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Proposed Budgets From Town Administration, Local Schools and Regional # 7 Boards Of Ed Available For Annual Budget Meeting & Budget Referendum

Proposed Budgets From Town Administration, Local Schools and Regional # 7 Boards Of Ed Available For Annual Budget Meeting & Budget Referendum

By: Maria Moore

No sign for the Annual Budget Meeting on Tuesday, May 1

Just in time for the “Annual Budget Meeting” tomorrow evening, Tuesday, May 1, where it has become a tradition in New Hartford not to consider the budget, the final version of the town’s proposed budget was made available to the public today (Monday, April 30).

Below is that proposed town budget, followed by the final version of the local Board of Ed’s budget and the final version of the Regional # 7 budget. Together these make up the total proposed town budget for the Fiscal Year 2012-2013.

These budgets will bypass consideration by the taxpayers at the Annual Budget Meeting scheduled for Tuesday evening, May 1, due to the selectmen having removed them from the call of that meeting, and these will be the budgets that will be presented at referendum to the town’s taxpayers on May 8.
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Final Version of Town’s Proposed Budget

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This final version of the Town’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012, is for a total budget of $22,303,906.63. Of that total amount, education accounts for $16,278,595 or 73% of the total budget (see page 1 of the budget). Both final versions of the education budgets are included in the sections below.

Download a copy of the final version of the Town’s proposed budget: Final Proposed Town Budget 2012-2013, 4/30/12 (48)

Final Version of New Hartford Schools (Elementary) Proposed Budget

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Download a copy of the final version of the New Hartford Schools proposed budget: Final Proposed Local Schools Proposed Budget 2012-2013, 4/30/12 (35)

Final Version of Regional # 7 Proposed Budget

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Download a copy of the final version of the Regional # 7 budget: Final Proposed Regional # 7 2012-2013 Budget, 4/30/12 (34) .

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Board Of Finance Meets, Approves Proposed Total Town Budget For 2012-2013 FY With 2.75% Increase

Board Of Finance Meets, Approves Proposed Total Town Budget For 2012-2013 FY With 2.75% Increase

The Board of Finance members met on Tuesday, April 17 and approved their proposed Town Budget for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2012-2013 with a 2.75% increase.  The motion proposing the 2.75% increase was approved only after Chairman Ben Witte cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of the motion.  With only 5 Board of Finance members able to be seated because of minority rules (see an upcoming commentary on NewHartfordPlus on this issue), the Board members’ votes had been evenly split on  the 2.75% increase; BOF members Reggie Smith and Kate Rieger voted for the 2.75% increase, while  BOF alternate Joe Gareis and BOF member Maria Moore voted against the 2.75% increase.  Ben Witte then cast the tie-breaking vote approving the proposed budget with the 2.75% increase.  Maria Moore had made a counter-proposal for an increase of 2.45%, the lower increase to be funded by a slight increase in the collection rate from 97.5% to 97.75% and Joe Gareis had agreed that the 97.75% collection rate was reasonable.

The total budget proposed by the Board of Finance members for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2012-13 is for $22,306,107, which is an increase of $763,470 over the current year’s budget of $21,542,637.  This 3.5% increase was reduced to 2.75% increase by applying $300,000 from the town’s reserves to help fund the cost of the budget.

The Annual Budget Meeting will be held on May 1, with a referendum date of May 8.  At the referendum the townspeople can vote for or against the Board of Finance’s proposed budget which includes the town administration and the local elementary schools Board of Ed’s budget.  The townspeople will also vote on the Regional # 7 proposed budget.

Following is the video of the April 17 Board of Finance meeting:

Click on the image above to watch the video of the April 17 Board of Finance Special Meeting on the NewHartfordPlus Youtube channel

 

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Residents Turn Out For Budget Hearing, Listen Attentively To Presentations, Ask Few Questions

Residents Turn Out For Budget Hearing, Listen Attentively To Presentations, Ask Few Questions

The Board of Finance held its Budget Hearing last Tuesday, April 10, during which residents heard presentations of the three separate budgets that make up the town’s total budget. After each presentation residents were invited to ask questions to the presenters.

Following the input from residents at the Public Hearing, the Board of Finance will meet again on Tuesday, April 17, to discuss the three budgets and make final adjustments to those budgets as the Board of Finance members think is appropriate. The Board of Finance adjusted budget is the one which is taken to the Annual Budget Meeting and then on to referendum.

Following is the video of the Public Hearing:

Click on the image above to watch the video of the Budget Hearing on the NewHartfordPlus Youtube channel

Summary of Budget Hearing

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Ben Witte, Chairman of the Board of Finance opened the meeting by laying out the initial budgets the Regional # 7 Board, the local elementary schools Board of Ed, the local government and the Capital Expenditures requests. Those budgets coupled with the grand list growth of 1.1% would have resulted in a 6.26% increase in the budget. At their last meeting, the Board of Finance members had cut all three budgets and the capital expenditures requests and they had put in an additional $155,000 to bring up to $300,000 the amount from surplus being brought in to fund the budget. These cuts and additional funds had brought the proposed total budget to a 2.75% increase over the existing budget.

The first budget to be presented was that of the New Hartford Schools Board of Ed; see video beginning at 10 mins. That Board had not made any of the cuts to its budget that the Board of Finance had requested and was presenting its budget with a 2.91% increase.

The second budget presentation was that of Regional # 7; see video beginning at 48 mins. That budget included a 2% increase.

The town administration budget was the last to be presented; see video beginning at 1 hr. 35 mins. That budget included a 1.5% increase.

