Middlefield budget hearing 'unnoticed' but informative
Posted on:
Thursday, March 25, 2010 - 1:56pm
Although the Board of Finance’s public hearing on the First Selectman's budget wasn't properly noticed, a public hearing was held on Thursday, March 18, to meet a Town Charter requirement. Due to the lack of a legal notice, however, another hearing was scheduled for March 29 to allow the town to hear and comment on Jon Brayshaw’s proposal.
The total proposed budget comes out to $15,002,084, of which the town portion makes up $4,077,934 of the amount (or 27 percent). The expected mill rate for 2010-2011 is 26.52 mills, an increase of .83 mills from 2009-2010. The average homeowner with an assessment of $192,300 would see $156 added to their tax bill for the year. Brayshaw explained that the mill increase is due to the school budget and a loss of state revenue.
Despite the total budget increases, Brayshaw had some good news to offer. The town's expenses are down three percent, while he expects taxable property to go up by $500,000 due to the building planned for Happy Acres and the Merriam property. (Assessor Steve Hodgetts explained after the meeting that new building becomes taxable upon the granting of a Certificate of Occupancy, or CO. In order to impact next year’s tax collections, COs for either or both property would have to be granted during the time covered by the proposed budget – July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. The sooner a CO is granted, the more tax money could be raised.)
In light of the decrease in revenue, Brayshaw also stated that funding will need to come from sources that the town is not used to. While he suggested leasing more land for cell towers or to the school district, his suggestion to sell property met with some controversy.
The selectmen's budget includes $100,000 in revenue for the sale of property. Though Brayshaw expects the town to potentially make up to $400,000 in revenue from the sale of building lots on Hubbard Street and from the sale/lease of Powder Ridge, members of the finance board, including chair Rebecca Adams, thought it was premature to include this money as a line item and stated that it may be removed.
As for areas where budget costs are up, Brayshaw explained that the town's professional and legal costs are up because of projects such as Hubbard Street and Powder Ridge.
Another item that Brayshaw is working on with the assessor is $10,600 in taxes that Middlefield pays to Meriden every year. This is due to a piece of land owned by Meriden at the top of Powder Ridge that still has equipment on it. Brayshaw stated that the town is trying to reduce or otherwise remove the tax.
While the final numbers for the school budget aren't in yet, Brayshaw noted that his proposal is using a 2.5 percent increase as a placeholder until the town knows the actual number.
Although Brayshaw chose to hold off on reviewing the capital side of the budget due to the necessity for another public hearing, he left the Board of Finance with one final piece of information. He informed them that should the town try and reduce the budget by one mill, it will require removing $435,000 from the budget.
The proposal will be reviewed again come March 29.
