The Board of Finance approved the FY2020-2021 budget and set the mill rate after receiving little input from taxpayers at a June 10 virtual public hearing on the municipal and elementary school budgets. Only two questions – on the Fire Department’s supplies and on reimbursement for Covid-19 related expenses — were raised during the public hearing which lasted only 15 minutes. This is the first year that taxpayers will not approve the budgets at a town meeting or referendum due to restrictions imposed by the Governor’s Executive Order.
After approving a total budget of $5,291,918, which would raise the mill rate from 25.82 to 25.83, the finance board set the mill rate at 25.5, applying some of the approximate $75,000 surplus from the current year’s appropriation after Treasurer Ellen Rodriguez reported that the undesignated fund is currently 21% of the operating budget. The recommended amount is 12% -14% as the State uses that figure to determine need in awarding grants to municipalities.
The finance board approved a $2,104,318 elementary school budget on May 13, rejecting the Board of Education’s proposal for a 3.99% increase in spite of appeals from parents that the school’s request remain intact. The board cited difficult economic times and inevitable decreases in state funding for maintaining a level spending plan, as well as per pupil costs which are among the highest in the state. The finance board also rejected a decrease per the minimum budget requirement, a standard for the past decade, which would have lowered the elementary school budget by an additional $192,000 this year, due to unanticipated special education costs and unknown Covid-19 costs resulting from potential State mandates. Hampton’s assessment for Regional District#11, approved per the executive order by their school board, represents $1,512,507 of the budget.
After the public hearing, the finance board added $25,000 to the municipal budget in a line item created for Covid-19 related expenses which officials expect will be reimbursed with state or federal funds. Reductions were also made, with the finance board concurring with all but three of First Selectman Al Cahill’s recommendations on cuts. Members did not agree to negate the $10,000 annual funding of the Land Acquisition account, a stipulation when the account was created at a Town Meeting, questioning the legality of failing to fund it in any given year.
The second proposal the finance board rejected was Cahill’s recommendation to deny the Seniors organization the additional $2000 requested. Representatives from the organization advocated for additional funds as participation has increased to 60 – 70 seniors attending the luncheons, which have also doubled, and to purchase needed kitchen equipment. A heated debate occurred during the Audience for Citizens when Lisa Grady spoke passionately about the Town’s financial and moral obligations to our elderly residents, claiming that needs extend beyond monthly luncheons. The increase in participants has strengthened the network that provides additional services to elderly residents whose families are not near, she said. Cahill countered that with the $4300 in their checkbook, the Seniors organization is sufficiently funded with $2000 this year. “The greatest generation who survived two World Wars and a Depression must be rolling in their graves,” he said. “They never asked for money and they never asked questions. We’ve become a culture of victims and I think it’s pathetic.” Though there was some discussion among board members, a motion was never entertained to reduce the Seniors’ request.
Cahill’s other suggestion, to eliminate the Board of Finance’s entire budget of $5825, “if BOF is rescinded”, was not discussed, so it remains unclear as to how Cahill proposed to abolish the Board of Finance prior to, or shortly after, the start of the fiscal year. At a January 6, 2020 referendum, voters rejected the Selectmen’s proposal to rescind the ordinance that established the Board of Finance in a 172-254 vote. At the time, Cahill announced his intent to “wait and see how this year’s budget process goes before determining future action,” and by all accounts, the adoption of the municipal budget was a smooth process, in spite of complications from Covid-19 expenses and restrictions. However, in April, before budget deliberations began, Cahill announced his intent to call for another vote to dismantle the Board of Finance, citing their “debilitating dysfunction, political biases and ignorance.”