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Budget Roundup: Government Budget With 1.5% Increase, Total Budget With 3.5% Increase To Be Presented At Budget Hearing Tonight, April 10

Budget Roundup: Government Budget With 1.5% Increase, Total Budget With 3.5% Increase To Be Presented At Budget Hearing Tonight, April 10

The third budget, the Town Government budget (or Town Administration budget) to be presented at this evening’s Budget Hearing reflects a 1.5% increase over last year’s budget, i.e. $4,691,887.13 for the upcoming 2012-2013 Fiscal Year versus $4,624,440.70 for the current year. The Government budget is unchanged from that presented at the Board of Finance’s Saturday-morning workshop on March 17, see our March 22 report with the video of the presentation of the Town Government budget.

Download a copy of the Town Proposed Budget, BOF Approved 3/22/12: Town Proposed Budget 2012-2013, BOF Approved 3/22/12 (32).

The Total Proposed Budget, which includes the Regional # 7 proposed budget and the New Hartford Public Schools (elementary schools) budget, reflects an increase of 3.5%, i.e. $22,306,107.63 for the upcoming 2012-2013 Fiscal Year versus $21,542,637.21 for the current year. The 3.5% increase is actually .75% higher than the percentage increase 0f 2.75% that the Board of Finance members had settled on during their March 22 meeting. At that meeting the Board of Finance members had left intact the Town Government’s Operational budget (pages 4 through 14) but they had cut $40,000 from the $60,000 in the town’s Park & Recreation Capital line item. That cut to that line item has not been made in the budget that will be presented at this evening’s Budget Hearing; see the Capital Expenditures sheet following page 14 in the proposed budget.

The Total Proposed Budget with the 3.5% increase does show the BOF cut to the local schools’ operational budget down to $7,828,526; this cut is not reflected in the local schools’ proposed budget which shows a total operational budget of $7,932,592.00. The Total Proposed Budget also reflects the BOF cut to the local schools’ Capital Expenditures from 526,000 down to $175,000; again this cut is not reflected in the local schools’ proposed budget.

If the BOF cuts to both the Town Government budget and the local schools’ budget are implemented at the Budget Hearing, the Total Proposed Budget will reflect a 2.75% increase, as the BOF members intended. If the cuts are not made to either one or both of those budgets, then the increase in the Total Budget will be northwards of 3%.

Also see our Budget Roundup of the Regional # 7 Budget and our Budget Roundup of the New Hartford Public Schools Budget.

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Budget Roundup: Regional # 7 Presents 2% Increase Budget At Barkhamsted Meeting – VIDEO & COPY OF BUDGET ADDED

Budget Roundup: Regional # 7 Presents 2% Increase Budget At Barkhamsted Meeting – VIDEO & COPY OF BUDGET ADDED

The Regional # 7 Board of Ed presented their proposed budget at their March 28 meeting which was held in Barkhamsted.  The budget which includes a 2% increase is the same budget that will be presented at the Public Hearing to be held in New Hartford this coming Tuesday, April 10.

Molly Sexton Read went through the proposed budget for the small number of members of the public who attended the Barkhamsted meeting.  Molly prefaced her presentation by showing a slide of the past 4 years’ budget increases for Regional, as well as this year’s proposed increase.  Those figures are:

  • 2008-2009: 3.98% increase
  • 2009-2010: 0% increase
  • 2010-2011: 1.75% increase
  • 2011-2012: 1.64% increase
  • 2012-2013: 2% PROPOSED increase.

During the same time period, from 2008-2009 through 2011-2012, Molly said, the number of Regional’s certified staff dropped from 104.3 down to 99.2, a decrease of 5.1 certified teachers while the ADM student population dropped only by 9 students.

In the proposed 2012-2013 budget, Regional is adding certified staff, bringing the total number of certified staff to 101.4. Part of this increase, .6 of a position, is to increase the Finance Director’s position back up to full-time, due to Roger Newbury’s retirement at the end of the current school year. A full-time Ag teacher is being added, as well as some part-time art and social studies courses.

While the total Regional budget is showing a 2% increase in its expenditures over last year, the increase in New Hartford’s assessment will be 7.51%. This is due to New Hartford having 19 more students attending Regional while the other three Regional towns (Barkhamsted, Colebrook and Norfolk) have a total of 24 less students attending Regional. That 7.51% increase represents $587,749 more in the amount New Hartford will be paying to send its students to Regional; the total assessment to New Hartford will be $8,418,270.

Download a copy of the Regional # 7 Proposed Budget that will be presented at Tuesday evening’s Budget Hearing: Northwestern Regional # 7 2012-2013 Proposed Budget, 4/23/12 (22).

Following is the video of the March 28 Regional # 7 meeting.  The first 27 minutes of the video is of the budget presentation and the question and answer period with the public:

Click on the image above to watch the Regional # 7 meeting in Barkhamsted on the NewHartfordPlus YouTube channel

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Board Of Finance Meets, Cuts Proposed Town Budget Increase To 2.75% – VIDEO

Board Of Finance Meets, Cuts Proposed Town Budget Increase To 2.75% – VIDEO

[EDITOR AT WORK: Article is in the process of having a detailed summary of the meeting included, as our editor is able to add to it; Wednesday, March 28]

The Board of Finance (BOF) members met on Thursday, March 22, to discuss cuts to the town’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013. Going into the meeting the total increase over the current year’s budget stood at 6.25%; by the end of the meeting the total town budget increase had been cut to 2.75% and that is the increase included in the proposed town budget that is being brought to the Public Hearing on April 10.

At the end of their previous meeting on Saturday, March 17, the BOF members all agreed that the 6.25% increase in the proposed budget was unacceptable and Chairman Ben Witte asked all the Board members to submit their recommended cuts in writing to him before the next meeting on March 22. At that next meeting, Ben went around the table and asked each BOF member to go through the cuts they had recommended.

Below is the video of the March 22 Board of Finance meeting.

