After cuts, Montville council OKs nearly $62.9 million budget.

Pandemic drove decision to reduce town spending

Montville — The Town Council approved a $62,870,699 million budget for 2020-21 Monday night, taking the advice of the Finance Committee in enacting a number of cuts to the mayor’s proposed budget.

The COVID-19 pandemic drove the decision to reduce spending, as more and more people lose their jobs and municipalities across the region brace for substantial decreases in property tax revenue come July.

The Board of Education budget suffered most. In March, the board passed a $40,034,736 budget. Mayor Ron McDaniel lowered that to $39,744,736 in his proposed budget, but $39,271,804 was allocated to the school board in the budget the Town Council adopted.

McDaniel suggested $23,467,704 for the general government fund; the Town Council slashed that to $23,098,895 Monday night.

The budget set the mill rate at 32.38, a 0.13-mill decrease from last year’s rate.

Although the town held multiple public hearings before the council’s Monday night vote, public participation in the budget process was down significantly this year compared to past years because town meetings are being held online rather than in person.

Joseph Rogulski, a town councilor and member of the Finance Committee, said the group worked out the cuts to the budget — adopted by the Town Council — ahead of Monday night’s meeting. Finance Committee members were looking to make sure there was no increase in taxes from this year’s budget.

“I’m very worried about how much funding the state’s going to give us next year for our municipal government and our education cost-sharing,” Rogulski said. “We know a lot of people are financially impacted right now, and to raise taxes in this time is, I believe, irresponsible.”

Rogulski framed a $50,000 cut to health insurance, a $50,000 cut to police overtime and lowering the collection rate from 98.5% to 98% as necessary choices to balance the budget.

Last year, the school board, teachers, students and McDaniel pushed the Town Council to restore $250,000 to the 201920 education budget, but the council didn’t move from the $38.6 million plan it approved. Rogulski said in general, there is a distinction between “cutting” the education budget and “decreasing the Board of Ed’s request.”

“They asked for a 2.74% increase and we gave them 1.5%,” Rogulski said. “The Board of Ed has the job of managing what the 1.5% increase goes to. The Town Council’s job is to figure out funding; the board decides what the money is spent on.”

Councilor Colleen Rix was the lone no vote on the $472,932 reduction to the education budget Monday night. She said her four years on the Board of Education and her three children in the school system informed her decision.

“The way school budgets are built, everything is necessary,” Rix said. “We don’t know what next year will look like in the schools. I knew it was going to pass, but I couldn’t morally support it.”

Councilor Tim May said the council’s final Board of Education budget comes “with the caveat that if you truly need something during this COVID-19 issue, we’ll give it to you.”

Superintendent Laurie Pallin discussed the difficulties the school system faces.

“I am nervous about cutting teaching positions, especially because of the need to differentiate more than ever before based upon differences in students’ progress for the last third of the year,” she wrote in an email. “I’m nervous about eliminating our request for a social worker given the needs of students whose families have faced trauma, and I’m nervous about funding the many unknown protocols, which will be required in the fall.”