How Much Will Greenwich's Taxes Rise?

The proposed $427.9 million budget for Greenwich’s operating and school expenses, as well as for capital improvement projects, if approved as proposed by First Selectman Peter Tesei, Greenwich taxes would increase by 2.73 percent to 11.579 mills.

Tesei unveiled his budget plan for the 2016-17 fiscal year during an hour-45-minute hearing at Greenwich Town Hall on Monday.

Among the initiatives Tesei is proposing — the perennial request to increase Greenwich Fire Department staffing and to build a new fire station to cover the expansive northwest corner of town; the replacement of New Lebanon School in Byram, and the assignment of a police officer at Greenwich Point Park during the height of the summer beach season.

Tesei’s presentation was made to the four-member Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) Budget committee which met Monday night at Greenwich Town Hall where about 65 town department heads, members of the BET, the Board of Education, the Representative Town Meeting, and residents gathered to hear the formal presentation. The budget committee — chaired by Jim Lash with members Republican Leslie Tarkington and Democrats Mary Lee Kiernan and Jeffrey Ramer — will begin the departmental and line-by-line review of the proposed budget in a series of hearings that begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Town Hall.

Lash encouraged the public to submit written questions, concerns and comments to the committee in the next two weeks while his committee scrutinizes the proposed fiscal plan. (The schedule of budget committee meetings can be found here.)

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Tesei’s proposed $427.9 million budget is about $16.8 million more than the current $411.1 million budget. The current tax rate is 11.271 mills or $11.271 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. If approved, the proposed budget would bump the mill rate to 11.579 mills.

The proposed budget includes a Board of Education budget of $150 million, about 2.2 percent more than the current budget. Tesei also is proposing a $72 million capital improvements budget — the bulk of which is for construction of a new New Lebanon School.

Tesei said, “This budget represents a commitment to maintaining the character of our town and strengthens it as a premier place to live, work, and raise a family but does so within our long-standing goals for a modest and predictable tax rate.”

Most budget increases are driven by contractual obligations including health care, according to Tesei.

Major expenditures include a $5.3 million contribution to offset the operating deficit at The Nathaniel Witherell, the town-owned nursing home and rehabilitation center, that is completing a renovation of the Parsonage Road facility on the heels of declining Medicaid reimbursements.

Tesei continued his crusade for establishing a ninth fire station in town, specifically in the northwest corner of town. Both Tesei and several speakers, including Alan Williams, president of the Northwest Homeowners Association, outlined the need to reduce response times and increase manpower on responding crews. Both said that the 8 to 12-minute response time from the Glenville and Round Hill stations fail to meet national average standards of four-minute response times.

They also said the need for a northwest station is exacerbated by the location of two private schools, three nursing homes, the Westchester County airport, four golf courses and numerous subdivisions within the area.

During the public hearing portion of the budget presentation, Greenwich Planning and Zoning Director Katie DeLuca said, “The town has been examining this problem, purchased property … it still is left with no solution to a very serious problem ... “ Holding a copy of the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development, DeLuca added that the town’s “planning process has identified the problem of disparate level of fire coverage in town” and that “funding for a new fire station should be approved.”

Tesei wants approval of a $500,000 allocation to begin the design process of a new station, while adding four firefighting positions to increase the two-man crews currently assigned to the Byram, Old Greenwich and Cos Cob stations. Fire regulations require a minimum of three or four-person crews so that firefighters can enter burning structures.

The largest budget expense for the Board of Education is the proposed New Lebanon School project in which $29.95 million is sought in addition to $2.1 million for modular classrooms to house students during the construction.

Check back for more detailed stories on budget specifics.

Photo: The Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation Budget committee from left, Jeffrey Ramer, Leslie Tarkington, Chairman Jim Lash and Mary Lee Kiernan. Credit: Barbara Heins.