Click on the image above to watch the March 22 Board of Finance meeting on the NewHartfordPlus channel on YouTube

Summary of Discussion At BOF Meeting

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Before any of the BOF members went through their recommendations, First Selectman Dan Jerram presented two options for reaching an acceptable budget increase in the proposed budget, i.e. under 3%.  Download a copy of the First Selectman’s options: Proposed Budget Options - First Selectman Dan Jerram (21).  The presentation of the two options begins at 1 min. 15 secs. in the video linked to below.

Another item that the First Selectman updated the BOF members on was the question of whether some of the town’s undesignated reserve could be applied to pay down some of the town’s debt, a possibility brought up by BOF member Maria Moore at a previous Board of Finance meeting. She proposed this as a way to lower the town’s undesignated reserve which now stands at approximately 14-16%, a level which BOF members feel is too high. First Selectman Dan Jerram said that he had spoken to the town’s financial advisor, Dennis Dixon, whose input was that it didn’t make sense to pay down any of the bonds due to the nature of those bond; this discussion is at 9 mins. 50 secs. of the video. Dan Jerram then went on to say that a new $1.5 million bond for the windows/doors at Antolini School several other smaller projects would cost the town approximately $106,000 per year, something that could take the place of the Bakerville School bond which is expiring next year; this discussion begins at 11 mins. in the video.

From the outset all the BOF members agreed on cutting the $526,000 Capital Expenditures item for the New Hartford Public Schools in the proposed budget; that expenditure was to replace the windows and doors at Ann Antolini School. The $526,000 Capital Expenditures item was placed in next year’s (2013-2014 FY) Capital Expenditures projects, while next year’s Capital Expenditures, approximately $129,000 [exact figure to be verified] line item for the local elementary schools was included in this year’s (2012-2013 FY) proposed budget. Since the bond for the Bakerville School renovations will be paid off in 2013, the Board of Finance members said they wanted to explore packaging the windows and doors project with other miscellaneous projects into a bond that would replace the Antolini bond payment in the town’s budget. Maria Moore asked if it would make sense to take some of the undesignated reserve and apply it to the cost of the project directly so that the town would take on less of a debt in the form of the bond. Ben’s input was to use the cash to level out the first payment which would be greater than the subsequent ones. Applying it to the debt to reduce the debt payments, he said, was “a drop in the bucket.”

Members’ Recommended Cuts:

Jim Fitzgerald: Video beginning at 19 mins.

Jim said he wanted to see Northwestern Regional # 7′s budget cut by an additional $300,000, which would bring them to a 0% increase. Noel Gauthier, one of the two New Hartford representatives on the Regional # 7 Board of Ed, said that the Regional Board had at their meeting the previous night approved a 2% increase, which was equal to $587,000 for New Hartford, down from $605,687 in Regional’s original budget. Jim also had $124,000 in cuts for the elementary schools’ Board of Ed.

On the Capital Expenditures, Jim cut $113,000 from the town’s Capital Expenditures and $491,000 out of the $526,000 that the local Board of Ed had requested. The $35,000 he did not cut from the schools’ Capital Expenditures he said was the $35,000 Technology line item in the elementary schools’ Operations budget which he said should be part of the Capital Expenditures budget. This move of the Technology line item preserved whole the funding for Technology at the elementary schools in next year’s proposed budget. BOF member Reggie Smith asked whether they could move one line item from their budget to another line item and Jim responded they could ask them to do it. “It’s a win for them,” Jim said.

Asked how much the local elementary schools had left over in their capital line item, Dr. Philip O’Reilly said it was about $58,000. Beginning last year, the Board of Finance is allowing the local elementary schools to carry forward any unexpended capital projects funds they might have to be applied to future Board of Ed projects.

Jim went on to recommend cutting $71,000 from the two town libraries, $70,000 from the Beekley Library and $1,000 from the Bakerville Library. He said the town should not be paying so much money to non-municipal operations; see video at 25 minutes. He then added that the Assistant Town Clerk position should be cut as well as other positions at Town Hall. Maria Moore asked Jim if he had looked at the user numbers for the library since those were townspeople who were being served; he responded by saying he didn’t have to and that she had a conflict with the library and she responded she didn’t and if one were to talk about conflicts everyone at that table would have a conflict since we all from a small town; see video at 26 mins. 30 secs.

Maria Moore Video begins at 28 mins. 30 secs.

Maria had handed out a copy of her recommended cuts which totalled $700,000; download a copy of those cuts: Cuts to consider: 2012-2013 Budget - Maria Moore (41).

She briefly touched on some of the items. She had cut $100,000 from the New Hartford Public Schools, saying that she had not wanted to make any cuts that would affect the numbers of teachers in the classroom since that was important to the children. In Town Government she had cut $75,000, moving $15,000 of the Assessor’s Assistant cost to the Zoning Department since the assistant was working half-time in Zoning. She then cut the $15,000 from Zoning which this year was adding on an engineering services on top of the ones budgeted for the town as a whole, and more office support hours in addition to the Assessor’s Assistant who didn’t appear in that department’s budget.

She went on to cut $20,000 out of the Ambulance Association’s line item, saying that it was her understanding that the town is still paying an inflated amount per capita. “We don’t pay anyone else an inflated amount for their services,” she said. She then cut $8,000 from the EDC (Economic Development Commission)’s line item saying that if EDC had a specific idea they could come back to the Board of Finance for more funding. “Anything to do with EDC we’d be happy to fund, but right now they have more than they need,” she said. Her final cut under Town Government was the $14,0000 line item which goes to pay for the Torrington Water hydrants. “We don’t pay for the water hydrants for the two other fire districts (New Hartford Fire district and Pine Meadow Fire District) and we shouldn’t be paying for these,” she said. “That was a prearranged deal that was done 5 to 6 years ago, that brings water to the site in Harwinton. Home Depot pays part, the South End (Fire District) pays part and the town pays part…. and there’s revenue from the personal property that comes in to offset it. It’s really not an expenditure because they’re paying taxes.”

