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ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
MARCH 27, 2006
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Deputy Mayor Kenneth Hilinski in the Enfield Room of the Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Monday, March 27, 2006. The meeting was called to order at 6:35 p.m.
ROLL-CALL – Present were Councilmen Edgar, Hilinski, Kaupin, Lee, Maxellon, Nelson, Peruta, and Ragno. Councilmen Crowley, Mangini, and Tallarita were absent. Also present were Acting Town Manager/Town Attorney, Christopher Bromson; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Clerk, Suzanne Olechnicki; Director of Finance, Gregory Simmons
PRESENTATION OF TOWN MANAGER’S PROPOSED BUDGET
Attorney Bromson reviewed the Town Manager’s proposed budget as follows:
Expenditures
School operations – an increase of $3.5 million or 5.5%
Town operations – an increase of $1.6 million or 3.9%
Total Town budget amounts to $112,571,856 - a 4.9% increase over last year
Larger increases relate to the support of capital projects amounting to $299,000; Social Services-$40,000; Water Pollution Control-$250,000; EMS support-$125,000, which is half of what it was last year
General Fund-Average Expenditure Growth
FY 03-04: +0.9% increase
FY 04-05: +2.1% increase
Current FY 05-06: +4.6 increase
Proposed 06-07: +4.9% increase
Four year average of +3.1%
Town and School “Market Basket” Inflation Indicators
Electric rate: +25%
Natural gas: +33%
Heating oil: +50%
Health insurance premium: +8.5%
Road salt: +6.4%
Contracted construction: +15%
Connecticut water – increase unknown at this time, however, it’s known there will be a proposed increase from Hazardville Water.
As concerns the increase in water, Attorney Bromson stated the Town will seek a deferral for the fiscal year. He explained these high utility costs are one of the main reasons the Board of Education and Town Council are looking into a joint fuel venture proposal so that they can have more stability for future budget projections on both the Town and Board side.
State Revenue
Attorney Bromson noted state revenue is mostly positive this year.
Education Cost Sharing – an increase of $143,000
Gambling Revenue – an increase of $259,000
State-owned property is down approximately $20,000, and the Town Aid Road Grant is down $20,000
Local Revenue
Attorney Bromson stated the only way the Town can get its revenue is through property taxes and fees. He noted the current mil rate is 35.20, and the proposed FY06-07 mil rate is 37.07, which amounts to a mil increase of 1.87, or 5.3% increase. He cited an example – a home valued at $142,000 would see an increase of $187 over the current taxes.
Attorney Bromson stated aside from state revenue and local revenue, the Town might use money from its General Fund Balance. He noted last year, the Town took $1.7 million from the General Fund Balance, and this budget proposes a decrease of $800,000 down to $900,000. He stated the goal for the FY07-08 budget is to drop down to $400,000. He noted they would prefer not to use anything from the General Fund Balance, however, that is difficult during hard economic times.
Capital Investments – Expenditures for Capital Improvement Projects
Attorney Bromson stated tax support for CIP was as high as $2.7 million in FY00-01, and it was reduced to $1.7 million in FY03-04 to control the tax rate. He noted the proposed budget increases it by approximately $300,000. He stated the current $1.6 million they’re spending for capital improvement would be increased to $1.9 million. He referred to all the capital improvement projects that the Council, Public Works and others have identified as being appropriate and necessary and noted they would have to spend $5 million dollars a year to address those areas, however, they’re proposing spending approximately $2 million dollars. He explained they’re doing this “pay-as-you-go” vs CIP bonding.
Debt
Attorney Bromson stated debt for the Town is $3 million dollars per year, excluding the athletic field project and Roads 2005. He explained the debt includes things such as the senior center, Enfield High School library, and Roads 2000. He noted this amounts to 2.7% of the annual expense and falling. He stated in 2011, it will drop from $3 million dollars per year to $2 million dollars per year. He noted that figure does not include athletic fields or Roads 2005 because they do not yet know what that will cost.
Attorney Bromson stated according to Connecticut Policy and Economic Council ranking, as of the most recent statistics of 2003, Enfield is 142nd lowest of 169 towns in regard to their per capita debt. He noted as a total percent of total expenditures, Enfield ranks 133rd. He explained this indicates Enfield doesn’t have much of a debt, and although this may look good on the surface, it means Enfield clearly isn’t using the referendum or bonding process to fund infrastructure.
Future Challenges
· Drastic increase in utility costs
· Inflation pressures of “purchased items”
· Need to reduce and eliminate reserve use
· Need to increase Capital investment to sustain infrastructure
· Continued investment in infrastructure (i.e., Roads 2005)
· Higgins building
· Thompsonville train station
· Strand Theater
· Library utilization
· Joint Blue Ribbon IT Recommendations
· Fermi athletic fields potential remediation
· Revaluation of real property (10/1/06)
· Industrial park/commercial space
Attorney Bromson expressed his appreciation to all the department heads for their great efforts and work to submit their budgets on time. He thanked Dan Vindigni and Gregg Simmons who did all of the work in meeting with the department heads and preparing this budget for Council’s review.
Councilman Kaupin referred to the proposal by the Governor to eliminate the car tax and questioned whether there’s any accommodation with the budget, or are they waiting to see what happens through the Legislature. Mr. Simmons responded there’s no accommodation within this budget request for that. He stated they are waiting to see what happens.
Deputy Mayor Hilinski questioned what were the driving factors in setting up this budget. Attorney Bromson responded to provide the services people have become accustomed to and to be as accountable within the department as possible and keeping increases as low as possible.
BUDGET DISCUSSIONS
The Town Attorney, Town Clerk and Records Management, Finance Administration, Treasury, Collection of Revenues, Assessor and General Services, Senior Center, Economic Development and Community Development budget proposals were reviewed.
There was no Executive Session.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION #8718 by Councilman Kaupin, seconded by Councilman Maxellon to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #8718 adopted 8-0-0, and the meeting stood adjourned at 8:34 p.m. |