Budget Passes Legislative Council, Heads Toward Referendum

Newtown's proposed 2013-14 budget is ready for voters.

After about two hours of deliberation, Newtown's Legislative Council voted to send the town and education budget proposals forward to an April 23 referendum. The budgets include more than $72 million for schools and $39 million for the town, for a total of $111,149,825 -- overall, a 4.71% spending increase from 2012-13.

Officials said the proposed budget reflected uncertainty about what funds Newtown might need in the future as recovery continues from the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The proposal calls for $420,000 in a contingency fund on the town side, enough to hire police officers to staff Newtown's public schools, with an additional $150,000 to provide grants for security at private schools.

"Our needs forward are going to change, and they're going to be dramatically different than anybody could have anticipated when this budget was being put together," said council member Mary Ann Jacob. Officials cited uncertainty about how much money towns or schools might receive from a variety of grant applications in the works.

"I'm willing to make [a] leap of faith," she said. "I think we've worked together as a community in an unprecedented way."

The Board of Education's proposed budget calls for a 5.5% increase  per Board of Finance recommendation. Some board members expressed concern about whether the size of the schools budget would be able to pass muster with voters.

"When the public learns less than $250,000 of this is a response to Dec. 14, they're going to question why we're raising taxes so much," said chair Jeffrey Capeci, who also cited Monroe's recent failed first budget referendum. "Those needs [stemming from the shooting] weren't known at the time, and when they surface, I don't know how we're going to meet them when we commit all these funds to other parts of the budget."

Voters in Monroe said no to an $80.5 million budget proposal Tuesday in a 2,218 to 1,878 vote, according to initial numbers.

"And they're the same demographic as us," said council member Dan Wiedemann.

Council member Robert Merola proposed reducing the education budget by $500,000 in response to Board of Education calls for added school staff, but the amendment did not pass.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-education. But we have a lot of people in this town who aren't getting five percent, six percent raises," said Merola. "The budget is significantly higher, in some cases for good reason. But I would suggest that we're overstaffed at the high school."

Board of Education chair Debbie Leidlein said student makeup, state mandates and teacher workload justified the added staff. The amendment was defeated, with Merola, Capeci and Weidemann voting in favor.

During a public comment portion of the meeting, Jennifer Scarangella conveyed the sentiments of PTA members affirming their support and acknowledging the difficulty of the increased education budget.

"We think you'll agree that, no matter how you cut it, we're facing an uphill battle this year," she said. "From what we hear from our parents, the benefits outweigh the cost."

The town and education budgets will go before voters in a townwide referendum April 23, according to the town calendar. Stay tuned to Patch in the coming days for follow-ups on how the proposed budget would affect Newtown's taxpayers.