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02/16/2016 03:30 PMIncreased health insurance costs account for about half of the 3.3 percent increase for the town’s and school’s proposed 2016-2017 budgets, town officials say. The combined Board of Education (BOE) and town recommended budget for the coming year came in at $80,363,058, a $2.9 million increase from last year, and won approval from the BOE and Board of Selectmen (BOS), but the proposal to offset some of the impact of the increase by tapping town reserves split the BOS down party lines.
The BOE recommended budget is $55.8 million, an increase of 3.65 percent over current spending. The town budget came in at $24.6 million, an increase of 2.53 percent. First Selectman Tom Banisch said a large portion of the increase is due to a rise in health insurance costs, which went up a combined 13.2 percent.
“The budget we are looking at this year includes $2.9 million in increased costs,” he said in a statement. “Unavoidable health insurance increases account for more than half of that.”
Banisch said that aside from insurance, the schools are seeking an increase of $600,000 and the town, $800,000.
“The increase on the school side is primarily contractual, so it is unavoidable,” Banisch said.
Banisch’s proposal to the Board of Finance (BOF) to use an additional $800,000 from the town’s general fund to offset spending increases to maintain a flat mill rate left selectmen divided.
The recommendation passed 3-2, with Democrats Joan Walker and Al Goldberg voting against the proposal. Banisch said he knows the recommendation is unprecedented, but he believes it’s the right step.
“I am trying to take this year only and put it toward minimizing the increase in expenses to keep the mill rate down,” he said. “If we keep the mill rate as flat as possible, we are actually helping everybody.”
The funds to offset the mill rate, which is currently 25.76, would in turn be offset by the current budget surplus, according to Banisch.
“If we take that money that was left over from this year, and we put it back into keeping the mill rate down, we are not hurting the general fund and then what we are doing is we are helping the mill rate because basically what we are doing is paying down part of the increase,” he said.
Banisch said the proposal is relative to budget and he wouldn’t do this every year, but the plan is still facing opposition.
Opponents of the plan told Banisch it’s “too risky, too radical, it’s not the way we do things here in town,” he said. “I am asking to do this just for one year to hold things down. I am trying to pick our pockets at the end of this year and put that money towards the mill rate. I think it is fairly creative.”
BOF Chairman Joe MacDougald said Banisch’s recommendation is one of many reasons this will be an interesting budget year.
MacDougald pointed out that residents should take notice of the nearly $500,000 drop in the debt service this year.
“It is an artifact of the way we pay our debt and we retired certain bonds and we got a one-time roughly $500,000 pick-up for the budget,” he said. “Next year we won’t have that.”
MacDougald said the drop is a great opportunity for residents to get more involved in the budget process and voice their opinions.
“Swings down and up can be very disruptive,” he said. “You try and keep taxes low and taxes steady. It is a great thing, but you can’t just spend into it because it will reverse next year. It is a great occasion for people to come and voice their opinions because we will be talking about all of this at our meetings.”
The first presentation of the recommended Capital Improvement Plan, BOE budget, and town budget will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Polson Middle School.