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Selectmen Discuss, Endorse Capital Projects List For 2012-2013 Budget: Video

Selectmen Discuss, Endorse Capital Projects List For 2012-2013 Budget: Video

At their February 9 Special Meeting, the Board of Selectmen reviewed their draft Capital Project List which then was submitted to the Board of Finance Capital Subcommittee for their input.  First Selectman Dan Jerram said that the list (shown in the graphic at the bottom of this article) is the result of his talks with the various Town departments and commissions. The BOS discussed both capital and operational expenses and concluded by agreeing to set a preliminary goal of a 1% to 2% tax increase for the upcoming fiscal year 2012-2013. No draft of the Operational Expenses List was available at this meeting.

Following is a video of the discussion of the Capital Projects List, which is the 3rd and final video segment of the Special BOS February 9 meeting.

Click on the image above to watch the video on the NewHartfordPlus YouTube channel

Capital Projects List:

Click the download link to download a copy of the list: Draft of the Capitol Projects List. (37).

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BUDGET UPDATE: Both Budgets Passed By Voters – Official Results

BUDGET UPDATE: Both Budgets Passed By Voters – Official Results

11:00 a.m., May 4 Update:

The unofficial returns given below are official: both budgets were passed by the number of votes given below.  To see a copy of the official results sheet, click on the following link: May 3 2011 Budget Referenda - Official Results (121).

10:15 p.m. Update:

Voters approved both budgets presented to them at referendum today. The unofficial totals are:

  • Town Budget (includes Town Administration and New Hartford Public Schools budgets): Yes: 268, No: 87
  • Regional # 7 Budget: Yes: 198, No: 156.

Below is the breakdown of votes for both budgets from both voting places.  District 1 is the New Hartford voting place and District 2 is the Bakerville voting place.

 

4 p.m. Update:

“A light turnout” is how Registrar of Voters Daria Hart and Lila Tuxbury characterized today’s voting on the two town budgets. “There have been about 118 – there’s two more – 120 people voting so far.” Daria said at 4:15 p.m. this afternoon. “And about the same number at South End,” Lila added.

As our reporter stood and chatted with Paul and Polly Pobuda of Pine Meadow who had just finished voting, a steady trickle of voters continued to come in, several of them dressed in business attire. The after-work voters were now arriving.

Polly and Paul Pobuda obligingly pose for our photographer after voting on the budget referendums being held today, Tuesday, May 3, in the Senior Center at Town Hall, New Hartford. Photo: Maria Moore

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Annual Budget Meeting, Refusing To Discuss Board Of Finance Proposed Budget, Sends It To Referendum

Annual Budget Meeting, Refusing To Discuss Board Of Finance Proposed Budget, Sends It To Referendum

The Annual Budget Meeting was held yesterday evening at 7:00 p.m. The meeting followed the procedure that has evolved in New Hartford since 1990, when the town’s budget began to be automatically sent to referendum by the town’s Selectmen, and by so doing removing the voters ability to discuss and make changes to the budget before voting on the budget at the meeting or at referendum.

Following is the video of that 2011 Annual Budget Meeting which lasted less than 10 minutes. Below the video is a written account of that meeting, with our reporter’s attempt to introduce the budget for discussion at that meeting and Daria Hart’s introduction into the proceedings of a 1992 letter from then-Town Attorney Pickard which specified the steps to follow at the Annual Budget Meeting, one of which is the consideration of the budget during the meeting.

Video of 2011 Annual Budget Meeting

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Report on the 2011 Annual Budget Meeting

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The Annual Budget Meeting, which now lasts between 5-10 minutes, was sandwiched between the Board of Selectmen’s meeting last night. First Selectman Dan Jerram opened the selectmen’s meeting and then adjourned it for the Annual Budget Meeting. At the end of Annual Budget Meeting, the First Selectman again opened the Selectmen’s meeting.

For the most part, the Annual Budget Meeting followed what has become established as its normal path:

  • Reggie Smith Jr. was elected the Moderator of the meeting.
  • Reggie read the legal Notice of the Annual Budget Meeting (see a copy of the Notice below).
  • Reggie then announced that in accordance with State Statute 7-7, the selectmen had removed Item # 1 from the agenda of the meeting; that is, the selectmen removed from the meeting the consideration of the budget, and with it, the ability of taxpayers present to directly cut or remove specific line items from the budget.

At this point, the normal procedure was interrupted by Maria Moore, a taxpayer in New Hartford and NHPlus’ editor/reporter, who made a point of order motion asking for the floor to be opened to discussion.  Reggie asked on what basis and our reporter answered to discuss the budget, as provided under State Statute 7-344.  Reggie responded: “While I as a citizen may or may not agree with you – and actually I do –  according to State Statute the Selectmen also have the authority to remove this item from the agenda therefore this item does not exist on this day and any questions on the item do not exist therefore we must move on to Item # 2.”  Our reporter then asked: “Even though by removing it you are breaking a state statute?” Reggie responded: “In accordance with this issue of 7-7, the Selectmen are not violating the law and I’m not going to discuss this further.”

At this point Daria Hart, Registrar of Voters and the unofficial Parliamentarian of our town meetings, said: “Point of Information.” At which Reggie said: “Sure.”  ”I thought that, based on a letter received in 1992, a letter received from then Town Attorney John Pickard, we have the option to discuss and vote, and to discuss and move the discussion to…”  Reggie cut Daria off at this point saying: “Returning to what the Selectmen have done, according to 7-7, they have the legal authority to remove that item  from the agenda, therefore at this time we are not going to take any more questions.  This item is closed as far as this Moderator is concerned.  Thank you for your time.”

