The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Dems call for cuts in mayor’s budget
MIDDLETOWN — Just days before the fiscal year 2024-25 budget is adopted, Democratic Common Council members are proposing to reduce Mayor Ben Florsheim’s proposed $242.3 million budget by $4.8 million.
Florsheim’s plan includes a nearly $10 million increase in spending over the current fiscal year’s budget.
Democrats are also recommending lowering the mayor’s proposed tax rate increase from 2.9 mills to 1.8 mills, according to Council President Gene Nocera.
Trimming the mayor’s budget proposal by just under $5 million would reduce the proposed tax rate increase by nearly 40 percent, he said. “That’s a big number.”
Florsheim has proposed a tax rate of 31.2 mills. Each mill represents $1 of tax for each $1,000 of property assessment. Florsheim’s proposal would mean an annual rise in property taxes in the range of $500 for a home with an appraised value of $250,000, or just under $42 per month, the mayor said in his budget address. The tax rate for the current fiscal year is 28.3 mills.
Residents have made their objections known throughout the budget process, saying they already struggle to make ends meet amid inflation and other rising household living expenses.
Many also say they are already paying more taxes following last year’s revaluation.
Democrats went over the mayor’s proposed budget “line by line,” Nocera said, adding that items that could be put on hold for a year were.
“Every year, it seems to get more and more difficult to balance the services that our residents have grown to expect and deserve and come up with a reasonable budget,” said Nocera. “That’s occurring everywhere post-pandemic. Inflation, which is really significant (and) the revaluation in Middletown — a lot of variables have made it so difficult.”
The majority party expects these changes to be
well-received, the president said. “I think that our residents are going to be pleased with the reductions we have put together. I expect that they will pass on Monday night.”
Examining this year’s budget, Democrats “swept every account that we could” of unappropriated money and placed it into the fund balance to use for tax relief, Nocera said. That includes unappropriated American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds, which can be used for government expenses, not just infrastructure projects, he said.
“It’s a tremendous balancing act,” Nocera explained.
Democrats also propose freezing new hires but fund each position at $1 as a placeholder. “We
know our city needs them, but we’re in difficult times, and trying our best to manage what we need and keeping taxes as low as possible,” he said.
They would also like to use salary reserves for open positions to provide some “wiggle room,” Nocera said. “It was an incredibly time-consuming process, but it’s huge, and we had to find a significant amount of revenue.”
Considering the council’s recent community meeting, as well as four budget hearings, the public has had several opportunities to voice their opinions, the president said. City leaders have also received many letters and emails from taxpayers objecting to any increase in taxes.
Monday’s budget adoption meeting will also include public feedback.
Both the Democratic and Republican caucuses “are really serious about listening and getting a sense of what people feel. It’s about responding,” the president said. City leaders also have a responsibility to fund government operations, he said.
The Democrats are proposing to reduce the mayor’s $200,000 appropriation to the Anti-Racism Task Force for antiracism training and community events to $80,000.
If council members propose amendments to the Democrats’ proposed budget on Monday, Nocera said, the vote would be postponed, and the body would reconvene on Wednesday, the absolute deadline per the City Charter.
Earlier this week, former mayor and city resident Paul Gionfriddo wrote to council members with some recommendations.
In his letter, Gionfriddo suggested many measures, including a oneyear hiring freeze, reducing discretionary operating expense accounts by 2 percent, and using the “unexpectedly high” payment in lieu of taxes to provide “immediate fiscal relief ” to taxpayers rather than additional spending.
While Nocera couldn’t immediately confirm PILOT figures, he said funding is “substantially higher” than in previous years.
“Both the department heads’ budget of more than $250 million and the mayor’s budget of $242 million appear to go far beyond what is needed to maintain current services,” Gionfriddo wrote.
“When faced with a similar situation in 1991, I proposed — and won bipartisan council support for — a budget that reduced non-educational municipal spending by more than 1 percent during times of higher inflation than we are experiencing today,” he said.
Gionfriddo also advised the council not to bring new bond proposals to referendum this year, including for the library and City Hall. “In all likelihood, they would fail,” he said.
“Residents across the ideological spectrum have been raising reasonable questions about spending and borrowing for multiple projects in recent years,” Gionfriddo wrote. “I believe it is time to tap the brakes and use the time bought to build more community consensus around both our collective needs and desires.”
The council will meet Monday, May 13, at 6 p.m. at City Hall to adopt the budget. A public session will precede the vote. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3JSqLCV.