With $76.75 million budget passing in Stonington, focus now shifts to projects
By Jason Vallee, Sun staff writer Apr 27, 2022
STONINGTON — A small segment of voters concerned about a 4.7% increase in spending in the upcoming fiscal year sought to find support in efforts to reject the proposal and further limit town spending. The effort, ultimately, came up short at the polls.
Less than 1,000 people representing only 6% of eligible registered voters in Stonington cast their ballots Tuesday as the proposed $76.75 million combined general government, education and capital improvement budget passed at referendum, 523-381. While the plan does include considerable new spending, it also factors in changes in the town’s grand list, allowing the mill rate to be set at 23.66, representing a 0.8% decrease in the tax rate.
First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough said Tuesday night that with the budget approved, the town’s selectwomen will shift gears to concentrate on numerous ongoing infrastructure projects throughout the community.
“We are focusing on the many ongoing projects we have underway, like awarding a bid for the work on the Mystic River Boathouse, starting the assessment phase at the Stillman Avenue mill, finalizing the Al Harvey Road [land purchase], getting prepared for the design and engineering phase of the water loop project, and launching our new housing loan program,” she said.
The budget approved Tuesday includes $25.27 million for general government operations, $38.98 million for education, $7.73 million for debt service and $4.76 million for capital improvements. General government spending is up by nearly $1.4 million, while education spending would increase by $600,000 in the upcoming year.
Debt liability will drop by $300,000 in the coming year.
The approval came following a social media campaign in the days leading up to the referendum that saw several residents and elected officials express concerns over increased spending in the proposal. Some felt the new spending, even with inflation, was too much for the town to absorb, while others, including Board of Finance member Lynn Young and former member Blunt White, said the increase was unacceptable given it does not factor in any of the $5 million in federal pandemic relief funding that will be spent over the next couple years.
With many families struggling, some sought to see spending reduced and more returned to the taxpayers in the form of tax breaks.
Young said at previous meetings and in online social media forums that she was concerned about $500,000 budgeted to allow for engineering to begin on the Stonington Middle School HVAC system replacement. She said it is too soon to budget the money, and there is no plan in place to effectively conduct an engineering study, so she favors waiting a year.
She said there is no indication student health would be negatively impacted by waiting, either, and doing so would allow the town to better prepare for the HVAC project.
“By waiting for numbers we can make an educated decision about when and how to move forward,” she said. “It might be more sensible to spend those insufficient federal funds earmarked for this on other worthy school needs and wait for the surge in HVAC projects to wane, then pay a fair and reasonable amount for this project. Or to give taxpayers greater relief in a very tough year for many.”
The arguments weren’t enough to shift voter opinions, however, and the budget passed at all three polling locations on Tuesday.
The referendum drew few voters, with districts 1 and 3 drawing the largest turnout at just 7%. The measure passed 159-99 in districts 1 and 3, 217-185 in district 2 and 147-97 in districts 4 and 5.
One reason that the referendum passed at all locations was that despite the spending, it led to a 0.19 drop in the mill rate, which will move from 23.85 to 23.66 come July 1. It also provided a budget that officials said addresses numerous needs that have already been put off too long, including infrastructure work and sewer repairs.
To help alleviate the burden for any additional spending, members of the Board of Finance deliberated regarding use of the town’s undesignated funds to help offset expenses. In dipping into the fund balance, Chesebrough said town policy calls for Stonington to maintain a reserve with two months of operating funds, plus an additional $1 million.
“This is a budget that came from a compassionate, insightful discussion by members of the Board of Finance,” Chesebrough said in an interview earlier this month. “For years we had built up the reserve fund, and with the cost of living up, it was time to dip into that to offset increases.”
jvallee@thewesterlysun.com