Budget public hearing May 6

KENT — At a special meeting on Tuesday, April 26, the Board of Finance finalized the budget draft for the fiscal year 2011-12. The spending plan will be presented to voters at a budget public hearing on Friday, May 6, at 8 p.m. at Town Hall.The bottom line for the proposed combined municipal and education budgets is $10,677,931.41, a 0.37-percent increase over the present combined budgets. The new fiscal year begins July 1. The bottom line for the municipal budget is $3,235,852. There is also $248,000 budgeted for the five-year capital plan, $593,450 for debt service for the Kent Center School renovations and the Emery Park pool, and $153,906 in debt service for the new firehouse. The budget proposal for Kent Center School and the Region One School District is $6,446,722. At the meeting, the capital plan was officially modified to appropriate $50,000 toward the replacement of the Kent Volunteer Fire Department’s Engine 5-0, which was recently destroyed in a brush fire after experiencing mechanical failure. The amount appropriated for the fire department for each fiscal year in the capital plan was originally a flat $175,000, but the fire department’s insurance will be paying $250,000 for the replacement of the engine, so the total was offset by this amount. It was also agreed that replacement of Engine 5-0 should be a higher priority than the purchase of a used aerial truck, which had originally been the top priority. The rest of the fire department’s funding in the five-year capital plan was changed as well, since the flat-funded amount was a point of contention among the members of the Board of Finance. The fire department will now receive $75,000 in fiscal year 2012-13, and $100,000 in fiscal years 2013-14 and 2014-15. In fiscal year 2015-16, the department will receive no funding unless a change is made to the capital plan in the future. Other than the modification of the capital plan, the only other significant change to the budget made at the April 26 meeting was the addition of $5,000 to pay for the Board of Finance’s auditor, since the board is planning to switch auditing companies. To balance the budget, the Board of Finance voted to transfer $350,000 from the undesignated general fund to help offset the burden on taxpayers. In addition, the predicted tax collection rate was raised from 98.5 percent to 99 percent, which will put added pressure on tax collector Deborah Devaux. This change in the anticipated tax collection rate makes it likely that the mill rate will be set at 14.35, a 2.34-percent increase over the current mill rate. 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.

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