With that, the meeting returned to its  normal procedure.  Reggie proposed the motion to move item # 2, the budget, to referendum.  Jamie Hall made the motion, Sue Lundin seconded the motion and hearing no discussion, Reggie called a vote and a strong “Aye” came back in response; the only one opposed to the motion was our reporter, Maria Moore.

The Board of Finance’s proposed budget, which was not submitted to consideration by taxpayers at the Annual Budget Meeting, is the budget that will be voted on by the taxpayers at the referendum on May 3.

Roll Call of the 2011 Annual Budget Meeting

As we did with last year’s Annual Budget Meeting, see our report of April 27, 20 10, we are including the roll call of those in attendance at this year’s Annual Budget Meeting.  Please note that the Annual Budget Meeting was to be immediately followed by a Board of Selectmen Meeting at which State Senator Kevin Witkos (Republican) was to given a presentation on the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year; this may have influenced the attendance of those at the Annual Budget Meeting.

Officials at the meeting:

  • First Selectman Dan Jerram (R)
  • Selectman Tom Klebart (D)
  • Absent: Selectman Bruce Gresczyk (R)
  • Town Clerk Donna LaPlante (D)

Moderator:

  • Reggie Smith, Jr. (R), Board of Finance member

Taxpayers (from the left):

First row:

  • Christine Hayward (not a New Hartford resident), administrative Assistant to the First Selectman
  • Alesia Kennerson (Republican), Board of Finance member

Second row:

  • Sue Lundin (party?), New Hartford Public Schools Board of Ed Chair
  • Jim Jerram (party?), father of First Selectman
  • Maureen Jerram (party?), mother of First Selectman
  • Jamie Hall (Republican)
  • Anne Hall (party?)

Second row:

  • Maria Moore (Unaffiliated), editor/reporter NHPlus
  • Daria Hart (Democrat), Registrar of Voters, unofficial Parlimentarian of town meetings
  • Katie Fisk Natale (Democrat), New Hartford Public Schools Board of Ed member
  • Unidentified taxpayer
  • Unidentified taxpayer
  • Noel Gauthier (Republican), Northwestern Regional # 7 Board of Ed member

Back row:

  • Dan LaPlante (Republican)
  • Elaine Carmelich (Democrat), New Hartford Public Schools Board of Ed member
  • Penny Miller (Republican)
  • Steve Tuxbury (Republican), New Hartford Public Schools Board of Ed member
  • Denton Butler (Republican)

Standing at the back of the Senior Center:

  • Rob Jerram (Republican), Northwestern Regional # 7 Board of Ed member, brother of First Selectman
  • Carleen Jerram (Republican), wife of First Selectman
  • Ben Witte (Republican), Board of Finance Chairman
  • Annie Witte (Republican), town bookkeeper
  • Lila Tuxbury (Republican) Registrar of Voters
  • Gordon Ross (Republican), Town Treasurer
  • Steve Nadeau (party?), Principal of New Hartford Elementary and Bakerville Schools

Note: Cameraman Bob Moore, (Democrat) NHPlus techie and husband of our reporter Maria Moore, was at the meeting as the cameraman and did not participate in the meeting or the voting.

Future Updates:

We will continue to report on the issue of the procedure being followed by the town’s Selectmen to bring the town budget to a vote.

1992 Letter from then-Town Attorney John (Jack) Pickard

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The point of interruption made by Daria Hart was to officially introduce into the proceedings the May 1, 1992, letter from then Town Attorney John Pickard to then First Selectman Bruce Gresczyk.  The letter says:

“The steps which should be taken to remove the decision on the annual budget from the town meeting to a separate vote are as follows:

1.  Give notice of the Town Meeting at least five (5) days before and include in the call an item: “To consider and act upon the Town Budget recommended by the Board of Finance for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1992.”

2. Hold a Selectmen’s meeting at least five (5) days prior to the date of the Town meeting and vote to remove the above item on the call for submission to the voters in the manner provided in C.G.S. Sectin 7-7.

3.  At the Town Meeting the budget can be discussed, but no vote is taken.

The vote should be scheduled not less than seven (7) nor more than fourteen (14) days after the Town Meeting.  The question could be phrased as folows:

Shall that (stet) the Town appropriate the sum of $__________ as its budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1992?

If you have any further questions, please call me.”

Below is a copy of that letter:

 

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UPDATE: Annual Budget Meeting Scheduled For Tuesday, April 26

UPDATE: Annual Budget Meeting Scheduled For Tuesday, April 26

By: Maria & Bob Moore

Tomorrow evening’s Annual Budget Meeting is still on track to take place at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 26. However, if you do decide to go to that meeting, don’t be surprised if the proceedings don’t reflect the published Notice.

According to the published Notice of the Annual Budget Meeting, a copy of which was emailed by the First Selectman’s Office this afternoon (see copy below), the Notice includes the same two items that were approved by the Selectmen at their April 18 Special Board of Selectmen Meeting, even though at that same Special BOS Meeting, they immediately removed Item # 1 from the agenda of the Annual Budget Meeting. Since no other agenda or Notice for this meeting has been publicized, the only way you would know that the agenda had been changed is by reading NewHartfordPlus or by going to the Town Clerk’s Office and asking specifically about the agenda for tomorrow’s Annual Budget Meeting.

