The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
2017-18 budget keeps tax rate flat
WINSTED >> Town Manager Robert Geiger urged an increased investment in the repair and maintenance of town roads Monday evening as he shared his budget proposal for the 2017-18 fiscal year with the Board of Selectmen.
The town tax rate, Geiger said, would stay level at 33.54 for the coming year under the proposed $33.4 million budget.
Town-side spending would increase by approximately $685,000, while the amount of funding to go to the town schools would decrease by roughly $348,000.
Revenue is projected to increase by $337,000 after project-
ing for the diminished availability of state aid, according to budget documents provided Monday, after the latest grand list showed an increase of 2.8 percent.
This funding, Geiger said, would be put towards the line item for town roads under his proposed budget, which would increase to approximately $1.4 million from, according to past reporting, approximately $448,572.
“A million four doesn’t go nearly far enough, but it’s going in the right direction,” said Geiger.
The amount of $635,000 of this funding would be drawn from the general fund, while an additional $163,000 would be provided through the state Local Capital Improvement Program.
The general fund balance stood at $6.17 million at the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year, according to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report posted on the town website, or 18.7 percent of expenditures — a mark which Geiger described as “pretty healthy” Monday.
The investment in roads would be done without borrowing, which Geiger said would be unwise at this time, given fiscal uncertainty at the state level.
“I’d say, let’s pay our own way right now,” said Geiger.
A survey of the town roads from Lenard Engineering, which was previously presented to the Board of Selectmen, said an annual investment of $2 million over the next 10 years would “gradually improve the average condition of asphalt roads from the bottom to the top of the ‘fair’ range and cut the backlog value to $20 Million at the end of the 10-year period.”
The proposed decrease in school funding would come entirely from the “Town Support for Education” line item, which would drop to $200,000 from $547,454.
The funding ascribed to the Board of Education would remain at the minimum budget requirement of $19.96 million, as it has since 2008.
The Board of Education has proposed a $20.42 million budget, although Geiger said this was likely not finalized.
The Department of Public Works’ increase would rise slightly under the proposed budget, Geiger said, including two new entry-level positions, while other departments’ budgets would remain flat.
The total cost of salary and wages, according to documentation provided Monday, is set to rise by approximately $90,000 “based primarily on union contracts,” in addition to the two new public works jobs.
Geiger also proposed a series of other expenditures in the proposed capital budget, which totals $1.96 million, including a Department of Public Works salt shed and excavator, the lease of a new police cruiser, and an additional $110,000 for the repair of Sucker Brook Road Bridge.
Members of the Board of Selectmen, among other questions, asked how uncertainty at the state level factored into the budget — a negative line item, designed to offset a potential loss of expected state revenue, was increased to just over $400,000 in the plan — and for specifics and long-term expectations for the emphasis on road work.
“The road project is huge,” said Selectman Steven Sedlak. “If there’s two issues in the town, it’s education and infrastructure... what is next?”
A specific list of roads to be addressed with the funding is under development, Geiger said, and provided to the board in approximately 20 days or so. He also acknowledged Sedlak’s question about the need for a long-term plan for bettering the town roads.
Public hearings on the Board of Education budget and town budgets are scheduled to be held on March 27 and April 3, respectively.
The annual town meeting is scheduled for May 8, with a budget referendum to follow on a date between May 22 and May 29.