BET preps for final budget vote

GREENWICH — The Board of Estimate and Taxation is slated to finalize the 202122 municipal budget proposal on Tuesday when it holds its second day of cutting, adding to or placing conditions on the $450.6 million spending plan.

The BET began its budget work last Thursday, but the long agenda forced a second day of deliberations, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday. There are a number of big topics to discuss, including funds for design work for Julian Curtiss School, a possible condition to require private funds in building a new Eastern Greenwich Civic Center and a $102,000 feasibility study to determine whether to replace Central Middle School.

“We need to finish the capital budget,” BET Chairman Michael Mason said Monday. “From there, we have to also discuss how we handle COVID.”

The town expects to receive its first allocation of $16.4 million from the federal American Rescue Plan stimulus package in May, with the other half of the more than $30 million slated to come in May 2022.

“I think the BET is unanimous that we want to have a message about how we’re dealing with COVID and how this money is going to get allocated,” Mason said. “We have to set a message of how it is allocated and spending it and reporting it.”

“It is imperative that the BET properly fund the capital plan and, while the Budget Committee did increase support for capital, additional increases will provide the town with more resources for necessary projects.” Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation member Leslie Moriarty

When it comes to school spending, parents and PTAs have pushed hard for the $1.7 million in the budget for Julian Curtiss. The allocation would pay for finalizing plans for school improvements, including improved accessibility, security and science facilities. But some BET members, including Mason, have balked at the possible $25 million construction price tag for 2022-23.

“I believe all 12 members of the BET fully supports the Julian Curtiss plan,” Mason said. “I just believe there’s a further dialogue about the (educational specifications) that need to happen. I believe the current ed specs have items in there that caused the project to escalate in costs. I also think there are things not in the ed specs that we should have dialogue with the Board of Ed about setting minimum standards for our capital projects going forward.”

Republicans have the majority on the BET, and Mason can use his tiebreaking vote if the 12member board is split between the six Republicans and six Democrats.

Beyond the debates over Julian Curtiss and Central Middle School, there will also be focus on funding the town’s overall capital plan and what Democrats have said is a reliance on using the town’s cash reserves to balance the budget and lower mill rate increases, said BET member Leslie Moriarty, head of the Democratic caucus.

“It is imperative that the BET properly fund the capital plan and, while the Budget Committee did increase support for capital, additional increases will provide the town with more resources for necessary projects,” Moriarty said.

“Consideration of longer bond maturities for soil remediation projects, budgeted to be $32 million over the next three years, will also provide additional resources to fund the near term capital needs,” she said. “The proposed budget uses significantly more cash reserves to balance the level of property taxes. This increasing reliance on cash reserves is not sustainable and will be a major point of discussion.”

Mason said he did not expect the debate over field remediation to be a “big discussion,” with the remediation only in the first phase.

Moriarty expressed concern over possible cuts in the Julian Curtiss School’s design money. She noted the aging condition of the town’s school buildings and the need to bring them up to current standards.

“This motion, if approved, effectively says the BET can better judge the educational and facility needs of the schools than the Board of Education, delays this and other projects, and sets the expectations for the Old Greenwich and Riverside School projects in the (school buildings) master plan,” Moriarty said. “It is vital that the BET supports the needs of our school facilities.”

Mason noted that the BET has gotten changes made to ed specs, pointing to its successes with the plans for the new performing arts center at Greenwich High School.

The BET also has the power to set conditions, when it includes money for a project in the budget but also requires that the town department involved meet certain criteria before spending the funds. A condition is likely on the $18.6 million allocated for construction of the new civic center in Old Greenwich — that would require some private financing.

An initiative from First Selectman Fred Camillo seeking $1.25 million to develop improvement plans for Roger Sherman Baldwin Park is also on the agenda. That money seemed likely to be cut, but Camillo has vowed to push on with the project, perhaps with private money.

The meeting will be held via Zoom. A link to the meeting can be found under the agenda section at https://www.greenwichct.gov/680/Board-of-Estimate-Taxation.

The final vote on the budget is set for May 10 before the Representative Town Meeting.