MINUTES
PUBLIC HEARING
BOARD OF FINANCE & BOARD OF COUNCILMEN
MAY 11, 2006
A PUBLIC HEARING was held by the Board of Finance and the Board of Councilmen on May 11, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in the City Hall Auditorium on the proposed 2006-07 city budget, with the exception of the Board of Education budget.
Those in attendance included Mayor Ryan J. Bingham, City Councilors James F. McKenna, Thomas C. Jerram, Rick E. Dalla Valle, Andrew J. Slaiby, Board of Finance members Bruce Cornish, Mark Bushka, Daniel Farley, Joseph Nader and James Zeller. Councilor Marie P. Soliani, and Drake L. Waldron, and Board of Finance member James Nichol were absent
Mayor Bingham called the public hearing to order at 7:00 p.m.
City Clerk Joseph L. Quartiero read the legal notice.
Mayor Bingham made his presentation and noted that the budget as of mid January was $49,791,145.00. After meeting with department heads and the budget sub-committee, the budget was reduced by $925,888.00 to a new bottom line of $48,865,257.00. The sub committee consisted of several members of the Council and Mr. Cornish from the Board of Finance. This committee was quite beneficial because it brought the Board of Finance members into the budget process earlier and informed them of the Mayor’s priorities. It gave them an opportunity to discuss the issues that come up at City Council meetings.
Some of the large increases were because of state mandates but offset by anticipated revenue. There was an increase of $458,000.00 in the City Clerk’s budget that will be offset by a revenue affecting a zero dollar increase to the taxpayers. Equipment Maintenance increased by $200,000.00 because of fuel costs. By selling fuel to the Torrington Area Health, the Board of Education, Northwest Transit and our Nutrition Program, $40,000.00 of the fuel cost will come back to the city as revenue. The Tax Collector’s interest will also have a net effect of zero to the taxpayer’s.
Some of the mandated increases which we have no control over include the following:
$ 77,000.00 in Utility costs
$ 85,000.00 for Refuse and Recycling
$100,000.00 for Heart & Hypertension payments
$125,000.00 for the Revaluation of the Grand List
$149,354.00 for Pension & Benefits
$189,000.00 for Debt Interest; the bonding of the Torringford School.
Mayor Bingham, the Council, and the budget subcommittee felt the increase of $188,000.00 for four new patrolmen was justified. Due to some strategic hiring processes, the city will get four new officers for the price of three in the coming year.
The Vehicle Replacement Fund, which the city has been budgeting at more than $600,000.00 a year, has accrued to approximately $1.2 million dollars. The Mayor’s proposal was to cut the amount being budgeted in half. This was not to say that we won’t need to go back to $600,000.00 next year. The city will freeze the Vehicle Replacement Account for the 2006-2007 budget year except for emergencies. The fund will be scrutinized in the coming year to see where it stands.
Through attrition in the street department, the city saved $40,000.00.
In conclusion, Mayor Bingham stated that the proposed city budget totaled $48,865,257.00.
Michael Domack, 119 Kinney Street, asked the Board of Finance to consider a responsible budget, keeping in mind that rising gasoline prices will inevitably have a tremendous impact on all communities. Despite all the positive comments the Board of Finance received during the Public Hearing held on the school budget, there exists as many reasons to rule against it as well.
David Morrissette, 200 Northside Drive, asked the Board of Finance what they proposed to do about the ever increasing taxes in Torrington.
Mayor Bingham stated that the boards keep in mind those people on fixed incomes and do their best to keep the budgets to a bare minimum. It’s not an easy task to maintain the level of services provided by this town, especially with the rising price of gas.
Councilor Jerram answered a question concerning revaluation and indicated that the State of Connecticut requires that all properties are revalued every five to seven years. To do that, the state requires the towns and cities to hire a revaluation company. It’s a very intensive project to revalue eleven thousand homes. An allocation of money is budgeted every year so when the revaluation is accomplished in 2007 for the 2008 grand list, the taxpayers won’t be presented with a $900,000.00 bill.
James Reginatto, 111 Torrington Heights Road, asked the boards to consider using a portion of the $4.5 million dollars in the Undesignated Fund Balance.
Comptroller Alice Proulx stated that we don’t intentionally put any funds into the Undesignated Fund Balance. If we have residuals from our net of revenues to expenditures, it will either increase or decrease the fund balance. In speaking with our Bond Rating Agency, she was informed that they look at our trend. If we start dipping into our fund balance, it could affect our bond rating, which could affect the interest we will pay when we borrow money.
Mr. Reginatto stated that the Undesignated Fund was far from being $4.5 million when he was a Councilman eight years ago and the city’s bond rating hasn’t changed. He noted that we are the only town in Connecticut that has a 100% guarantee of taxes being collected.
Having no further questions or comments, Mayor Bingham declared the Public Hearing closed at 7:17 P.M.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
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