoped the city would continue to spend as much time and energy bringing in additional revenues as they do in trying to cut dollars that are necessary for the services of the taxpayers of this community.
Thomas Slaiby, member of the Board of Education, stated that housing was being developed at a rapid pace in Torrington, and that meant additional services, including education. He thought the valuation of the city should be considered and how the town would be affected if large corporations left the city in the future. He believed the city should set up a trust fund to build new schools in the future. He favored major projects like downtown renovation and the court house, and suggested changes like supplying the Police Department with mid-size vehicles.
Carol Wright, 136 Wright Road, supported the Board of Education budget. She noted that education was an investment in our future, not just for our children but for our town. It was her belief that the value of Torrington was important and being fifth from the bottom in terms of education wasn’t favorable.
Mayor Quinn thanked everyone for attending and called the public hearing to a close at 8:08 p.m.
ATTEST: JOLINE LeBLANC
ASST. CITY CLERK
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