Budget Forum Draws Spirited Crowd

Nearly 50 residents turned out Saturday at the Fairfield Senior Center to talk about the proposed $264 million town budget for 2011-12, but Tom Flynn, chairman of the town's Board of Finance, made clear early on how little control his board has over the spending plans.

"Seventy percent of costs related to the annual budget are related to personnel costs. Those costs are contractual, and those costs never come before our board. They're negotiated by the first selectman, by his team, and sent to the RTM," Flynn said, using the acronym for the Representative Town Meeting, the town's legislative body. He said the Board of Finance doesn't play a role in those contracts but are required by state statute to fund them.

Flynn went on to say that the Board of Finance also isn't involved in contracts negotiated for Board of Education employees, which are voted on by the elected school board and sent to the RTM.

Another 10 percent of the annual budget is devoted to debt service, which is set in stone.

Therefore, the Board of Finance really has control over about 20 percent of the annual budget, Flynn said. "So that's the vast majority of the budget. That's where we stand," he said.

Having said that, Flynn opened the floor to residents who wanted to discuss the proposed town budget, and the crowd seemed divided into two camps - those who didn't want any cuts to the Board of Education's proposed $148.5 million budget, which rises 4.9 percent from its current budget of $141.6 million budget, and those who wanted the 5 percent increase in the overall proposed town budget brought as close to 0 percent as possible.

The forum comes at a time when most residents won't see a significant tax increase in 2011-12 because the value of their homes dropped in the recent townwide revaluation. Other residents, whose homes maintained or increased in value, will see a major tax increase in the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Residents who favored leaving the Board of Education's budget untouched said the quality of the town's school system affects property values because people looking for a new place to live always look at a town's or city's school system.

But Joseph Witko, a town resident for nearly 50 years, said the Board of Education's budget was "a black hole that is getting deeper and deeper with no bottom in sight."

Witko said the school district was top heavy with administrators, adding that a curriculum supervisor exists for each of six academic disciplines, plus a director of curriculum, instruction and assessment. "The total cost is $1 million for seven people in positions that are hard to justify," he said. He said the Board of Finance should listen to Fairfield teachers and "read the neglected school audit" that identified potential savings of nearly $5 million in the Board of Education's budget.

Thomas Hodgman, of Sasco Hill Road, said the 4.9 percent increase in the proposed Board of Education budget was "absurd."

"Every year, we face the same problem - higher taxes, higher taxes," Hodgman said, adding that Gov. Dannel Malloy wants to raise 60 taxes when unemployment is 9 percent. Hodgman said a lot of residents are "voting with their feet" by leaving the town and state and he was considering that as well.

Laura Roberts, of Katonah Drive, was among those who defended the proposed school board budget and urged the Board of Finance not to cut it. She said she and her husband, when looking for a new place to live 17 years ago, chose Fairfield because of its schools and quality of life. "Providing resources for the children that are there are not a black hole. Providing resources for the children that are there are needed," she said.

Mark Goldstein, of Hemlock Road, said the annual town budget ought to be easier to understand and include two pie charts - one showing the source of funds and another showing the application of funds. He said it also ought to show the number of town and Board of Education employees vs. the number of residents. Flynn said some of what Goldstein suggested already was in the town budget.

David Mackenzie of Merwins Lane, wanted "an executive overview on consumption" in the budget that included the number of teachers per student and the number of administrators per teacher and that compared those ratios to other towns.

"I am just fuming," Goldstein said before Mackenzie got up to speak. "The economy is in the toilet and people are out of work. People are losing their homes. My kids' goal is to get out of Connecticut and get out of Fairfield because they can't afford to live here."

Goldstein said state government had a knee-jerk reaction to closing a budget deficit - "look to save pennies and raise taxes."

"I can't afford it anymore. I think it's time for some creative thinking," Goldstein said. He then proposed the idea of consolidating library systems, oversight of schools, police and what he called the "Department of Public Services" with neighboring Westport. Goldstein said he had no idea if that would work but would like someone to look at it.

"Our kids can't afford to live here anymore. We've got some serious trouble. You can't continue to raise taxes the way you've been" he said.

Mackenzie said, "At home, you say, 'I have this much coming in, and I can afford this much.' We don't do it that way with the town."

But Elaine Davis, of Farmington Avenue, said she didn't want to go back to 1980s Fairfield, which she said included the loss of art, music and foreign language classes in schools and buildings that fell into disrepair.

