Annual town meeting will be May 21

KENT — The annual town meeting for taxpayers to vote on the proposed budget for fiscal 2010-11 is scheduled for Friday, May 21, at 8 p.m. at Town Hall.

At the town meeting, taxpayers can vote for or against the spending plan but there is no opportunity for discussion. The spending plans were discussed at the public hearing earlier this month.

The proposed budget for fiscal 2010-11 proposed by the Board of Selectmen is $2,645,477, a 1.4-percent increase over this year’s budget. The new fiscal year begins July 1.

In this year’s general government portion of the budget, the Board of Selectmen are proposing a 2-percent raise for all town employees —except themselves. The selectmen’s salaries will remain flat. The Board of Selectmen’s line item in the proposed budget is $150,460, which is down by $835 or .55 percent from this fiscal year.

Staff compensation for the selectmen’s office is scheduled to go up from $53,844 in fiscal 2009-10 to $57,376 in the proposed fiscal 2010-11 budget.

The newsletter line item, which was $1,500 in the fiscal 2009-10 budget, goes down to $360 in the proposed 2010-11 budget. First Selectman Bruce Adams has discontinued the newsletter and has switched over to an e-mail mailing list.

The Board of Finance’s line item in the proposed budget is $26,770, up by $2,835 or 11.85 percent from the previous year.

In the proposed budget, the line for auditors would go up from $21,000 to $24,000 in fiscal 2010-11.

In the town clerk’s budget line, for fiscal 2009-10, Town Clerk Darlene Brady’s salary was budgeted at $60,086. In the proposed 2010-11 fiscal budget, her salary is scheduled to increase by $3,490 for a total of $63,576 or 5.81 percent.

The assessor’s line item in the proposed 2010-11 budget increases by $643 from this fiscal year. However, the overhead line item in the proposed assessor’s budget is $6,810, an increase of $3,496 from the previous fiscal year. The staff compensation line item for the assessor’s office in the proposed budget is $22,069, which is $3,826 less than this fiscal year.

In the Public Works section of the budget, the salary for Highway Foreman Rick Osborne is slated to go up from $92,270 in fiscal 2009-10 to $102,085, an increase of $9,815 or 10.64 percent.

School spending plan

The total budget for fiscal 2010-11 proposed by the Board of Education is $6,220,339, a 0.15-percent increase.

In the proposed Board of Education budget, teacher salaries  at Kent Center School are slated to go up from $1,660,514 in fiscal 2009-10 to $1,687,703, a proposed increase of $27,189 or 1.64 percent. Teacher salaries are set by union contract.

Principal Rima McGeehan’s salary is slated to go up from $98,320 to $100,286 in fiscal 2010-11, an increase of $1,966 or 2 percent. Principal salaries are not set by contract; they are discretionary.

Meanwhile, the textbooks line item, which was $11,000 in fiscal 2009-10 is proposed to go down to $7,000 for fiscal 2010-11.

Mill rate to decrease

If the education and municipal budgets are approved, the Board of Finance anticipates a proposed tax rate of 14.02 mills, which is lower than the current 14.11 mills.

The mill rate determines property taxes in Connecticut towns. A mill represents $1 in tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value. A 15-mill tax rate would translate into a tax bill of $1,500 for the owner of a home assessed at $100,000.

Five-year plan for town

Also on the annual town meeting agenda is the approval of the proposed five-year Local Capital Improvement Projects (LoCIP) plan.

The total of the proposed plan is $2,218,000, with $443,600 to be funded by the town each fiscal year. The rest of the money comes from the state.

Through the town’s budget, highway trucks and equipment would be funded in each of the five years for a total of $625,000.

The Kent Volunteer Fire Department would receive $300,000 over a five-year period for fire apparatus.

The only road project listed in the plan is $350,000 for Fuller Mountain Road in fiscal 2015.

A multitude of bridge repair and construction projects throughout town is listed in the plan for a total of $560,000 over a five-year period.

Projects including town revaluation, town plan development and zoning regulations are listed under the nonrecurring line item for a total of $110,000 over a five-year period.

Also in the plan is funding for fuel oil tanks for $18,000 in fiscal 2012.

In the Board of Education part of the capital plan, school building improvements in 2011 and 2014 are listed alongside a plan to provide computer laptops for students in 2013 for a total of $255,000.

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