The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
City sets tax rate at 45.75
Uncertainty on state funding remains
TORRINGTON » The city tax rate is currently set at 45.75 mills for the next fiscal year. Everything else is up in the air, officials said.
Uncertain how much state funding will be flowing to the city in the 2018 fiscal year after legislators adjourned without setting a budget, and faced with the practical need to begin bringing in revenue to fund the city, Torrington officials chose Monday to set a tax rate and adjust to what comes to pass.
“This is more than a mess that the state has created that we have to deal with in a responsible and reasonable manner,” said Mayor Elinor Carbone.
A $51.52 million city budget and $74.15 million school budget
were approved by the Board of Finance Monday evening during a joint meeting with the City Council, but they are effectively placeholders — there is little chance that they will govern municipal services next year.
Carbone, in fact, said she could not live with such a financial plan, given the effect it would have on the city. Either state revenues would have to fill the gap, at least to an extent, or the tax rate would have to be adjusted.
According to city officials, under the most conservative estimates available, approximately $7.85 million needed to be cut from the proposed city financial plan Monday to keep the tax rate level.
Carbone recommended that the Board of Education budget be reduced by more than $2 million than the $76.2 million proposal as part of this effort, with the possibility that approximately $1.2 of the cut could come from implementing a
“delay” in funding for district capital expenses.
Diminishing the amount of district funding to this extent, Board of Education Chairman Fiona Cappabianca said, would likely lead to the closure of a school and further staff reductions.
“We don’t have a lot of options,” said Cappabianca. “We’ve (brought) it as low as we possibly can.”
The municipal budget would be drawn down by $3.9 million from the $55.45 million proposal put forward Monday.
An increase of approximately $688,000, all told, including more than $672,000 in allocation for police and fire department pensions, was appended to an original proposal of $54.8 million during the meeting.
The majority of this reduction would come, again, from putting off planned capital projects.
The amount of funding set aside for drainage improvements in city streets would be reduced by $1.78 million, while vehicle replacement funding would be cut by $800,000.
Overtime for municipal employees would also be frozen, saving $212,809, mostly from the Street and Parks departments.
In addition to the roughly $5.9 million in cuts to the school and city budgets, about $700,000 of the $7.85 million will come from the use of an expected surplus at the end of the 2017 fiscal year, while $938,000 will be drawn from the city fund balance.
Officials expressed displeasure with the budgeting situation at the state level Monday and concern about the possibility of increasing the tax rate.
Both council member Paul Cavagnero and council member Gregg Coggswell wanted to word approval of the $55.45 million proposed city budget precisely, as they did not want to be on the record as approving the plan that would lead to a rise in the tax rate.
“This is not acceptable,” said Cavagnero.
In the various proposals put forward at the state level, Carbone said, the amount of funding allocated for Torrington varied by millions, giving local officials no guidance on how to properly plan for the upcoming fiscal year.
“We don’t know where we’re heading, and we’re blindfolded, and it’s dark,” said Carbone.
The proposal put forward by Republican legislators, Carbone said, would reduce the amount of grant funding for the city by more than $1 million over the current year, while the latest proposal by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy would increase it by more than $3 million with funding for teacher retirement, but not taxing Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, factored in.
The cap on the rate at which motor vehicles can be assessed — which Carbone said is likely to change — also affects the revenue brought in by the city.
Under state statute, municipalities are barred from assessing motor vehicles at more than 32 mills — also decreasing the potential revenue to the city by millions.
This would represent an approximately $1 million drop in revenue over the current 37 mill rate cap, Carbone said, and an approximate decrease of $2.9 million over the potential full city rate of 45.75 mills.
The estimates used in tabulating the financial plan approved Monday, according to provided documentation, included the by Republican state legislators and a 32 mill cap on motor vehicles.
If the state funds the city beyond this ”worstcase” scenario, Carbone suggested cuts to the city and school budgets be restored proportionally — 66 percent to the city, 34 percent to the schools.
The motor vehicle tax rate was not set Monday, while officials wait for clarity from the state.
Carbone said Monday that she had never been in this situation, considering the uncertainty at the state level, in her 15 years of government services.
“To say I’m upset is an understatement,” said Carbone.