Town Budget Approved for $97.7 million

There are thousands of numbers in the town budget, but behind the column totals and the final mill rate, there are people affected by the Town Council’s approval Tuesday of a $97.7 million budget. That total is $1.7 million less than requested by Town Manager Michael Milone.

Two assistant registrars of voters, Tom Smith and Kim Niehoff, will be laid off in June to save the town $19,600. Despite a plea Tuesday from Republican Registrar of Voters Susan Pappas to restore the part-time positions, the council did not make the change.

Smith, who’s worked for the Registrar’s Department for 24 years, said there was no inkling the council was considering a decrease in the staff. The registrars were told of the decision on April 6, the day after the public hearing on the budget.

“We really felt blindsided,” said Smith. “We were really not expecting to have to present our case on such a short notice.” But, Smith put together information and attended the budget workshop on April 6, the last such meeting of the budget season. (See his letter to the council in the attached pdf document.)

“I think it’s bad policy. The work remains. There are federal and state statutes to follow,” Smith said. The elimination of the two positions, he said, will transfer one-third more work to the remaining staff that will not receive an adjustment in salary.

Town Council Chairman Tim Slocum responded to Pappas at the council meeting stating that he had researched the staffing in 11 towns to help determine changes to Cheshire’s registrars; office. He said the other towns had two workers and Cheshire had six.

Pappas asked the council to look at the professionalism of the Cheshire department compared to the other towns that were researched. “Consider the way we’ve worked,” she said.

In the end, the council voted 6-2, along party lines, to approve the budget, with Democrats Michael Ecke and Patti Flynn-Harris voting against the spending plan. Ecke asked the council to table the vote until Thursday to allow the council to reconsider its decision to eliminate the jobs in the registrar’s office. He also wanted the council to replace $382,000 of the $1.39 million decrease in the budget request. The motion failed, 6-2, also along party lines.

The approved mill rate is 26.85 mills which translates to an average of an $86 increase in property taxes for the fiscal year that begins on July 1.

More information on the approved general operating budget, including the decrease in school funding, will be posted this week on Cheshire Patch.

 Editor’s note: Tom Smith has written occasional feature articles for Cheshire Patch.