Tomorrow’s meeting will not include Item # 1, the consideration of the town budget as proposed by the Board of Finance, and Item # 2 moves that proposed budget, not the budget acted upon by the voters, directly to referendum. We have been questioning the legality of moving the BOF’s proposed budget directly to referendum without it having been considered at the Annual Budget Meeting before being moved to a vote, as required by State Statute 7-344. This same question was asked 20 years ago by then-First Selectman Reggie Smith Jr. to the then-town attorney, Jack Pickard who had put together the town ordinance which allows this to happen. Attorney Pickard was of the opinion that the ordinance is not valid and that if challenged in court it would be held to be invalid. In his opinion letter dated July 24, 1990, he said:

“In my opinion, the ordinance is not valid. I do not believe the town meeting had the authority to enact an ordinance which conflicts with the statutory procedures for bringing matters to referendum…. In my opinion, the ordinance is in conflict with State Statute…”

This is what the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance base the current procedure of passing a budget in our town on, a procedure which is not reflected in the published Notice of the Annual Budget Meeting. We are continuing to challenge the validity of the ordinance and the departure by the Board of Selectmen from the process for passing a budget that is clearly outlined by State Statute. We will update this item as events develop.

Notice of Annual Budget Meeting mailed on April 25, 2011 by First Selectman's Office.

Note: We did not continue with a petition to present at the Annual Budget Meeting to follow the procedure as set out in the published Notice of Annual Budget Meeting because we were informed by the Town Clerk that she did not believe that State Statutes allow such a petition.

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Keeping The Agenda Of The Annual Budget Meeting Intact: Letter To Taxpayers

Keeping The Agenda Of The Annual Budget Meeting Intact: Letter To Taxpayers

The following is a letter to New Hartford Taxpayers from Bob and Maria Moore:

When we, the town’s taxpayers go to the Annual Budget meeting this coming Tuesday, April 26, the official call to the meeting includes these two items:

  1. To consider and act upon the town budget recommended by the Board of Finance for the Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2011.
  2. Pursuant to Section 7-7 of the general statutes of Connecticut, Revision of 1958, as amended, to adjourn said budget meeting at its conclusion and to submit item # 1 on the call of this meeting to be voted upon using voting tabulators on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Electors residing in the Voting District #1 shall vote at the New Hartford Town Hall, 530 Main Street in New Hartford. Electors residing in the Voting District #2 shall vote at the South End Fire House, 20 Antolini Road in New Hartford. Voters qualified to vote at town meeting who are not electors shall vote at their respective polling places. Absentee ballots will be available from the Town Clerk, 530 Main Street, New Hartford, CT and will be counted at their respective polling places. The question to be voted upon shall be placed on the ballots as:

“Shall the Budget of the Town of New Hartford including General Government, New Hartford Board of Education and Capital Expenditures, recommended by the Board of Finance for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2011, be accepted?”

Voters approving the question will vote “Yes” and those opposing the question will vote “No.”

So, why is it that when we go to the Town Budget Meeting there will be no budget for us to consider, as there always was prior to 1990?

Because the town’s Selectmen, in a Special Meeting, have voted to remove Item # 1, “To consider and act upon the town budget recommended by the Board of Finance for the Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2011″, from the agenda of the Annual Budget Meeting.

At their Special Meeting on Monday morning, April 18, the Selectmen also adjourned the budget to referendum, another action reserved for the taxpayers under state statute.

Both these actions have been taken by the town’s Selectmen since the passing of an ordinance in 1990, even while the legality of that ordinance was questioned by then-town attorney, Pickard.

Can the town’s Selectmen vote to take away taxpayers’ rights given to them by State Statute?

At the recent Selectmen’s Special Meeting, Selectman Bruce Gresczyk said that he feels that the way the town is handling the budget (removing the ability of taxpayers to make changes to the budget at the Annual Budget Meeting and sending the budget directly to referendum) is illegal and that the ordinance should be done away with.

Item # 1 reflects the right of the voters to consider the budget as provided by State Statute; removing that item diminishes our rights as provided by State Statute.

We want the Annual Budget meeting to follow the legal format set out in the Notice of the meeting, that is, to have both items # 1 and # 2 included in the agenda of that meeting. We, as taxpayers, can petition to include items to be discussed at Town Meeting. In this case, the petition is to have included in the agenda of the Annual Budget Meeting the same items as those on the legal Notice of  that Meeting.  This will allow us, the town’s taxpayers, to consider the proposed budget for the local schools and the town administration line item by line item and to reduce any line items which we feel are too high as long as the majority of the taxpayers at the meeting agree.

This is the legal process set out by State Statute for us to arrive at a budget acceptable to taxpayers after the Board of Finance has submitted a proposed budget for the taxpayers’ consideration.  This is the process we want to have  restored to us and the mechanism by which we can do this is by petition.

We are putting together a petition to keep the legal agenda of the Annual Budget Meeting intact and we are asking you, as a town taxpayer, to sign this petition. In the next few days we will be calling on you to sign the petition to keep the agenda for the Annual Budget Meeting the same as that of the legal Notice for that meeting.

In the meantime, please let us know if you would like to sign the petition, if you have any questions, or if you would like to help gather signatures. Call us at 860-309-7526 or email us at newhartfordplus@gmail.com.

Posted in Around NH, Budget, Meetings0 Comments

“What’s Your Beef With Sending The Budget To Referendum?” An Exasperated Reader Asks

“What’s Your Beef With Sending The Budget To Referendum?” An Exasperated Reader Asks

Editorial By: Maria Moore

“What’s Your Beef With Sending The Budget To Referendum?”

An exasperated reader asked our editor. Here’s her response in an editorial:

OK, let’s get this clear: My beef isn’t the fact that the selectmen send the budget to referendum. It’s that they take away the taxpayers’ ability to go through the budget line by line BEFORE sending it to referendum. And this is something they’ve come up with themselves, it’s not the result of an ordinance as everyone seems to think.  And it’s been happening for 15 years.  Time to put an end to it.

This is my understanding of the situation – with some help from a few people in town who understand it because they’ve watched it develop over the last 15 years.

