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Alder Michael Stratton took his critique of the mayor’s proposed budget to a new level Wednesday. It’s not just a bad budget, he said; it’s against the law.
Stratton (pictured), who represents Newhallville and Prospect Hill, made that accusation in a two-page letter hand-delivered to city Controller Daryl Jones and cc’d to the mayor, the top city lawyer, and the superintendent of schools.
Click here to read the letter.
The letter attacks the city’s longstanding practice of paying Board of Ed health care costs. Those costs are folded into the overall budget for city workers’ health care. Stratton, a trial lawyer, says that’s illegal.
There is no legal basis for the city’s health coverage of school staff, Stratton said. That practice is not enshrined in any written agreement, Stratton said. The decision to pay for Board of Ed health care was never subject to public debate or explicitly OK’d by the Board of Alders, he said.
“The controller should not release any funds without permission,” Stratton said. “So where is the permission?”
City spokesman Laurence Grotheer said that Jones will confer with corporation counsel and respond to Stratton’s letter. “Late this afternoon several members of the mayor’s staff received correspondence from Alder Stratton, which is under review as correspondence from any member of the Board of Alders would be.”
Stratton’s allegations come as alders consider Mayor Toni Harp’s proposed $511 million budget for the coming fiscal year, which includes a 3.8 percent tax increase.
Stratton said the city is paying about $40 million in health care costs for the Board of Ed. That’s money the city is not required by law to pay, he said. He said the city should stop paying for Board of Ed health care, and force the public school system to cut its budget.
The Board of Ed’s budget, at nearly $400 million, is far larger than it should be, he said. “I bet they could find $40 million in there.”
Stratton said he would cut the Board of Ed budget by consolidating high schools and firing administrators.
The city has “underpopulated” schools and too many high schools, Stratton said. “Do some consolidation.”
“I would go right in to central offices and cut dramatically,” he said. “Down to no more than 10 percent administration costs for the entire system.”
The city does not have line-item control over the Board of Ed budget; alders can only vote up or down on the school system’s spending plan. Pulling the health care payments would give the city leverage to force the Board of Ed to trim its budget, Stratton said.
“We can’t tell them to get rid of 75 administrators,” he said. “But if we stop making health care payments, we’re going to be in a much better negotiating position.”
In order to secure state funding for education, the city each year has to meet a minimum budget requirement. The city budgeted $18.3 million for the Board of Ed in the current fiscal year, not including health care costs. That number would go up $1.5 million, to $19.8 million, under the mayor’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1.
“By not revealing the health care costs we pay, it forces us each year to put cash in” to meet the minimum budget requirement, Stratton said. If you count the money the city spends on Board of Ed health care every year, the city has been spending far more than required to secure state funding. “We’ve been raising the contribution, thinking we had to do that. That’s been a complete hoax.”
Schools Superintendent Garth Harries released this statement Wednesday evening: “New Haven Public Schools has had a long, positive, collaborative relationship with the city and Board of Alders, that we believe has been in the best interest of both school children and taxpayers. We look forward to continuing our work together to invest educationally and financially in our children’s and our city’s future.”