This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
04/16/2019 12:00 AMThe annual budget referendum: It’s not as exciting as a national midterm or presidential election, but it’s arguably the most influential vote a Madison resident can make in regards to the affect that vote has on their daily lives. Town officials are asking residents to attend the second budget public hearing on Monday, April 22 to listen, learn, and ask questions before the budget referendum on Tuesday, May 14.
The combined town and schools fiscal year 2019-’20 budget comes to $84,638,943, an increase in spending over last year of $1,571,742 or 1.89 percent. The next budget public hearing is Monday, April 22 at 7 p.m. at Walter C. Polson Middle School. Board of Finance (BOF) Chair Jean Fitzgerald encouraged all resident to attend.
“The BOF would like urge the Madison community to attend the budget public hearing,” she said. “The public hearing gives the residents of Madison the opportunity to give direct, constructive, and meaningful feedback on the planning and financial decisions being made by their elected officials.”
The Town Budget
The town budget comes to $26,590,840, an increase in spending of $1,627,350 or 6.52 percent. The town budget includes contractual salary increases, an uptick in health insurance, an investment in capital as recommended by the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Committee, and a small jump in debt service due to the addition of the library renovation bonds.
In addition, the budget includes a $150,000 addition to the library operating budget, reflecting the town commitment to steadily restore the library operating budget in anticipation of the new building opening in 2020, and a $110,000 infusion into the Madison Ambulance Association, which is currently operating at a loss.
The town is looking at a significant operating increase this year, but Selectman Bruce Wilson said previously that this level of increase is not going to become the norm. He said the town budget has had very small increases over the years in comparison to the Board of Education (BOE) and the selectmen wanted to take this year to try to catch up on projects and department needs that had been pushed out.
“We were counting on something like a million [dollars] lower from the schools—not that we were looking to spend all of that—and we were looking to take that tailwind from the BOE budget and use it to right size,” he said.
The Schools Budget
The BOE proposed budget, the district’s first with a closed Island Avenue School, comes to $58,048,103, a decrease in spending of $55,608 or 0.10 percent. The budget represents a decrease in spending for general education, school facilities, debt service, and flat funding for maintenance. Items driving an offsetting increase to the budget include special education and health insurance.
Coming into this budget, the administration promised the town would recognize a savings from the closure of Island Avenue Elementary School. The BOE voted in 2017 to close Island due to declining enrollment. Rough estimates at the time suggested the closure would yield a savings of anywhere from about $800,000 to $1 million, a savings that would be first recognized this coming fiscal year with the school formally slated for closure in June 2019.
The final number attributed to the closure of Island and reconfiguration of the district is $972,245, a 1.67 percent reduction off the base budget. When the BOE first approved its budget, some board members argued for a larger overall savings for the closure, but Superintendent of Schools Tom Scarice said previously even though there is one fewer building and fewer staff, this budget still has fixed costs like contractual increases.
Revenue and the Mill Rate
Residents do not vote on the projected revenue budget, but those numbers are taken into account when the budget is built.
Finance Director Stacy Nobitz previously said she is assuming flat funding in terms of state revenue this coming year. She also said she is assuming that Governor Ned Lamont’s proposal to push a portion of the teacher pension payments onto towns will hold.
The Grand List unofficially went up 1.15 percent, a jump from the historical average of 0.65 percent; that figure is not final until all assessment appeals are completed. Under the current assumptions, the mill rate would go up 0.27 mills or 0.96 percent. Assuming an average assessed home value of $400,000, the mill rate increase would result in an additional $107 in taxes next fiscal year.
Absentee Voting Information
Absentee ballots will be made available in the Town Clerk’s office, 8 Campus Drive, by Friday, April 26.
To learn more about how to obtain an absentee ballot for the May 14 budget referendum, visit www.madisonct.org.
The second budget public hearing is Monday, April 22 at 7 p.m. at Polson Middle School. The budget presentations, supporting reports, and meeting dates can all be found on the town website at www.madisonct.org. The budget referendum is Tuesday, May 14.