Ellington residents voted yesterday against a $71.6 million budget proposal that would raise resident tax rates by nearly 7 percent. The vote sparked a heated debate between committee Republicans who supported the budget and committee Democrats who opposed it.
“Unfortunately, we knew that even though it was a responsible plan, it would be difficult to get voters to accept,” Town Manager Matt Reed said, “But if you don’t ask, you don’t know. So I asked yesterday and now I know.”
Reed said unofficial results showed that of the 1,490 voters, or about 14 percent of the town’s registered voters, 1,060 voted against the budget and only 430 voted in favor.
“It’s unfortunate that so few people participated in this process,” Reed said, “but it’s still better than 12 people voting at a town meeting, you know?”
The proposed budget would have increased the town’s tax rate by 2.6 mills. Tax rates are used by municipalities to levy real estate or property taxes, with one mill equaling one dollar of property tax levied per $1,000 of assessed property value. The current tax rate is 34.3 mills, but the proposed budget would raise it to 36.9 mills, an increase of about 7.6 percent. Reed said the proposed tax increase is aimed at raising an additional $3.2 million to “sustain” the town’s progress.
“From an administrative standpoint, this was a really lean budget, there was nothing extra in the budget,” Town Manager Matt Reed said. “We’re not buying additional trucks, we’re not buying additional patrol cars, we’re not starting any new programs.”
Reed said the additional funding was also necessitated by increased debt the town expects over the next few years as a result of recently approved capital projects, including a $3 million playground lighting upgrade and a $74.6 million Windermere Elementary School renovation and expansion project.
“And of course, this assumes there are no new projects over the next few years,” Reed said.
What has caused this issue to simmer among the town’s political factions is the reason for the proposed budget increase.
“The previous budget used temporary federal pandemic relief funds as a substitute for the town and school district capital budget, thereby creating a fiscal cliff,” read a statement released by the town’s Republican Committee on May 24. “The inevitable result of this strategy, spearheaded by former Finance Committee Chairman Michael J. Parkaro, a former Republican and now a Democrat, was that the current Finance Committee had no choice but to pass a budget that included significant tax increases in order to maintain services.”
The town’s Democratic Committee released a statement saying the rate hikes are “too much of a burden for Ellington residents, especially during these tough economic times, which have been exacerbated by steep rate increases from utility companies like Eversource and Connecticut Water.”
Parkaro, who stepped down as finance committee chairman last year and is now town manager for the Town of Vernon, did not take kindly to the Republicans’ statement.
“It’s political rhetoric,” Parkaro said. “It’s a complete lie and it’s weak, bottom-line leadership that is destructive to our community.”
Parkaro said that during his time on the Finance Committee, he was instrumental in establishing the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Review Committee to assess the town’s needs and determine how to best use ARPA funds going forward. Parkaro maintained that the committee is bipartisan in nature and that the expenditures it approved were one-time purchases and “did not create a fiscal cliff.”
Purcaro also cited a number of accomplishments he’s made during his tenure as evidence of his track record of fiscal responsibility, including switching the city’s health insurance plan to a partnership system with the state, strengthening internal controls over spending and improving the town’s credit rating.
“That statement is not based in fact,” Parkaro said. “All of these major initiatives had 100% bipartisan, unanimous support from the Finance Committee. You can’t tell the difference between Democrats and Republicans.”
Ellington isn’t the only town affected by the lack of federal and state COVID-19 funding. Across the state, municipalities large and small are cutting school staff to right-size education budgets as various COVID-19 relief funds expire this year. Reed said the town’s finance committee has not yet indicated how much of a cut it will make, but he acknowledged the size of the town’s education budget.
“In a town our size, probably most towns, schools are very expensive, depending on the services they provide,” Reid said. “That’s the reality. They have a huge number of staff, they have transportation costs, and of course food costs. People think that schools are the easiest place to make cuts, but of course those cuts can be quite painful.”
Reed said $46.7 million of the proposed $71.6 million budget would be allocated to the school board, which represents 65 percent of the budget and a 3.7 percent increase from last year’s allocation.
Ellington Public Schools Chancellor Scott V. Nicol released a statement today expressing concern about how the rejected budget will affect the future of school services.
“To be clear, despite what some critics may claim, the significant cuts in the school board’s proposed budget will impact personnel, programs and services,” Nicol’s statement read. “In good faith, I intend to work with the school board and finance committee to recommend the most prudent fiscal course while understanding the concerns of local taxpayers.”
Nicol’s statement also expressed concern that the vote had caused a rift between political factions in the town.
“This budget proposal was opposed by the Democratic Town Committee and supported by the Republican Town Committee,” Mayor Nicol’s statement read. “The City of Ellington has a history of bipartisan governance and passing referendums, so this was a first for me as Superintendent.”
Both Reid and Parkaro scorned statements made by the two political committees ahead of the vote and stressed the need for bipartisan cooperation going forward.
“I’m a little frustrated by the tone coming out of both sides on local social media pages,” Reid said. “It’s frustrating when you’re trying to act fiscally responsible.”
Parkaro said the path forward needs to be based on “good faith, collaboration and a true bipartisan effort that engages the public and political leaders.” He said cuts to the education budget are not necessarily necessary, and he advised the town’s current finance committee to cut underutilized or overpaid programs and services while looking for new ways to raise revenue.
“Now it’s just hard work moving forward,” Purcaro said.
The Finance Committee is scheduled to hold special meetings this Thursday and next Monday to review and revise the budget.
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