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Politics & Government

Finance Board Looks To Cut $400,000 From Combined Budgets

Public Hearing At Town Hall Scheduled For Wednesday Night

 In the aftermath of a stinging referendum defeat for the proposed town and school budgets, the finance board tentatively has agreed to cut $400,000 from planned spending to reduce taxes by 0.23 mills.

The revised budgets are to be presented at a public hearing Wednesday at 7 p.m. in town hall, after which the finance board will ratify or further change the budgets for a second referendum May 25.

In the first referendum May 11, voters soundly rejected a proposed town and school budget of $46.09 million that would have require a 0.58 mill increase in the tax – virtually the same tax increase created by the current budget and approved by voters in a third referendum last year.

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The finance board’s plan to cut $400,000 from the $918,884 increase originally called for in its proposed budget would reduce the tax increase to 0.35 mills – but would not alter the 2.36 mill increase that will be required in the tax rate next year because of a massive loss of value in the town’s grand list.

The town’s latest revaluation lowered the value of taxable properties in Clinton by an unprecedented $160 million and that will result in a significant increase in the tax rate simply to maintain revenues at current levels.

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Finance board members worried whether voters understood the distinction between the tax rate increase caused by the grand list, and the tax rate increase that would be created by the new budget.

Finance board Chairman Brad Sullivan said, “You can’t tell from the ‘no’ vote is whether people want no spending increase … or no tax increase. Obviously, those things are different.”

Sullivan estimated that the elimination of the tax increase mandated by the loss of grand list value would require a budget cut of $3.5-4 million, while the first budget proposal called for a “very small” increase in the tax rate.

Finance board member Dennis Donovan was confident that the issue for voters was the tax increase caused by the budget. “That’s what people resent,” he said, “We hope people understand the 2.36 mills just gets us even with revaluation.”

But school board Chairwoman Deborah Grass disagreed. “Most people do not understand that revaluation number at all,” she said.

While they debated suggestions to get as much as the entire increase in the first proposed budget, they also worried what would happen if they cut the budget to a “zero increase” and voters – as they did last year – voted down the budget a second time.

Finance board member Miner Vincent said, “If you go to zero, and it goes down, it’s close the door and shut off the lights,” in terms of town operations.

Instead, the finance board embraced Donovan’s recommendation of a $400,000 reduction, which he said could be made in planned capital spending to reduce the tax increase created by the budgets.

While Donovan then wanted to restore that money to the budget by taking $400,000 from the town’s undesignated surplus fund, that will not happen, First Selectman William Fritz said.

“We’re not using surplus money for anything. It’s a straight cut. We’re just cutting the money,” he said.

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