Those in attendance included Mayor Ryan J. Bingham, City Councilors Rick Dalla Valle, Marie Soliani, and Elinor Carbone, Board of Finance Members Daniel Farley, Laurene Pesce, Mark Bushka, Wendy Traub, James Zeller and Thomas Scoville, Comptroller Alice Proulx, Fire Chief Field, Deputy Fire Chief Gary Brunoli, Police Chief Michael Maniago, Deputy Police Chief Christopher Smedick, Officer Shopey, and Administrative Assistant to the Mayor Stephen Nocera. City Councilors Thomas Jerram, and Paul Samele were absent. City Councilor Drake Waldron arrived at 7:00 p.m. Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 5:00
p.m.
PRESENTATION: BUDGET
Mayor Bingham presented his intentions for the budget. He said the budget started out with a 10% increase totaling $57,227,017, and after Department Head and subcommittee meetings, he cut the budget 3.4 million dollars bringing the increase down to 3.45%. Major cost drivers included $523,109 of wage increases, $580,641 of health and life insurance increases, $124,909 of refuse removal increases, $87,000 of projected gas and fuel increases, and $100,000 of Parks and Recreation capital improvements. Mayor Bingham said that last year there was an unprecedented 100% cooperation from City Unions to take no wage increase, allowing the City to present no tax increase. He summarized last year's revaluation and its affect on the budget, and said 2.5 million in grants have been received and requested. Some of the budget
highlights include maintaining the current road reconstruction schedule, and maintaining the current levels of public safety and City services. The current budget presented is $53,709,070 or a 3.23% increase. He said this has been a very difficult year but next year there might be a potential catastrophe in state aid. There is a huge deficit that the State has to keep an eye on, so as soon as this year's budget is done, we have to prepare for next year. Mayor Bingham said he intends to put together a group of people from our boards, commissions and city staff, not just Dept. Heads. He is creating a Blue Ribbon Commission on Budgeting, and he wants to work with the Board of Finance to create a Fund Balance Policy and a shared policy with the City, Board of Finance and Board of Education for a health insurance
fund balance. He will work hand in hand with the new health and welfare benefits consultant, the Board of Education staff and City staff to implement programs that may save money on health insurance.
Mrs. Traub requested every department go through their budget again, get rid of the wants, and decide what is a need and what is a necessity because that's the only way to find a million dollars without affecting jobs.
Councilor Dalla Valle questioned the increase in refuse removal, when single-stream recycling was supposed to save us money. Mayor Bingham said the increase would have been larger without single-stream recycling. Councilor Dalla Valle asked if merely maintaining Public Safety staffing is sufficient. Chief Maniago said there were 51,000 calls for service in 2009, and they are expected to increase to 58,000 this year. He said any time calls for service go up by thousands and personnel does not increase to meet that demand, there will be a strain on the response for those calls for service. Chief Field said the Fire Department calls for service have
had only a slight increase in the past few years.
In response to Mr. Farley's question, Chief Maniago explained dispatch staffing plans. Mayor Bingham added that conceptually, our employees will be needed at LCD. Mr. Farley questioned the overtime figure, suggesting part time employees fill in. Chief Maniago said when there is a vacancy, the full time employees are offered first, and the part time offered second.
Mr. Bushka questioned the overtime figure since there are more calls for the same amount of officers. Chief Maniago said the supervisors scrutinize the overtime on the shift and division level, making sure it lasts throughout the year, but unexpected things do happen. Mr. Bushka clarified that $400,000 in resources are needed, with the City requesting 1.6 million dollar increase and the Board of Education requesting a 2.1 million dollar increase while the non-taxable revenue is down $400,000. He pointed out that 2.4 million was taken from the fund balance last year to maintain the same level of service and now we're looking at somewhere over 6
million.
Mayor Bingham said he is not recommending 2.5 million be taken from the fund balance again this year, but rather to try to find balance in order to get to a point next year where we're actually adding money back into the fund balance, not taking it away.
Councilor Soliani said she does not recommend acceptance of this budget, as it needs a lot more cuts. She said this isn't fair to the taxpayers of Torrington at this time, and asked the Mayor to go back to the directors on the City side to find something more, so we don't have to burden taxpayers so much.
Mayor Bingham asked Councilor Soliani for specific suggestions where cuts could be made to find 1.6 million dollars, without cutting staff. To put it in perspective, he said, if every employee had a zero percent wage increase, that would still only be around $500,000. An additional 1.1 million would still need to be found.
Mr. Zeller commented that ultimately we've got to grow the tax base with a seamless plan between all City Department Heads to make Torrington an attractive place to have a business, redevelop properties and 'grow the pie.' Mayor Bingham said he agrees 100%, and we have grown the Grand List outside of the revaluation this year. He said the Economic Development Office, Planning & Zoning and the entire Land Use group is doing everything they can to prepare for future development when the recession ends.
Mayor Bingham called a recess at 6:00 p.m.
Public Hearing – proposed 2010/2011 budget, except the school budget Mayor Bingham opened the Public Hearing at 7:00 p.m. City Clerk Joseph Quartiero read the legal notice.
Mr. Gerald Zordan of 232 Klug Hill Rd., Board of Safety Commissioner, spoke on the police portion of the budget. He compared 2009 to 2007, saying there were 27% more calls for service, 25% more arrests, 63% more vehicle stops, 43% more infractions and 91% more written warnings for motor vehicle enforcement. These numbers are dramatic, he said, and indicate a huge increase in service for the Police Department. Mr. Zordan said he would like to see the two people added that Chief Maniago needs, which is less than 2 1/2 %, one tenth of the average increase. He said he is in favor of working harder and smarter but we have to give the Police Department the ability to do their jobs.
Mr. Brian Cornell of 287 Allison Dr., President of Torringford Volunteer Fire Department, spoke in support of the Fire Service budget overall and on behalf of the 32 members and auxiliary members of Torringford Fire Department, he asked for the City's continued support in the annual stipend of $27,500. This amount is just shy of what it costs to keep their doors open for the basics – insurance, vehicle maintenance, and mandated turnout gear. He said the balance of their $68,000 budget is raised through fundraisers, and they are here 24/7, 365 days a year since 1957. He said they appreciate the City's support.
Mr. Bill Lamoin of 264 Allen Rd. commented on the overall budget, saying the City has to face the reality of the economy we're living in. Torrington residents are lucky to have jobs, and if they have jobs they're making less money than they used to make, working less overtime, with small businesses struggling hard to survive. He said it is the wrong thing to do to consider any increases in any budgets. He suggested the City look at some of their services, and consider privatizing.
Mr. William Moran of 11 Clearview Ave. endorsed what Mr. LeMoyne just said. He commended the Mayor, the Board of Finance and City Council for holding the budget last year, and suggested it be done again this year. He suggested that as budgets are looked at, the City should consider that this country is facing extremely difficult times. Mayor Bingham closed the Public Hearing at 7:10 p.m.
At 7:10 p.m. Councilor Carbone made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Councilor Soliani, and unanimously approved.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC CITY CLERK Respectfully Submitted, Carol L. Anderson, CCTC Asst. City Clerk
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