Thomas MacMillan Photo
Lawmakers face a sea of empty chairs at first budget hearing.
No one likes a tax increase. But almost no one showed up to testify about it.
Only a handful of neighbors sat in the blue-cushioned seats at Hillhouse High School’s auditorium Wednesday night at the public’s first chance to speak out about the mayor’s proposed $503 million budget for the coming fiscal year. The budget will likely include a tax increase, according to City Hall. (Some aldermen have said they will try to find ways to avoid a tax increase.)
The chance to speak out came at a road-show meeting of the Board of Aldermen’s Finance Committee, which is charged with reviewing and possibly revising the mayor’s proposed budget before sending it to the full board for further discussion and — eventually — a vote.
The budget offers three revenue options for the coming year, depending on what happens with the yet-to-be-passed state budget. (The city relies heavily on the state for funding.) Each budget option promises a tax increase, which could be from 2.09 to 7.35 mills.
Only two people — both familiar faces at budget hearings past — took the podium.
Wooster Square’s Wendy Hamilton called on Yale to pay more money to the city. “Get angry!” she urged people.
Budget Watchdog Ken Joyner (pictured) delivered a list of technical budget questions to which he’d like the Finance Committee to find answers. And he offered a suggestion: Since the city can’t properly make its budget until the state completes its budget, why not pass an ordinance amendment temporarily extending all current spending to July or August, then pass a budget based on real numbers? The current city budget takes effect July 1.
“Great idea. We can’t do it,” East Rock Alderman (and mayoral candidate) Justin Elicker said after the meeting. He said the city’s charter requires the city to pass a new budget on June 1.
Board President Jorge Perez, a Hill alderman, said the same thing. He said he would ask legislative staff to look into it to make sure.
Elicker said it’s a bad system, and one that should change. He agreed with Joyner that it doesn’t make sense to create the city budget before the state budget is complete. “It’s absurd that we are budgeting before we get a paycheck.”
The finance committee will hold another public hearing on the budget on March 21. Click here for the schedule of all upcoming budget hearings.