BET Approves $431 Million Budget for 2016-17

budget-committee-lash-fi

By Bill Slocum
Contributing Editor

The Board of Estimate and Taxation early Tuesday morning approved a $431.3 million town budget for fiscal year 2016-17, representing a 4.9 percent increase over the prior year’s spending.

The increase will trigger a rise in the mill rate of 2.99 percent, according to Finance Department calculations.

Budget discussions lasted some six hours, the culmination of extensive deliberations by the BET that included numerous work sessions, public hearings, and Budget Committee meetings. While the budget came out of the process larger than it went in, the results still left some with less than they had hoped.

First Selectman Peter Tesei and the Fire Department put much emphasis on trying to get the BET to approve funding for additional firefighters, saying current staffing is inadequate and potentially dangerous for fire crews and those they serve. In a 6-6 vote in which Republican chairman Michael Mason cast the deciding vote, the BET rejected the funding.

Tesei and the Fire Department were more successful getting BET approval for a new fire station on King Street, a move which it was pointed out will require new hires. The $2 million appropriation includes both plans for building a new station (which would also house a Greenwich Emergency Medical Services ambulance station) as well as buying land owned by Fairview Country Club.

Debate was frequent, particularly when it came to several large capital items. The removal of two sewer improvement projects connected to the Holly Hill Transfer Station, totaling $3.5 million, drew expressions of frustration from Democrats on the board.

“The sewer line there is not only old, going from 18 inches to 15 inches to 12 inches in diameter, but it runs through a pond,” member Jeffrey Ramer said. “It is a nightmare waiting to happen.”

At another point during the meeting, when discussing whether to fund $200,000 for upgrades at Byram Fire Station, Republican Jim Lash objected to the inference the BET was “kicking the can down the road” by not funding certain projects.

“Sometimes, you have to say no,” Lash said. “We can’t say yes to everything. Where do we stop?” The Byram Fire Station upgrade was approved in the end, with conditions, in a 11-1 vote.

There were a few notable no’s in the meeting. An early one came when the BET cut $50,000 from salary for the tax collector’s office, a significant portion of which would presumably have to come from the collector himself, Tod Laudonia.

John Blankley, who proposed the cut, noted that Laudonia was an elected rather than appointed official, a campaign theme last November when Democrat Howard Richman ran against Laudonia on a platform of making the position appointed. Blankley and his fellow Democrats all voted in favor of the cut, as did Lash, breaking ranks with the other Republicans, who voted against.

Two capital items with big implications for future-year budgets did go through. One was a $520,000 appropriation for planning renovations for Eastern Greenwich Civic Center, which is expected to cost $12 million next year. The other involved $175,000 for extensive mapping out of Greenwich Avenue, in preparation for possible large-scale improvements there.

The Greenwich Avenue appropriation, urged in light of ongoing parking and infrastructure issues, was reduced in size from $300,000 when it was decided to phase in the study over multiple years. BET members agreed a study was overdue.

“Greenwich Avenue is a premier shopping district of not just Connecticut but the entire country,” Democrat Mary Lee Kiernan said. “This is a way of protecting our Grand List.”

Perhaps one of the most noteworthy votes of the evening took place before the budget meeting even began. At the regular BET meeting, which was held just before the special meeting on the budget, a four-member committee was appointed to look at the ongoing financial state of the town nursing home, Nathaniel Witherell, debt service for which has become a growing concern and a rising cost in the town budget. One late item in the budget meeting was approval of a $1.52 million increase to the town pension fund to cover costs accrued by Nathaniel Witherell employees.

Republican BET member Arthur Norton was appointed to chair the four-person panel.

Related Posts
Loading...