By Richard Kaufman
*Post updated to reflect capital budget of $89.8 million.
On Tuesday night via Zoom, Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo unveiled his $450.6 million municipal budget for fiscal year 2021-2022, followed by Board of Education Chair Peter Bernstein and Greenwich Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones, who presented their spending plan.
“The town and the Board of Education must continue to offer services that make Greenwich the best place to live, raise a family, start a business and/or retire,” Camillo said.
Camillo’s proposed spending plan, which weighs in at $450,649,585 with a proposed capital budget of $89.8 million. The budget would represent a 0.51 percent increase over the current budget of $448.3 million. It would also represent a 1.75% increase in the town’s mill rate, which is used to calculate property and vehicle tax.
The Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation had set guidelines last fall calling for a budget of $460 million, with at most a $55 million capital budget.
Capital Projects
Camillo has said recently that the hardest part in crafting a budget is prioritizing and allotting money for capital projects.
“Capital improvements substantially affect the fiscal vitality and quality of life in Greenwich. Capital improvements require careful, long-term planning and budgeting so that unforeseen financial emergencies do not curtail planned maintenance and necessary replacement,” Camillo said. “But no matter how worthwhile these projects are, we can’t do them all at once. These are hard choices that are made. We can’t do everything.”
On Tuesday night, Camillo outlined several projects included in his proposed budget.
For the new Eastern Greenwich Civic Center, $18 million is being budgeted for construction with a bid expected to go out by Oct. 1, 2021.
Camillo said the project is a good example for what a public/private partnership should look like, and he added that he hopes to announce an “anchor donor” for the project shortly.
There will be a few other ways for donors to contribute, whether it’s for naming rights for the building, the gymnasium, outdoor space, or even bricks which would be on display. Camillo hopes to reveal a “chip chart” soon to outline how the town can chip away at the $18 million price tag through donations.
The enhancement of Roger Sherman Baldwin Park has always been a favorite for Camillo, he said. In his proposed budget, there is $1.25 million put aside for design work and improvement. For fiscal year ’23, $11.2 million would be needed for construction.
The entire plan calls for the demolition and relocation of the Parks and Recreation building, which Camillo said obstructs sightlines and views of the waterfront. Walking paths near the waterfront would be constructed, and concrete would be taken away with greenspace and plantings added. The waiting area for boats would feature covered seating but remain open air to provide good flow.
Camillo’s proposed budget also includes $1.4 million for a permanent Greenwich Emergency Medical Services Station 4 in the backcountry. Camillo said the building is needed, and that the station would provide protection for emergency vehicles and ensure that they start during cold winter months.
Camillo allotted $950,000 for design work and construction plans on a new Dorothy Hamill Rink, with $17 million slated for construction in fiscal year ‘24.
“We’ve already had several people reach out to us starting last winter wanting to help with the private funding,” Camillo said.
There is also money put aside for soil remediation projects: $10 million for Greenwich High School and $8 million for Western Middle School. Camillo also noted that there is $1.3 million to fund the town’s cybersecurity program.
COVID Impacts
Camillo prefaced his entire presentation by talking about how COVID has impacted the town.
According to Camillo, the Town Hall visitor count pre-pandemic was at 735 visitors per day. Following the closure and reopening amid the pandemic, that number has been averaging 227 per day. On the flip side, pre-pandemic, the town website received 5,000 visitors per day. Now, there are over 9,500 visitors per day.
“The work is still getting done, it’s just getting done in a different manner,” Camillo said.
Headcount Reductions
Position eliminations at the full-time level include: an internal auditor (Town moved to an outside auditor); an administrative staff assistant in the Tax Assessor’s office; two positions from the legal department; one administrative staff assistant from inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency; a general service director at the Greenwich Police Department; and two uniformed police officers.
Part-time positions eliminated include a procurement specialist in Purchasing, a professional temp in the tax collector’s office, and an administrative staff assistant in Land Use. Camillo noted that he’d add a part-time Environmental Affairs administrator and an economic development director who will focus on business recruitment and retention.
Board of Education Budget
Following Camillo, Board of Education Chair Peter Bernstein and Greenwich Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones presented the school district’s operating budget of $169,846,597, along with a $32 million capital budget. The operating budget, which does not include employee benefits, represents an increase of 3.97% over the 2019-2020 spending plan. 2020-2021 levels were flat due to COVID.
Bernstein explained that Greenwich Public Schools is the “beacon for all the other districts in the area” when it comes to dealing with COVID. They opened the year with a good amount of students in-person.
“Other districts call us regularly looking for guidance on how to move in that direction,” he said. “Fifteen percent of our students are still remote, and that’s a choice that they’ve made, and we support that. But we have a lot of students physically coming into our buildings.”
The two biggest drivers for the district’s proposed budget include salaries and other contractual payments, an increase of $2.3 million, and Special Education tuition, which increased by $1.9 million.
Priorities for the District
One of the priorities for the district in this budget includes the purchasing of new mathematics textbooks for grades K-8, at $652,000.
“These are absolutely essential this year. Our books are 9-10 years old. Most districts [keep their books] four to six years,” Jones said. “This is one item that has constantly been cut out of the budget.”
Jones also said the district wants to restore library books at $136,000. “This was something that was part of the reduction at the end of last year in June in order to bring [spending levels to zero]. It’s important that when new literature is published, that we have access to that,” Jones added.
The District is also looking to restore funding that was used to pre-purchase teaching materials and custodial supplies last spring when the pandemic hit.
Capital Budget
Of the $32,092,00 capital budget, $17,352,000 is slated for major projects.
Western Middle School soil remediation would cost $8 million, and the Cardinal Stadium Phase 2 Improvement would cost $4.8 million. $2.75 million was put aside for a new, secure entryway to Greenwich High School, and $1.7 million would be used for design work on Julian Curtiss School renovations. The school opened in 1946 and has had few improvements made. It has no ADA accessibility, HVAC needs replacing, and security is an issue.
Just over $100,000 would be used for a feasibility study on Central Middle School renovations.
The District is adding $648,000 towards cybersecurity and $278,000 to upkeep its computer network infrastructure. Because of COVID and the heavy reliance on digital learning, $1.4 million will be invested in student devices, software, peripheral hardware, student connectivity and network security.
Building maintenance/infrastructure totals $12 million.
“The quality of our schools — what goes on in our buildings and the physical structure of our schools — actually drives people to come to Greenwich. That drives our property values, and that drives our mill rate,” Bernstein said, further adding that the town needs to invest in the operation and upkeep of schools.
Public Hearing
There was a public hearing following the budget presentations. A majority of residents voiced support and urged the BET to accept the municipal and BOE budgets as they were presented.
A number of residents specifically spoke in favor of the proposed work on Julian Curtiss, and they urged the BET to approve the funding.
On the municipal side, several people had questions about the lack of funding for a fire station in the North West part of town. The BET was scheduled to hold a separate public hearing on the recently released Town Fire Study on Thursday, which looked at fire services in Greenwich and made recommendations to town officials.
Departmental budget meetings will begin next week, as the BET prepares to submit a recommended budget to the Representative Town Meeting.
