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04/05/2024 12:47 PMFollowing a public hearing on April 4, the Town Council unanimously voted to forward a proposed town budget of $23,761,131 and a proposed Board of Education (BOE) budget of $40,662,912 to a referendum on May 8.
The combined proposal is $64,424,043, a $2,275,088, or a 3.6 % increase over the current budget. On the town side, the proposed budget represents a $385,053, or a 1.64% increase, while the proposed BOE budget is a $1,890,035, or a 4.87% increase.
However, while spending increases at a higher rate, the tax rate is proposed to increase by 1.44%. Under the proposed budget, the mill rate would increase from 0.43 mils to 30.26.
Initially, the proposed budgets were slightly higher, but at the special meeting following the public hearing, interim Town Manager Richard Brown announced that the town had overestimated the costs of health insurance, so savings could be realized there. The council voted to trim the town budget by $203,000 and the BOE budget by $161,912.
The Public Hearing
Unlike previous budget cycles, when the public hearing was a source of major controversy and high emotions, the 2024 edition was a quick affair. Only six members of the public spoke, and none were opposed to either of the proposed budgets.
Ed Alberino received applause when he encouraged the council to earmark money to cover the costs of meals for students who couldn’t afford them. Karin Gosselink also received applause when she asked that people be more understanding of the costs associated with educating special needs students.
What’s in the Budgets?
On the town side, the proposed town budget eliminates no staffing positions or town-provided services. On the BOE side, there are no changes to programming, but there is a reduction of a part-time position involved in special education secondary transition and the reduction of a nurse position that had been used to help with management during the pandemic. Additionally, two mental health staff positions previously funded by a grant are now included in the BOE budget.
Last month, Brown named inflation as the primary driver of the increase in the proposed town budget. Inflation affects the proposed BOE budget too, but Superintendent of Schools Maryann O’Donnell told the Harbor News last month, “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.”
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 capital improvement projects on the education side of the budget 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 proposed budgets are now in the hands of the voters. 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.
While multiple budget votes used to be a sure bet in Clinton, the town has not needed multiple referenda since 2018.