RTM Sharpens Knife for Townside Operating Budget

No one from the Representative Town Meeting late Monday planned to cut the Board of Education's proposed $141.6 million budget for 2010-11.

James Millington, R-9, the RTM's majority leader, said the 38 RTM Republicans would leave the proposed school board budget intact, while Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-6, the RTM minority leader, said she too supported leaving it at its current funding level.

But the proposed $86.3 million townside operating budget was another story.

Several Republicans said that budget, which rises 5.9 percent from the current townside operating budget of $81.5 million, may be cut next Monday when the RTM adopts an overall proposed town budget for 2010-11. The RTM's session next Monday is at 8 p.m. in the Education Center, 501 Kings Highway East.

"On the town side, at this point, we cannot point to specific line items, but we are looking to roll back non-contractual spending items, expenses, to the year prior budget," Millington said. "The rollback of costs would affect all town departments."

"We will be looking at potential cuts to every department on the town side and no cuts to the Board of Education side," Millington said.

Peter Ambrose, R-2, chairman of the RTM's Finance Committee, said he was reviewing a legal opinion from Town Attorney Richard Saxl about the enforceability and validity of controversial "side letter agreements" that First Selectman Ken Flatto entered into with the president of the local firefighters' union that increased minimum manpower at the Fire Department without approval from town boards.

The side letter agreements require a town commitment to pay more than $370,000 in 2010-11 into an overtime account in the Fire Department's proposed budget, and Ambrose said he wanted to review Saxl's legal opinion, which he said he received this afternoon, before making his intentions known with regard to that proposed budget.

William Llewellyn, R-7, questioned the number of sick days and longevity and attendance bonuses received by town employees. He said town employees shouldn't receive attendance bonuses when unemployment is at 10 percent and that Department of Public Works' employees were permitted 30 sick days a year after 10 years on the job.

First Selectman Ken Flatto defended the number of sick days by saying DPW workers were in an injury-prone job; had to provide a doctor's note to take a sick day; and that the number of sick days actually used by town employees was six or seven a year. "Nobody gets 30 sick days. They only get 30 sick days if they're sick - legitimately sick," Flatto said.

Flatto said the attendance bonus was designed to cut down on town employees taking sick days and that longevity bonuses existed because union workers were not always paid as well as private-sector employees.

Vahey questioned whether Millington could provide information about what potential cuts are envisioned to the townside operating budget, but Millington said Republicans were still gathering information and he wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page and comfortable with what was being proposed.

Harold Schwartz, D-7, objected to the ambiguity, saying RTM members in the past had always made their intentions known at the meeting that preceded the vote to adopt a town budget so town and school officials would have time to prepare a response to proposed cuts. "It's not fair to department heads. If you guys were going to make the cuts, you should know where they are now," he said.

The gymnasium at McKinley School was packed, and several parents got up to speak in support of leaving the Board of Education's proposed budget intact and to thank RTM members for not planning more cuts.

The school board's $141.6 million budget is $3 million lower than the $144.6 million budget the school board had approved, but it's $2 million higher than the board's current $139.6 million budget.

Board of Education members haven't said what they will cut to adjust to their 2010-11 budget, but board Chairman Sue Brand recently said everything was on the table, and she didn't rule out class-size guidelines or programs in the schools. The board's $2 million increase is below the $2.5 million "move forward" cost that would enable the Board of Education to operate the school system next fiscal year as it's operating this fiscal year, according to Supt. of Schools Ann Clark.

Faith Dillon, R-9, suggested that the school board save money by allowing parents of high school students to "opt out" from having their children ride school buses, which she estimated are only half-full at the high school level. She said the town pays $1,500 a seat on a school bus.

Dillon said the town was wasting money, gas and energy by having half-full school buses at the high-school level.

The state requires the town to provide a seat on a school bus for every student who lives at least 1.5 miles from school, but Dillon said the local school board could charge students $200 a year to park at school, but eliminate that fee if parents signed an opt-out document that said their child does not need transportation to school.

Dillon said the town could save $750,000 if parents of 500 students signed the opt-out document. "How many more teachers could we hire? How many programs could we save?" she asked.

Dillon's proposal presented complications when she brought it up at an earlier meeting because school officials questioned what would happen if a student didn't have a car on a particular day and couldn't get a ride to school from a parent or friend.

As it now stands, the proposed $251.7 million town budget for 2010-11 rises 1.82 percent over the current $247.7 million town budget.

The proposed 2010-11 town budget breaks down to $141.6 million for the Board of Education, an increase of 1.4 percent; $86.3 for the townside operating budget, an increase of 5.9 percent; and $23.8 million in annual debt service, a decrease of 10.3 percent.

Taxes would rise 2 percent under the proposed 2010-11 budget as it now stands, and the tax rate would rise from 18.9 mills, or $18.90 for every $1,000 of assessed property value, to 19.28 mills, or $19.28 for every $1,000 of assessed property value.

A resident with a house assessed at $600,000 would pay an extra $228 in taxes - from $11,340 to $11,568.