Mary Hogue, of Stonewall Lane, said the operational audit of the Board of Education's budget actually recommended one more administrator, and she said cutting the education budget can affect the value of real estate and how the town is perceived.

But several speakers said they attended school with much higher class sizes than Fairfield and did fine. "We cannot stand for this teacher/student ratio and all these...red herrings and human shields," said Bob Mac Guffie of Mayweed Road.

Kate Daniello, co-founder of We the People of Fairfield, a taxpayers' group, said senior citizens in town haven't had an increase in their Social Security payments since 2008. She said no one wanted to destroy Fairfield's education system but she thought there was room for cuts. She said eliminating the "house system" at the high schools could save $1.6 million and that she agreed with Mac Guffie's opinion that class sizes could be larger when there are "momentary blips" in enrollment.

"If we continue to increase taxes, seniors will move out, and people who replace them will have children," Daniello said.

Palma Senatore, of Pilgrim Lane, said she thinks the Board of Education "live in such a bubble" and that children are being educated "on the backs" of seniors who get "a trickling amount of money" in tax relief. "I love children, but you know what? The seniors in this town deserve more than they're getting," she said.

However, Sarah Jannott, of Paulding Street, said the way children are taught today is far different than several decades ago. Jannott said she used to sit in elementary school and be told what an echo is, while an elementary school student today has to do research to find the answer and then do a multi-media presentation on the answer.

Bob Forcellina, co-founder of We the People of Fairfield, said parents always come out during budget season to support school-aged children and he totally understood that. But Forcellina said it "really boils down to higher taxes."

Forcellina said he once believed that teachers, police officers, firefighters and municipal workers were underpaid, but he didn't believe that today. "Things have changed. They are no longer underpaid. I'm not saying they're overpaid," he said. "Just freeze their pay. I don't think anyone's going to quit."

But First Selectman Ken Flatto said the average town employee makes 50 percent of the average town resident on a per capita basis. Flatto said RTM members have a right to reject contracts between the town and unions that represent town employees - as they did twice already last summer - but if those contracts go to arbitration, the community's ability to pay will be part of the outcome. "No arbitrator is going to make our employees take two years of zeros," Flatto said. "Those of you who think we can just snap our fingers and give zero, the process doesn't work that way."

Flynn, a CFO at a media company, said he was well aware of the economy's affect on the private sector. He said revenues at his company went down 35 percent in two years and that staffing was cut from 525 people to 370 people. He said everyone else took a 10-percent reduction in salary, suspension of the company's 401K match and had to pay more toward their medical insurance.

"Sometimes, government in the short-term doesn't have that same opportunity. This board cannot say, 'You need to take a furlough.' This board cannot say, 'We will not kick into your pension.' We can't say, 'You have to pay more for medical insurance.' Those are all contracts," Flynn told the crowd.

Flynn said the Board of Finance can reduce funding, but, if contracts aren't negotiated in the right way, people will get laid off.

Flatto said the previous two town budgets had historically low tax increases and that residents "have to admit the quality of life has never been better."

Flatto said the town could close a fire station or the Fairfield Woods Branch Library, but he didn't think residents would stand for it.

But Daniello said there was never a better time to get concessions from unions representing town and Board of Education employees. "Timing is everything. Now is the time," she said.

Virginia Sanford, of Hillside Road, said a private business reduced expenses by 10 percent without affecting services and that the Board of Education doesn't need "those fancy buildings" - a reference to an earlier comment about Burr Elementary, a mostly-glass school that won architectural awards but that's been plagued with temperature problems since it was built about eight years ago.

Robert Bellitto, Jr., vice chairman of the Board of Finance, said short-term fixes often have long-term consequences.

Selectman Sherri Steeneck asked town and Board of Education employees to e-mail her with ideas about how the proposed 2011-12 town budget could be reduced, saying, "I think we can all do more with a fresh approach."

Board of Finance member Michael Tetreau asked the same of residents. "Keep those cards and letters coming. We're happy to get your e-mails, happy to get your phone calls," he said. He asked those in the audience to stay involved, saying multi-year issues and problems require multi-year solutions.

Toward the end of the two-hour forum, Christine Vitale, of Verna Hill Road, said, "Nobody wants your taxes raised...but sometimes you have to pay to get things. It's as simple as that."