Light Crowd for Acting Manager Proposed 3.1 Percent Budget Increase
ROCKY HILL - A rainy night greatly thinned the public hearing crowd for last Thursday’s budget presentation, with only one resident taking to the podium to comment after Acting Town Manager John Mehr laid out the drivers behind his 3.1 percent increase proposal.

       The budget-Town and Board combined-totals just over $75 million, with the town side coming in at $28.2 million and the Board $40.8 million.

       With that comes $2.9 million debt service-a $156,000 increase from last year due mainly to payments for the Rocky Hill High School project and the construction of a new intermediate school for the overcrowded district’s fourth and fifth graders.

       The high school renovation is set for a September completion.

       Mehr also walked the Council through a list of proposed Capital Improvement projects that includes everything from truck and equipment purchases, to $172,000 in roof replacements at the Rocky Hill Community Center, Police Station, and Fire Station 3.

       A major budget initiative on the Town side is the replacement of Police Department cruisers to more fuel efficient models, Mehr has said.

       Mehr did not include the $473,800 in extra sewer fees the town would pay in the event that the City of Hartford fails to pay its portion of the ad valorem tax for the last two quarters of the Fiscal Year. With the city facing a $50 million deficit, the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) adopted a controversial reserve fund as a member town-funded failsafe mechanism, but some District towns have passed resolutions against paying into it.

       Rocky Hill is not yet one of them, but they follow in the footsteps of Newington and neighboring Wethersfield as far as not budgeting for the extra expense.

       Mehr also left out over $2 million that would come to the town in the form of teacher pension costs if the legislature decides to follow through on a Governor Malloy proposed shift in the retiree expenses onto the towns. Municipal leaders have expressed doubts that the proposal-which faces skepticism from voices on both sides of the aisle-will come to fruition this year.

       Rocky Hill resident Christa Mariner urged the Council against any changes to the Board of Education budget, pointing to the fact that the request is coming under the 4 percent increase threshold discussed by the two parties during the weeks leading up to the proposal’s transmittal.

       To get down to its proposed 3.9 percent increase, the Board a series of reductions totaling $225,000 weeks before voting to transmit the proposal to the Town Council for consideration. The eliminated initiatives included a tech staffer and school psychologist-among other support positions.

       The additional classroom teachers-intended for Myrtle H. Stevens Elementary School-were included as a way to mitigate classroom crowding caused by a steady climb in district enrollment, said Superintendent of Schools Mark Zito.

       The district has seen the influx of 202 students over the past 3 years-160 of which are at the elementary level, Zito said.

       Meanwhile, NESDEC projects elementary enrollment in Rocky Hill to go up 202 students in the next three years, he said.

       So to address that area, Mehr’s school capital improvements budget includes $309,000 for a pair of modular classrooms at Stevens Elementary.

       The budget also recommends $957,000 for the first phase of the Griswold Middle School air conditioning installation project.

      
STORY BY MARK DIPAOLA   |  Apr 14 2017  |  COMMENTS?