Board OKs $90M budget
Staff cuts, other changes help in plan that lowers property taxes slightly
MONROE — The Board of Finance officially adopted a $90 million budget Tuesday that includes no tax increase and slightly lowers the mill rate.
The finance board’s unanimous approval came after holding a third open hearing for the public to voice its opinion on the budget. The $90,043,075 spending plan is a $2.1 million increase from the 2019-20 budget — a 2.49 percent hike — and represents a $1,490,716 reduction from the Town Council’s original proposal, leaving a 35.48 mill rate, a minor drop from the present number.
The approved budget allocates $58,501,943 for education and $29,034,377 for municipal operating expenditures.
To help pay for the spending plan, the finance board will use $8 million from the town’s undesignated fund balance and $500,000 from a designated fund balance while asking the unions for teachers and town employees to forgo raises for one year.
The reduction in expenditures comes mainly from a pay freeze that has so far not been agreed on for all town employees, in the town government and the schools. If all unions agree, finance officials say it would save the town some $1.2 million in the coming fiscal year — $911,000 from the school unions alone.
The $58.5 million budget approved for Monroe’s public schools represents a 2.19 percent spending increase over the current budget. The initial request, submitted by assistant school Superintendent Jack Zamary, proposed a 5.7 percent hike. That number was cut $500,000 by the school board, with another $500,00 then cut by First Selectman Ken Kellogg.
If teachers do not agree to a pay freeze, the district will have to find another $911,000 worth of cuts.
On Monday, acting Superintendent Joseph Kobza presented a plan to the Board of Education to further reduce their budget by more than $1 million in case the school district and unions cannot reach an agreement on concessions. The plan included staff and program cuts.
Kobza told Board of Education members that he remained “cautiously optimistic” after stating that the teachers and administrators unions have agreed to meet to discuss the school district’s pay freeze request.
The present financial uncertainty in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic forced Kellogg and Board of Finance Chair Michael Manjos to call for no tax increases, Kellogg said.
That goal led the finance board, which under the governor’s executive order now has the power to adopt the final budget, go through the spending plan line item by line item finding areas of reductions in its quest to maintain or lower the present mill rate while not slashing staff or eliminating significant amounts of programs.
"It is not an unreasonable request,” said Manjos last month, adding that everyone is feeling the financial pain brought by the pandemic. “I truly believe that we need to do this ... unions need to come and support that decision, and, God willing, we will not have to cut staff. That would be the ideal situation.”
With a projected tax collection rate of 93 percent, the finance board concedes it may have to use the full $8 million from the town’s general fund to cover the budget. Manjos said if the collection rate turns out higher, less of the fund balance will be needed.
Manjos has stated he does not support adding money back into the budget at this time, considering potential unemployment rates of some 20 percent. Once the town has a better handle on the financials, he said, the schools and city officials can revisit specific items.
“Come August, September, October, I think we will have a better picture of where we are at,” Manjos said last week. “If collections are larger than expected, we can have any conversation. Nothing stops us from taking a second bite at the apple, if collections are higher than anticipated.”