Norwich council passes ‘painful’ budget cuts

All proposed new positions eliminated

Norwich — The City Council adopted a final 2021-22 budget late Monday after making more than a dozen “painful” cuts that erased all proposed new positions, including a controversial proposed fire services director, and eliminated three vacant police officer positions.

The council's action came after learning a proposed one-time $3.5 million distressed municipalities grant was not part of the final state budget approved last week.

Norwich will see a $1.4 million annual increase in payments in lieu of taxes and a $1.3 million boost to education funding in the new state budget. But Gov. Ned Lamont's proposed $3.5 million distressed municipality grant, included when the city crafted its initial budget in April, was not part of the legislature's budget package.

To absorb removing that revenue and avoid a tax increase, the council adopted most of City Manager John Salomone's proposed cuts Monday night.

After those cuts, the final combined city, school, capital and debt service budget totals $137 million for

citywide services, and $145.6 million including fire services, mostly for the central city paid fire district. The citywide tax rate will be 41.98 mills, a slight reduction from this year’s 42.06 mills. The central city fire tax will be 6.66 mills, up by 0.25 mill. The volunteer fire district tax of 0.37 mill is up by 0.05 mill.

Salomone had proposed cutting another $1.24 million from the school budget, leaving it with just a 1% increase over this year’s $84 million budget. But after a debate, the council voted unanimously to use the additional $1.3 million in state Education Cost Sharing funding to keep the school budget at a 2.5% increase, at $86.3 million.

As they discussed the “painful” city budget cuts, Alderman Derell Wilson suggested the city use some of its federal COVID-19 relief funds to restore some of the last-minute cuts.

“I certainly did not want to do a cut to any budget today,” Salomone said.

The list of city cuts included eliminating the controversial proposed fire services director position, recommended in a February fire services study to better integrate and coordinate fire services citywide. The position had been budgeted at $129,191 to start in October. Other new positions eliminated included the second blight-zoning enforcement officer, boosting a part-time finance and city clerk’s office clerk to full time and leaving three vacant police officer positions unfilled.

The council also reduced its funding to the Norwich Community Development Corp. to the current $150,000 level, erasing a plan to increase the amount by $50,000. The capital budget was cut by $121,247, and the council cut $25,000 for marketing, $25,000 to develop a multicultural program and $25,000 for Otis Library.

“I hate the idea of these cuts,” Council President Pro Tempore Mark Bettencourt said. “I’m a big fan of Otis Library. I agree, too, that it’s necessary. We can’t be passing this total amount onto the taxpayers in the depressed economy.”