Fairfield First Selectman Flatto's budget reflects 1.3 percent tax increase

First Selectman Ken Flatto's recommended 2010--11 budget, unveiled Monday during an afternoon press conference at Sullivan Independence Hall, represents a 1.3 percent tax increase.

"I committed, over two months ago, to the community to try to come in with a very, very lean budget," Flatto said, "To try to come in with a budget that's stable, that's as close to 0 percent as possible and I believe I've succeeded in doing that."

Flatto added, "This budget has the lowest proposed tax change in over a decade."

The town's operating budget shows an increase from $75.3 million in the current year to $77.3 million, and the Board of Education budget is increasing to $141.5 million from $139.5 million.

Flatto, in order to present a budget with a little more than a 1 percent increase, had to find some areas in the town and education budgets to make some cuts. By far the biggest trim he made was in the education budget -- $3 million to be exact.

"I believe the Board of Education, just like the town has been doing the last few years, needs to do as much without asking for more," he said. Flatto noted that the BOE felt it brought in a lean budget but in this economy, "this is not a time where we should be seeking to hire a lot of new staff, no matter what the merits may be, no matter what the needs may be."

"We should be able to say with our existing staff, we can do the job and we can do it well," Flatto said.

The BOE was requesting funding to hire 30 new staff. However, Flatto said school enrollment is increasing by less than one percent and so, based on the number of teachers and administrators in the district (about 1,300), there only needs to be 13 new hires.

The 2010--11 school budget that was approved by the school board two weeks ago had represented a 3.59 percent increase over the current year. Flatto, during Monday's press conference, said he recently had a meeting with 12 other mayors and first selectmen and no other school budget in Fairfield County showed a more than 1 or 2 percent increase.

He told the Fairfield Citizen Wednesday: "The town workforce has held steady over the last decade, though town population increased somewhat, while our schools' staffing has increased well beyond the ratio of new students, so in years like this with a bad recession, it is incumbent on all of us to hold the line on hiring any new staff as much as possible."

Board of Education Vice Chairman Pam Iacono told the Fairfield Citizen Tuesday, "While I respect and expect the first selectman to hold the line on hiring, our school district hiring needs are justified due to increased enrollment."

Flatto's recommended $3 million cut to the education budget could potentially prevent the district from getting 30-plus Smart Board interactive white boards and projectors, which had a price tag of approximately $147,000. It was said during education budget meetings that teachers who don't yet have a Smart Board in their classroom are at a disadvantage compared to their Smart Board-equipped counterparts (see related story). Superintendent of Schools Ann Clark said before Flatto's recommended budget came out, this was year she was hoping to get caught up on technology, as technology requests have been deferred in recent years.

Flatto thinks the district will survive.

"Technology is well ahead in Fairfield compared to many school districts and any large budget has a lot of choices as to where to spend funds," he said. "I believe some of the technology the BOE desires can be implemented even in a steady budget. For example, in the past six months, we have seen bids for the BOE which have purchased a lot of new technology this current year, even within their current lean budget."

Based on Flatto's recommended budget, the mill rate being proposed would be at a level of 19.16. The current mill rate is 18.90.

"The only way I could get to a budget this low, very frankly, was to constrain and limit essential operations both on the school district's side and the town side. There are a lot of tough decisions we are making," Flatto said. Of all the town departments, the only department that saw an increase in personnel was the police department. He agreed to hire one more police detective. He said the detective bureau is the "nerve center of our police force." The only other addition on the town side of the budget, Flatto said, was a second ladder truck for the fire department.

Flatto hopes to negotiate with the unions of the various town departments but that work will not get finished before the budget is adopted. As such, the budget includes the normal step increases.

"My hope is collective bargaining may help cut costs in this budget," Flatto said. Retiree benefits, in Flatto's budget, come in at $8,293,766 million, up from $6,194,558 in the current year. A budget breakdown from Flatto said town retiree benefit costs are up due to required reserves for pension benefits and OPEB costs. Debt service, on the other hand, sees a decrease, from $26,577,342 to $23,837,447. This is in part due to a moratorium on large projects from 2004 to 2008. The impact of the 1.3 percent tax increase, on the median home value Fairfield taxpayer, amounts to $20 to $25 per quarterly payment, according to Flatto, who noted the average home is now going for about $500,000.