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03/21/2016 12:00 AMNext year’s proposed town budget asks for a $1.84 million spending increase at a time when the town will see a $1 million decrease in Grand List revenue and an uptick in bonding debt, to the tune of $248,000.
“This year, it’s a story about the Grand List,” Town Manager Michael Paulhus told Zip06. “With revaluations and the adjustments, our Grand List saw a 2.5 percent decrease. That’s a large hurdle to get over.”
The total Grand List decrease equals $1,007,215. Adding to that hurdle is the $248,634 first payment due on the town’s $5 million bonding package taken last year. The bonding was needed to address infrastructure issues including road repairs. The town’s total debt service (interest due for all bonds) for 2016-17 will cost $5,763,675.
“If you combine the debt service increase and the Grand List decrease, that comes out to $1,255,849,” noted Paulhus. “So we’re starting at $1.2 million in the hole before we begin the (budget review) process. To put that in perspective, one mil is equal to $1.2 million. That’s how difficult this budget season is.”
That’s the challenge now facing the Town Council, which is also the town’s Finance Board. The nine-member council begins reviewing a total proposed 2016-17 town budget of $52.3 million during workshops this week. On March 15, Paulhus presented the council with a 2016-17 budget summary seeking $14,700,042 in proposed spending for town government operations and $5,763,675 in debt service. Those figures are rolled together the Board of Education’s (BOE) recommended schools budget of $31,841,885 to create a total 2016-17 budget request of $52,305,602 which is an increase of 3.65 percent over the current budget. In dollars, the increase amounts to $1,840,997.
The town government side of the budget shows no dollar impact for capital items, as Paulhus has repeated last year’s budget strategy of seeking outside funding and self-funded programs within departments to address capital expense requests.
“I told the department heads we’re not out of the woods yet -- if it’s not absolutely critical, it’s not going to get funded,“ said Paulhus.
A few exceptions may be covered by offsets created by some savings seen this year, such as fuel and gas costs. One area that will be covered by offsets for town departments is an additional $195,116 needed for wages and benefits, offset by $195,650 in “risk corridor” savings from this fiscal year, said Paulhus. In addition, fuel and gas savings will kick in $44,630. Also on a positive note, the town will have some revenue available from the General Fund , after biting the bullet and taking no dollars from that revenue stream last year.
“One positive is that the fund balance is healthy and so we’re using $350,000,” to assist with spending next year, said Paulhus.
The town government side of the budget seeks an annual increase of .95 percent. The schools side of the budget seeks an annual increase of 4.79 percent.
As previously reported, the BOE added a 0.42 increase to Superintendent of Schools Scott Schoonmaker’s recommended 2016-17 schools budget. Factors adding to the BOE-approved increase include a 0.15 increase to hire a Jerome Harrison Elementary School librarian, to be offset by removing a current paraprofessional position. Other items the BOE added into Schoonmaker’s proposed budget include a 0.21 percent increase for school board funding to retain an intermediate school instructional coach, and a 0.4 percent increase to open up an additional four student spots in a partial day program for the arts at a New Haven magnet school.
The proposed schools budget includes a contractual 2.32 percent salary increase, a 1.29 benefits increase, 0.43 percent increase for special education tuition and behavioral services, and 0.4 percent increase for adjustment for natural gas and usage.
As noted by schools’ Personnel and Finance Director Donald Winnicki at the Jan. 21 BOE budget workshop, at least a 3.92 percent schools budget increase will be needed just to maintain current staff and programs in the district.
The public can weigh in all items in the proposed town budget during a budget hearing scheduled for April 5, 7 p.m. As of press time, the hearing location was not published; check www.townofnorthbranfordct.com for updated information.