By Bill Drake
Columnist
February is budget month for Greenwich’s Board of Estimate and Taxation.
Last October, the BET established guidelines for the preparation of budgets. These guidelines set an objective of holding the annual increase in operating expenses to 2 percent. After careful review and preparation, the selectmen and the Board of Education offered their proposed fiscal 2017 budgets to the BET last week. During February, the BET’s Budget Committee is considering these budgets in several open meetings at Town Hall.
The proposed townwide operating budget provides for operating expenses of $383.1 million. As usual, schools represent over half of these expenses. Compared to the current year, operating expenses for education increase 2.22 percent and expenses for other town services increase 1.88 percent.
Health care expense for town employees grows 10 percent, to $58.2 million. The town works to control this major expense through wellness programs, health plan design, competition among health care insurers, and cooperation with our unions. Another important item this year is staffing in our fire department. The Greenwich Fire Department provides service at a very high standard, with eight firehouses and a paid staff of 107 persons. The proposed operating budget for the department totals $15.2 million. The department’s proposal would increase the staffing in certain firehouses and continue planning for a ninth firehouse in the northwest corner of town.
The proposed capital budget is $72.5 million, the largest ever. Among the large capital projects is the construction of the new New Lebanon School, which, it is expected, will be financed largely by a grant from the sate of Connecticut. Work continues on three large infrastructure projects: the construction of the new Central Fire Station adjacent to Greenwich Police Headquarters, the music instructional space at Greenwich High, and planning for the extensive improvements of Byram Park that include a large and beautiful new pool.
The budget for the town’s skilled nursing facility, The Nathaniel Witherell, will be a large drain in fiscal 2017. The facility’s budget shows an operating loss of $2.1 million. When all related expenses, interest, principal and capital expenditures are included, the town’s required subsidy to the Witherell is projected to increase from $2.4 million last year to $6.5 million in fiscal 2017. These funds could be better used to make improvements in core government functions such as education, infrastructure, or fire services. Facing equivalent losses, Stamford last month transferred its Smith House Nursing Center to private hands, thus relieving taxpayers of this burden. Greenwich is the only community in Connecticut where taxpayers bear the large and growing expense of municipal management of a nursing home.
As required by law, real estate in town must be revalued every five years in order to remain accurate and up to date. The new valuation is now essentially complete. All assessments in Greenwich are at 70 percent of fair market value. The new assessment or Grand List totals $32.4 billion, or 4.2 percent greater than last year. This is an average increase: the actual change in valuation is different for each neighborhood and each property. For example, the aggregate value of properties in Riverside increased by 15 percent, while those north of the Merritt Parkway decreased by 6 percent. When the valuation is reset to the new higher base, the tax rate multiplier (mill rate) must also be reset to a new lower base. This will generate equivalent tax revenues to the town, and keep our taxes affordable. For the last four fiscal years, the mill rate increases have been 2.75 percent annually. When the new mill rate is established in June, any increase will be applied from the new lower base of the mill rate.
As First Selectman Peter Tesei often says, our government is committed to strengthening Greenwich as a premier place to live, work and raise a family, under a long-standing policy of modest and predictable tax rates. The proposed budgets represent excellent work and are consistent with these goals.
Bill Drake is a member of the BET and the Vice-Chairman of the New Lebanon School Building Committee. He attended Greenwich Public Schools and is a professional investor.
