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03/25/2024 08:51 AMWith a public hearing over the proposed budget coming up on Thursday, April 4, the Harbor News took a closer look at the proposed town and education budgets. The public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Town Hall.
The Town Council voted on Feb. 27 to send a proposed combined budget of $64,788,955 to a public hearing next month. The proposed total spending package is a $2,640,000, or 4.25%, increase over the current 2023-’24 budget. However, the tax rate is proposed to increase by 2.78%.
The proposed town budget is $23,964,131 (a $588,053 or 2.52% increase), and the proposed education budget is $40,824,824 (a $ 2,051,947 or 5.29% increase). The current mil rate is 29.83 but would rise to 30.66 under the proposal.
At the public hearing, taxpayers can voice their opinions for or against the education or town budgets. Immediately following the public hearing, the town council will hold a special meeting at which it can make any last changes to either the education or town budget before sending the budget to a referendum in May.
The Town Budget
The town side of the budget is proposed at $23,964,131 (a $588,053 or 2.52% increase).
Former Town Manager Karl Kilduff worked with the council on the initial proposed budget, not current interim Town Manager Richard Brown. Despite that caveat, Brown was able to shed some light on the town side of the budget.
Brown said that the proposed town budget eliminates no staffing positions or town-provided services.
Brown pointed to inflation as a primary driver of the increased spending on the town side.
As for capital projects on the town side, Town Council chairperson Carrie Allen said the budget includes money for items like sidewalk installation, fire department equipment replacement, police vehicle replacement, paving, Eliot house exterior work, baseball field drainage, and transfer station waste.
The Education Budget
The proposed education budget is $40,824,824 (a $ 2,051,947 or 5.29% increase).
Superintendent of Schools Maryann O’Donnell said that, in addition to inflation, other factors contributed to the increase in the education budget.
“The increases in the Board of Education's budget request are related to salary and health benefit increases as well as a sharp increase in the costs for special education, which is attributed to transportation and costs for special needs student programming,” O’Donnell said.
As for programming, O’Donnell said that the proposed budget supports the current academic and extracurricular programming.
“This year's budget process was driven by rising costs and increasing student needs, coupled with a commitment to investing in our students by maintaining the programs and services our students require and deserve. Board members worked throughout the process of budget development to view decisions through the lens of fiscal responsibility. The Board made reductions to the initial proposal, while still ensuring that the approved funding request represented true needs of the district and prioritized and directed the funding to student learning and programs,” O’Donnell said.
When asked about staffing changes, O’Donnell said, “There are adjustments in staffing in this budget proposal that include a reduction of a part-time position involved in special education secondary transition and reducing a nurse position that had been maintained to manage district health management during the pandemic.”
“While there are no new staff positions proposed in this budget, there are two mental health staff positions that were previously funded by a grant and are now included in the 2024-2025 operational budget request,” she continued.
The capital improvement projects on the education side of the budge include projects like technology replacement, facilities security, painting, flooring, and field upgrades, window replacement, an HVAC replacement plan developed for Joel and Eliot, and addressing the building envelope and siding of the Joel Annex.
The Process
The next step in the process is to hear what voters have to say at the public hearing. During the hearing, speakers can speak positively, negatively, or neutrally about both the proposed budgets. The Town Council will then deliberate one final time immediately after the hearing to make any adjustments to the proposed budget.
Though the town and education budgets comprise the total budget, residents will vote on them separately when they approve or deny the budget at a referendum on May 8.
That means voters can pass one budget and reject the other in the same referendum.
If one or both of the budgets fail, the town council revises them immediately following the vote. The following week, another public hearing will be held, and another referendum will be held the week after the public hearing.
Budget cycles in Clinton were a highly contentious topic in the decade from 2009 to 2019, as the town was able to pass both the town and education budgets in the same referendum only twice (2016 and 2019). While budget hearings over the last five years have been mostly calm affairs, some of the old passion flared up during the public hearing in 2023 after several members of the public successfully pushed back on a proposal to trim the proposed education budget. The budget process in 2024 has been much less controversial however.