  • An ordinance was passed in 1990 which sends a budget to referendum as opposed to voting on it at a town meeting.  This was done because a very active taxpayers’ association at the time wanted to have the vote on the budget moved to referendum where they thought they stood a better chance of getting the kind of budget they wanted rather than at the Annual Budget Meeting.
  • The ordinance specifically says that taxpayers get to discuss the budget (state statute says “consider” the budget, same difference), making changes to the line items downwards or removing all funding from line items (again, per state statute). The ordinance then says that the budget (that’s been “fine tuned” at the Annual Budget Meeting) is sent to referendum.

That’s what’s supposed to happen under this 1990 ordinance. No problem with that.

This is where the problem lies:

  • At a Board of Selectmen meeting (always seems to be a Special meeting so no public comment is allowed) the selectmen  REMOVE THE CONSIDERATION OF THE BUDGET at the Annual Town Meeting. They have made the only business of the Annual Budget Meeting to send the budget to referendum. The step before sending the budget to referendum – consideration by the taxpayers – is no longer happening.

So we have an Annual Budget Meeting with no budget to consider.  No wonder no-one shows up for that meeting.

Could it be that the selectmen and the Board of Finance find it more convenient not to allow taxpayers their statutory right to have the final say on the budgets by “fine tuning” – adjusting the line items – in the two budgets (local government and local elementary schools) before they’re sent to referendum?

What do you think? Since they’re removing the consideration (discussion) of the budget by taxpayers at the Annual Budget Meeting, this is what we’re allowing to happen:

  • The Board of Finance feels comfortable discounting taxpayers’ input on the specifics of the budget and on the issue of a tax increase (or not) for the budget.
  • The local elementary schools’ Board of Ed feels comfortable presenting budgets with huge increases compared to the town’s and Regional # 7′s budgets.  In the budget that’s currently in process, the local Board of Ed has a 25% increase in Special Ed costs vs. Regional’s 4.2% Special Ed. increase. I know the argument of the high-cost Special Ed student that’s just moved to town, but Regional too has a high-cost Special Ed student that they’re bringing back to Regional this year. Can the Board of Finance do anything about the local schools’ budget? No, BOF members can’t go in and change the BOE line items. Only the BOE members can do that AND the taxpayers during the Annual Budget Meeting – but every year the selectmen take away the taxpayers’ ability to consider the BOE budget, thereby removing the checks and balances that the process formerly provided!
  • And the town government budget? The First Selectman feels comfortable putting $140,000 into Brown’s Corner and the Field House roof and a Rec Study without even presenting estimates of what the work will cost. And the $25,000 to begin repairs of the septic system at Berkshire Hall (a short distance from the waters of the lake)?  Cut from the budget. And what does the Board of Finance do? “The town’s come in at 0%” we hear them say, and they don’t touch the town’s line items, although they can. And the only other group that could cut the town government’s line items, the taxpayers? The selectmen keep taking away their right to do that at the Annual Budget Meeting, another set of checks and balances that has been gotten rid of.

So that’s my beef:  The system that the BOS and the BOF have established over the last 15 years allows them to have full say on the specifics of the budget, leaving the taxpayers only the ability to vote for or against the whole budget at referendum.

And how has this been allowed to happen? It’s not because of an ordinance passed in 1990 and it’s not because of State Statute. Both of those allow the taxpayers to discuss and change the budget line items at the Annual Budget Meeting.

It’s because we allow it to happen. Every year the selectmen strip the taxpayers of their power to have the final say on the specifics of the budget they’ll be voting on. And we allow that to happen.

But this year, Bob and I have stood our ground and have challenged this recent development in our town governance.  We’ve been encouraged by those taxpayers among us, Republicans and Democrats, who can remember back more than 15 years when they would go to Pine Meadow Elementary School – before Town Hall was expanded – to discuss, and suggest changes, and yes, change line items in the budget that the majority didn’t like.

And that’s the budget process we want to follow, without having the selectmen block it every year.

_______________________________________

This year’s Annual Budget Meeting will be held this coming Tuesday, April 26.  The selectmen met this past Monday at an 8:00 a.m. Board of Selectmen Special Meeting at which they removed the consideration of the budget at the Annual Budget Meeting (Item # 1) from the Notice (call) of that meeting; see our April 18 report Selectmen Meet To Set Annual Budget Meeting, Remove Consideration of Budget At That Meeting, Set Referendum Date.

To read the 1990 Ordinance and the State Statute Sec. 7-344, see our April 6, 2011 report Request To Return To Consideration Of Proposed Town Budget At Annual Budget Meeting: Letter To BOF.

To read our editor’s report of last year’s Annual Budget Meeting, see our April 27, 2010 report Town Annual Budget Meeting, A Meeting Of No Substance And No-Shows, Scheduled For Tonight.

'Town Meeting' by Norman Rockwell.

 

Posted in Around NH, Budget3 Comments

Tax Increase Or Not?  Taxpayers’ Letters To The Board Of Finance

Tax Increase Or Not? Taxpayers’ Letters To The Board Of Finance

By: Maria Moore

Before the town’s Board of Finance began their consideration of exactly how much of a tax increase they would approve for the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2011-12 they would present to taxpayers to vote on at the May 3 budget referendum, Chairman Ben Witte started the budget discussion by asking his fellow Board members whether they felt there should be any changes to the budget following the feedback they had received from the Public Hearing. Alesia Kennerson, BOF member, was the only one to comment, saying: “I don’t think we need to make any changes.” See our April 13 report 0.92% Tax Increase For Upcoming Fiscal Year: BOF Proposal.

We thought we’d go back and look at the letters taxpayers emailed to the Board of Finance members on whether there should be a tax increase this year. Of the 28 pieces of correspondence (all emails) from taxpayers that received by the Board of Finance members and that are attached to the March 22 minutes of the Special Board of Finance meeting which began with an opportunity for public comments on the upcoming budget (see our March 24 video Taxpayers Give Input On Budget At Board Of Finance Special Meeting: VIDEO Of Public Comment), we found:

  • 26 taxpayers were opposed to a tax increase for the upcoming fiscal year;
  • 1 taxpayer supported a tax increase “to maintain the high standards that make New Hartford Public Schools the envy of many towns;”
  • 1 taxpayer emailed regarding teachers’ salary increases and did not address the issue of a tax increase (not included below).

