Finance Members at Gridlock on Board of Education Budget Proposal

The Southington Board of Education could be looking at a reduction of $1 million or more from their annual budget request, but the exact reduction remains to be seen as members of the town’s finance board were unable to reach a consensus on Tuesday.

The Board of Finance remains at a 3 – 3 deadlock as some members are seeking a reduction of between $800,000 and $1 million while others believe the tough economy is dictating the need to reduce the original request for a $2.89 million increase by $1.5 million or more in an effort to provide financial relief to Southington taxpayers.

“The job of the Board of Finance is to come up with a number for the Board of Education that will allow for further education opportunities in the community, but that does so in a manner that is reasonable for both the town and the taxpayers,” said Board Chairman John Leary. “We still need to reach a consensus on the matter.”

The Board of Education earlier this year settled on a request for a $2.89 million increase in funding, pushing their overall request for the 2013-14 fiscal year to $85.33 million representing just over a 3 percent increase in current spending.

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The request includes considerable increases in spending for salaries and benefits including insurance costs, but also introduces new programs including all-day kindergarten and taking over the Applied Behavioral Analysis program from the Capitol Region Education Council. The ABA program would come with a $102,000 savings, School Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi Jr. said, while it would cost approximately $400,000 to implement all-day kindergarten.

During a special budget review meeting on Tuesday, the second of the week, members of the finance board were in agreement that $2.89 million is too much but were split on what the best increase would be for both the schools and the taxpayers.

“I propose taking a look at the last four years and going to the low end. With a $2 million increase, it is still a 1.39 percent increase and not far below,” said finance member Sandra Feld. “In light of the projects coming, with middle schools set to cost $90 million plus interest, a new energy management system, turf – there is a lot to do.”

The town is also facing potential losses in revenue with a proposal to eliminate the car tax or taxpayers being saddled with additional taxes such as an oil tax at a state level, Feld said, and the town must be prepared for the worst.

Feld, Anthony Casale and Edward Pocock Jr. each supported a $2 million reduction that would bring the Board of Education budget to a near $900,000 increase. It would also mean a decrease in local taxes by about $50 for the average home when paired with a $218,000 reduction in the town’s budget over the current fiscal year that was agreed upon Monday.

After discussions, all three members were willing to settle on a $1.5 million decrease but none of the three wanted to give in to anything less.

Leary, Board Vice-Chairman Joseph Labieniec and finance member Wayne Stanforth believe such a large reduction would be too counterproductive to effort to further education, however, and wanted to see a reduction around $1 million from the education request instead. Stanforth stood still at an $800,000 reduction.

“This isn’t a perfect science, unfortunately,” Labieniec said. “When you look at salaries and benefits, it’s a cost increase of $1.6 million. A $1 million reduction gives them that and change to play with to keep education moving forward.”

The board will meet again Wednesday night in an effort to reach a consensus. If left at an impasse, Leary said the request would need to be forwarded to the Southington Town Council without changes and be up to members of the council to decide.

The workshop will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Finance Department at Southington Town Hall.

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