Montville Councilor: I’d Like To See No Tax Increase

Wednesday night, the Montville Town Council held a public hearing on a $55.96 million budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, and only one member of the public – former mayor Russ Beetham – showed up to say thank you.

And yet not everyone was completely satisfied. The budget, which was proposed by Montville Mayor Ron McDaniel, would increase the tax rate from 29.33 mills to 29.5 mills, a 0.17 mill increase. Town Councilor Rosetta Jones spoke at the hearing, saying that she would like to have a budget that doesn’t increase taxes at all.

“I hope we can keep the budget flat,” Jones said.

The Montville Town Council will finalize the budget in May. It held public hearings on the budget proposal the last two nights to garner input from the public, but there was almost no input from the public.

Specifics

Overall, the mayor’s proposed $55.96 million budget is an increase of approximately $320,000 from this year’s $55.62 million total. The Board of Education’s portion of the budget is $36.6 million, the same as this year’s total, so the entire increase is from the general government and capital budgets.

The mayor is proposing to spend $18.1 million for the general government’s operating expenses and another $1.3 million for his capital plan. The latter includes $500,000 for road paving, $70,000 for two police cruisers, $200,000 for fire vehicle replacement and $35,000 to repair the Town Hall's roof.

Tuesday night, the Town Council held a public hearing on the Board of Education’s budget, which didn’t increase spending and implements full-day kindergarten. Not a single member of the public spoke about the budget, and the hearing lasted eight minutes.

Wednesday night, it was the general government’s turn, as the Town Council held a public hearing on that part of the budget. Just Beetham, theortically a member of the public, talked to thank the mayor for keeping the tax increase minimal, followed by Jones’ comments. Again, the hearing lasted eight minutes.