Dems and Republicans Spar Over RTM Budget

A $105,891,000 town-school budget for 2016 – 17 was approved last week after reductions of $292,306 were voted on at a divided and testy Representative Town Meeting (RTM) at the legislative body’s annual budget meeting at Fire Headquarters. 

Last March, after the Board of Finance (BOF) approved a combined school-town budget of $106M, the Republicans and Democrats held hearings, committee by committee where they listened to the budget needs of department heads. By town law the RTM may decrease the BOF budget but may not increase it.

Then on May 2, Jim Finch, the town’s finance director, spoke about the state budget crisis at a special BOF meeting. Finch’s concerns, as well as the impact on the town’s mill rate, led the Republicans, the majority party in the RTM, to begin to meet in caucus to reduce the town-school budget. Their meetings were private. The mill rate sets the tax rate for property owners.

RTM Democrats, meanwhile, complained at last week’s RTM meeting that they were kept out of the process. None of the state’s fiscal issues were raised front and center at committee meetings so they could be addressed, the Dems said. But First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove said he had informed the Democratic minority leader Chris Sullivan about calling for a democratic caucus on the proposed cuts. The Dems did caucus twice before the Tuesday RTM meeting, but they were not given the nearly $300,000 in proposed Republican cuts at the time of their Friday or Monday evening caucuses when they met, Sullivan said.

Many Dems said they had only learned about the proposed cuts to the budget on the morning of the RTM meeting. The eventual budget vote of 10 of the 11 Democrats reflected their unhappiness. Two Dems voted in favor, five voted against it, three abstained and one was absent. In the end, the vote was 20 – 5. The moderator only votes to break a tie. At the RTM meeting the Dems said they were not opposed to the reductions but to how they came about.

Sullivan Critical of Process

Sullivan, who voted against the budget, said, ​“It was no secret that the state budget situation was dire. We have known this for weeks, if not months. There was no discussion of the need to make cuts at the committee level in our budget process. All of us want to do what is best for Branford, that is why we serve on the RTM. Unfortunately, instead of involving our caucus by presenting ideas for cuts at the committee votes just one week ago, massive changes were made behind closed doors and given out less than 12 hours before we were expected to vote.”

In fact Cosgrove did reach out to Sullivan via email on the evening of May 4, saying that he was asking the Democratic caucus ​“to provide any budget adjustment recommendations they may have to address this concern. Cosgrove raised the state budget deficits. ​“If possible, I would like to meet with you, Ray, (Ingraham) and Jim Finch before the RTM budget meeting. Please let me know if you have any availability, even if it is for a conference call.” In another email, Cosgrove suggested a Saturday meeting with Sullivan and Finch. The Eagle obtained copies of the emails.

The Finch Analysis

At the special BOF meeting on May 2, Finch said then that the problem concerning him is ​“the outlook for FY 2018 where the state shortfall is projected to be in the neighborhood of $2 billion. While we are not overly reliant on state assistance we are considering whether to dial down the amount we are estimating for state aid in 2017 to smooth the potential drop in 2018.” Cosgrove echoed Finch’s words when he spoke to the RTM. Overall, the town receives about $3 million in education cost sharing funds.

In an interview with the Eagle, Finch said that ​“it is important to note that the fiscal condition of the state weighed heavily on the decisions made by the RTM. The budget reductions approved by the RTM will offset some of the impact of potential revenue reductions.

“We believe these concerns are valid since we experienced a mid-year drop in revenues of approximately $170,000 in the current year (FY 2016) as the state plugged a gap of $230 million. Additionally in the second year of the state’s proposed biennium budget (FY 2017) we anticipate a reduction of about $505,000 as the state grapples with a $960 million shortfall. Despite the state’s best intentions we believe it is naïve to think we will be spared from future cuts given the severe fiscal challenges in Hartford.”

Finch told the Eagle that he wanted to meet with Cosgrove and Sullivan to explain the last-minute nature of the RTM’s role given the state’s fiscal crisis. But that meeting did not happen. Sullivan indicated he did not sense any urgency in the e‑mails he received. He was out of town for part of the weekend before the RTM meeting.

The RTM Democrats were clearly angry, not because they disagreed with the cuts, they said, but because they felt they were blindsided. Nor did they receive a breakdown of the surplus funds found in some Town Hall accounts that will now be transferred out. 

“We never received any background on the ramifications of the cuts nor did we have justifications that the funds for capital projects would be made whole from other town funds until I spoke with Jamie at 3:30 Tuesday,” Sullivan said.

Ray Ingraham, Republican majority leader, said he called a meeting of his caucus on Sunday, Mother’s Day, in order to review the fiscal situation. There were indications he had also called the caucus together a week before in order to elicit ideas for the proposed cuts.

He sent an email as well on the Tuesday morning of the RTM meeting to Sullivan and Adam Hansen, Democratic RTM clerk.

“This is the spreadsheet I was referring to last night. I didn’t realize that the email was stuck in send mode,” Ingraham explained. ​“We met as a full caucus Sunday. These were the proposals that were agreed upon to be presented. I am available anytime if you have any questions.”

Rep. Frank Twohill, chair of the RTM Education committee, and a longtime RTM member, explained at the meeting that there were unspent funds going back to 2008 that were available from some prior budgets. ​“We do not need to charge the taxpayer. It is there and should be spent.” Twohill said that there was a surplus in some town accounts, ​“totaling about $500,000 I was told.”

Rep. Josh Brooks, a Democrat, said the ​“we” Twohill referred to was not the ​“we in this room,” it was ​“the we on that side of the aisle,” he said referring to the Republicans across the aisle who acted without consultation from the Democrats. 

Lisa Ahern, who was elected to the RTM last year, said, ​“We were all not part of this discussion. I don’t feel I was part of this process.” She voted against the budget as did Sullivan and Hansen and Rep. Maryann Hall. So did Rep Brooks, who observed that the town budget increased 2.6 percent over last year’s budget. ​“The process concerns me and that is why I will vote against it.”

Brooks said that in his years as an RTM member ​“this is the first time” that these actions were taken without discussion in any RTM committee. Sullivan said it made ​“a mockery of the committee process,” a sentiment other Democratic members echoed.

Ingraham interjected that ​“we did try to reach out on Thursday and Friday. We did try to meet over the weekend.” 

None of the department heads who earlier had appeared before the RTM committees knew what parts of their budgets would be cut though one or two of the town’s department heads may have gotten a heads up.

Overall, most of the 21 cuts were made to capital budgets. The police department lost one of its three new cruisers; the engineering department lost all $17,000 it had sought for repairs and improvements to the Supply Pond Dam. And the annual fireworks celebration, always a spark away from outright removal by the Republicans, lost $5,000 of its $20,000 allocation. The RTM Moderator Dennis Flanagan asked residents to contribute funds for the event.

In the end the town’s education budget, which in past years saw major cuts, suffered one additional $42,865 reduction in connection with a server replacement and upgrades. No complaints came from education officials who attended the RTM meeting. 

The key number, the mill rate number, the number elected officials want to cite to the taxpayer-voter came in at a 1.5 percent increase. That could change. The BOF meets on Monday, May 23, to set the mill rate for the next tax year.
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