Following is what the taxpayers had to say to the Board of Finance. We have blacked out any identifying information from the correspondence; the originals are attached to the March 22 Board of Finance Special Meeting minutes and they are available as part of the public record in the Town Clerk’s office.

Taxpayers opposed to a tax increase in the budget for Fiscal Year 2011-12

.
Letter 1:

Letter 2:

Letter 3:

Letter 4:

Letter 5:

Letter 6:

Letter 7:

Letter 8:

Letter 9:

Letter 10:

Letter 11:

Letter 12:

Letter 13:

Letter 14:

Letter 15:

Letter 16:

Letter 17:

Letter 18:

Letter 19:

Letter 20:

Letter 21:

Letter 22:

Letter 23:

Letter 24:

Letter 25:

Letter 26:

Taxpayer in favor of a tax increase in the budget for Fiscal Year 2011-12

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Letter 27:

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Please Note: The above correspondence is that which was submitted as part of the minutes. From the comments made by the BOF members at their March 22 meeting, there was more correspondence received that was not included with the minutes; those taxpayers, according to the BOF members, were also overwhelmingly against a tax increase.

A view of Ten Street, one of the older residential streets in the Pine Meadow section of New Hartford. Photo from NewHartfordPlus archives.

Posted in Around NH, Budget0 Comments

How Much Longer Can Your Family And Mine Afford To Sustain A Model That Calls For Tax Increases Ad Infinitum?  Letter to BOF From Denton Butler; ‘Where Does All The Money Go’ Illustration Added

How Much Longer Can Your Family And Mine Afford To Sustain A Model That Calls For Tax Increases Ad Infinitum? Letter to BOF From Denton Butler; ‘Where Does All The Money Go’ Illustration Added

We obtained a copy of Denton Butler’s letter to the Board of Finance members which he sent to them on April 11, the day before the BOF members met and settled on a 0.92% tax increase for the Budget for the 2011-12 Fiscal Year:

TO: Board Of Finance
FROM: D. E. Butler
DATE: April 11, 2011

I would like to ask every member of the BOF, every proponent of the budget (as it stands), as well as those who oppose the budget, to contemplate this statement: Not once during the current budget making process, regardless of the entity that submitted a budget, did you hear any of the following:

“We should consider this alternative approach” – “We propose to attempt the following.” – “We have a novel idea that will lead to a reduction in the cost of doing business.” “We’re willing to sustain our current costs, at the very least (or) rollback costs to lessen the burden placed on the taxpayer.”

Instead we heard:

“Our children will be denied.” “We can only retain the best by paying the most.” “There’s no way we can cut costs.” “How much longer can we attempt to have a zero based budget.” “The potential for educational cuts that will dramatically impact next year’s program.”

I think the emotional based responses came to the forefront rather than the reality of … how much longer can your family and mine afford to sustain a model that calls for tax increases ad infinitum? I think that ship has sailed.

I recently prepared a tax burden analysis. (See below.) It is an over-simplification and it under reports the demands of the current New Hartford taxpayer. Simply stated, it’s oppressive. Knowing that the State budget as well as the Federal government will put additional tax burden on taxpayers – the question is simple – When are you going to say NO and when are you going to say I want to see your plan for alternative approaches that yield the same results or better at no increase in cost? For those of you, who are working stiffs, isn’t that what the business that you work for, the business that must compete, has demanded every year? Isn’t that what you do with your own household budget?

BTW – Since preparing my tax analysis: Gas has gone from $3.33 per gallon to $3.93 and with it the gross receipts tax has gone from $.19 cents per gallon to $.23 cents per gallon (and it will be adjusted upward next month). At the same time the surcharge on electricity, which took effect Jan 1, 2011, brings taxes and fees (non-electric costs on your electricity to 38% of your bill.) Food and other purchased goods are skyrocketing in cost. Just ask the shopper in your family.

Now for the part that I consider an abrogation of the BOF duty. Please don’t insult the taxpayer’s intelligence with a bogus tax collection rate, versus the real collection rate and the excess collection over the state’s requirements for a reserve.

History will show the actual collection rate for the past 10 years (source New Hartford Tax Collector) exceeds your estimates annually. Accordingly, we have had more taxes collected each year than is required to sustain the budget, resulting in over-taxation, but less credited so that the BOF can use it to lessen the subsequent year’s tax increase. This specifically allows agencies to continue to increase their budgets and then subsequently the cost to taxpayers.

To quote Einstein: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
So, if you decide to give in to the urge for an increase this year keep this in mind – things aren’t getting better; nobody’s tax burden has been lessened and you’ve set the stage for business as usual next tax season. However, in my opinion, you will not have morally or ethically done your job, even though you may have met statutory requirements. Further, I promise to be an even bigger pain in your backside next year. Trust me, neither my neighbors nor I will be looking for a ZERO budget. Like Wal-Mart, it’s rollback time.

Bud Butler

‘Where Does All The Money Go’ Presentation

Denton Butler illustrated for the BOF members how a $62,000 income is reduced by taxes at the Federal, state and local level, to an after-tax income of $35.065.95 from which housing, transportation, food, child-related expenses, insurance, retirement savings must be deducted. A powerful – and sobering – illustration.

Download Denton’s 11-page presentation: Where Does All The Money Go? by Denton Butler (192).

Below are two compelling pages of the illustration, pages 9 and 10:

Many Thanks to Denton Butler for providing the answer to a question asked many times in the NewHartfordPlus Crew’s home.

Posted in Around NH, Budget, Letters0 Comments

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