$36.6M Montville School Budget Garners No Public Input

Tuesday night, not a single member of the public spoke about a $36.6 million budget proposal by the Montville Board of Education for the upcoming school year.

But with a budget that boosts a 0 percent increase, brings back two teachers who were laid off in 2012 and implements a popular program, full-day kindergarten, there wasn’t much to complain about.

“This might be the shortest public hearing ever,” joked Town Council Chairwoman Candy Buebendorf, after the end of the eight-minute public hearing.

Each year, the Montville Town Council holds a public hearing on the Board of Education’s budget and the general government’s budget to garner input from the townspeople before making a final vote on the town's annual spending plan. Last year, the public hearing on the education budget lasted hours, with complaints about cutting a music teacher and not implementing full-day kindergarten, while this year it took eight minutes.

Montville Board of Education Chairman David Rowley said Superintendent Pamela Aubin originally proposed a budget with a 1.28 percent increase in February. However, the Board of Education sent that back to Aubin to reduce further, and she came back in March with the $36.6 million proposal. 

Overall, Mayor Ron McDaniel has presented a $55.96 million budget to the Montville Town Council, a 0.61 percent increase over this year’s $55.62 million total. If approved, the budget would increase the tax rate from 29.33 mills to 29.50, an increase of 0.17 mills.   

Are you happy with the Board of Education's budget proposal for the upcoming school year?