Dixwell showed up in force to make sure the Stetson Library didn’t get the axe as Mayor John DeStefano proposed to raise spending 4.6 percent in the next city budget.
Mae Gibson-Brown (pictured at right) joined a slew of fired-up Dixwell residents who slapped on Stetson stickers to save their branch library, which DeStefano had talked about closing.
“We are going to continue to operate all libraries,” DeStefano promised, drawing applause from a crowd of 100 at the library’s main branch on Elm Street Thursday night, where he presented his FY08-09 budget for the first time. The budget takes effect July 1.
The mayor’s $466.0 million budget proposal represents a roughly 4.61 percent increase ($20.6 million) over the budget for the current fiscal year. The latest projection of that budget came in at $445.4 million — an overrun from the approved $443.0 million, and also from DeStefano’s proposal of $445.2 million.
Pursuing the goal of giving the city the biggest municipal police force in the state in effort to revive community policing, the budget includes plans to hire 45 police officers, as well as to 27 new firefighters.
The budget includes $174 million for the Board of Education, a 2.65 percent increase over FY07-08.
The proposal would keep the tax rate even at 42.21 mills (a mill is the amount of tax per $1,000 in assessed property). But taxes would still go up for most homeowners because of recent property revaluations that are being phased in over five years.
The city’s 2007 grand list, the list of all taxable properties, sits at $4.9 billion, up from $4.5 billion the previous year.
Full details will be made available when the actual budget proposal is released publicly on Friday. Thursday night, the mayor gave a selected sneak preview.
What’s driving the budget up?
• Utilities were the fastest growing cost, shooting up 10.9 percent to end at $23 million.
• Health care costs jumped by 5.85 percent, landing at $49.2 million.
• Pensions ballooned by 8.45 percent to $31.2 million.
The mayor was happy to report that the city is over the peak of the mountain, so to speak, in paying off debt service to fund its largest-in-the-state $1.5 billion school construction program. The project passed its half-way point about a year ago. (Click here for the schools’ latest report on that program).
In his final proposal, DeStefano said “no” to quite a few departments’ requests, according to the mayor’s office. The total budget is $15 million lower than what all departments asked for. The biggest “no” was said to the Board of Education, which was refused $4.8 million of its request.
Some budget highlights:
‚Ä¢ Rebidding the city’s health care contracts to save a projected $1.5 million.
• An expected $10 million increase in aid from the state.
• Selling the city transfer station for a $6 million one-time windfall.
Returning to what has become a mantra in the last few months, DeStefano pounded home the importance of lobbying Hartford to for more state aid.
He advocated a state law that would let urban areas levy an extra 1 cent sales tax within city limits. The measure would earn the city an expected $15 million, the mayor said, thanks in a large part to IKEA.
Your Bill
How much will your tax bill go up?
Seniors qualify for the ongoing senior tax freeze, which froze senior tax bills at their FY06-07 amounts.
For the rest of homeowners, looking at the tax levy gives a good guide. The tax levy — the amount of revenue the city aims to generate through property tax — grew by $21.1 million, an 11.4 percent increase.
Here are some examples the mayor gave of how the new budget would affect few sample homes:
• On Ella Grasso Boulevard: Paid $4,807 in taxes last year; that bill would jump to $5,386.
• Quinnipiac Avenue: $940 bill would now be $1,115.
• On Elm Street: $4,130 bill grows to $4,836.
The mayor’s brief Q &A session ended with a note of skepticism. Mae Gibson-Brown (pictured at top) was not convinced her library wouldn’t be slashed. She handed the mayor a stack of over 700 signatures, collected over four days, from Dixwell folks defending their community space.
“I don’t trust it,” said Gibson-Brown of the mayor’s pledge to keep Stetson open. “I didn’t fall off the turnip truck last week.” She and other Stetson activist said they’d be keeping an eye on the city budget as it passes through aldermen’s hands.
Meanwhile, the mayor plans to release the full budget in printed form Friday, as well as present his Power Point version at several community meetings.