South Windsor Town Manager Unveils $103.2 Million Budget

South Windsor Town Manager Matthew Galligan presented to the Town Council on Wednesday a $103.2 million budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

The budget, which calls for a $4.7 million, or a 4.8 percent, spending increase over current levels, includes $35.1 million for the town budget (including operating, debt service and capital improvements) and $68.12 million for the board of education.

The recommended tax rate to support the budget is 35.05 mills, which represents an increase of 5.62 mills over the current mill rate, according to Galligan.

The impact on taxpayers, given the revaluation this year in town that reduced the town’s grand list by 10.93 percent, would vary, Galligan said.

“The average taxpayer could see an increase in taxes ranging from 5.5 to 6 percent depending on their new assessment,” Galligan wrote in a budget booklet.

On the town side, expenditure increases in the budget include the following:

• $961,738 in debt service;

• $202,871 in pension contributions;

• $350,000 in health insurance due to a high volume of claims;

• $13,087 in Workers’ Compensation;

• $206,067 for public works;

• $168,083 will move from Capital Improvements to the Operating Budget for computers and the I.T. Department;

• $31,313 for I.T. maintenance contracts;

• $11,739 for casualty and liability insurance;

• $47,852 for fire protection and water hydrants; and

• $15,000 for unemployment insurance.

Galligan said that the increase for the public works department is due largely to storm responses.

“It’s a question of do you feel lucky or don’t you,” he said.

Ultimately, Galligan said that the town operations budget request was a lean one and that any cuts made would result in cutting levels of services.

Galligan’s budget presentation came after Board of Education Chairman David Joy unveiled the school board’s budget to the Town Council.

The school district’s $68.12 million budget calls for a $2.6 million, or 3.97 percent, spending increase over current levels.

Joy said that $1.35 million of the spending increase is in the area of special education, which Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kate Carter said was due to a spike in the cost of outplacements.

Salaries and benefits are also expected to increase $1.5 million, Joy said, though there were savings realized in other areas to offset some of the rising costs.

The proposed schools budget also contains funding for full-day kindergarten, new mathematics textbooks for grades 3 and 4, seven new courses at the high school (including AP Spanish Language and Culture, Engineering and Design and Italian II), and the addition of boys and girls swim teams and boys junior varsity volleyball.

“This is about what the district needs, not necessarily what it wants,” Joy said.

Full-day kindergarten was included in this year’s budget due to the more rigorous common core standards that, in order to meet them, will require additional instructional time with kindergarteners, Joy said.

Joy said that it was not an unfunded state mandate, but an “unstated, unfunded state mandate.”

Galligan said that the school district has been a responsible financial steward.

Still, some tough decisions lay ahead.

“I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but we need to roll up our sleeves and get some work done,” he said.

The next step in the process is a joint meeting of the Board of Education and the Town Council that will take place at Timothy Edwards Middle School on April 2.