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Commentary
School Budget - 15 June 2010
Regarding this article in the Register, I address comparisons to the increase given the city this year below; but one more comment about that - the increase this year to the city is mostly for non-reoccurring costs (levee re-certification so the town doesn't have to pay flood insurance up to wazoo, and reassessment). The school board presented a budget that requested a 7.1% increase. The stated consequence was that we'd lose a ton of teaching positions and a bunch of programs. That hasn't happened. It's my opinion that the tax board has to force creative solutions to be found. Otherwise, we're stuck raising taxes to no end. The board of ed has gotten a large increase over the last 5 years. I just wish student performance was tied to money, but in my opinion it's tied to the parents. Can we assign some of the parents homework? E.g., Answer these questions: 1) Does your kid bring schoolwork home?; 2) Please write a one-page paper on what your kid does all day; 3) Describe some of the ways you can help your kid get better grades; ....
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Final 2010-2011 Budget - 26 May 2010
We set the final budget, which dictates a 1 mill increase. The mill rate in Derby will now be 27.4.
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Public Hearing - 19 May 2010
The public hearing on the preliminary budget was tonight. I was impressed with those who spoke - it takes guts to do so and many (youth included!) were up to the task. Just a few thoughts: last year the school got one of the biggest increases in the state (4.5%, excluding grants from the equation) and still had to cut staff. This year with many forgoing raises, the request is for a 7%+ increase. What will happen next year when raises are back and federal stimulus money has run out - a 10% increase? I think everyone would agree that those kinds of year to year increases can't be sustained. Also, many comparisons to the city's budget (and by city I mean all budget departments excluding the school's) are unfair. For example, the preliminary budget gives the city side a larger increase than the school. But that's partially because last year the city-side did not take raises, but is taking them this year. Last year the city side of the budget was held constant (excluding a rather large one-time legal payment), but this year the school is requesting nothing close to constant. They can request what they feel they need, but please don't make unfair comparisons to justify the request. Final ramble: if someone would like to donate money to school, in essence, taking it upon themselves to increase their own taxes, I'm sure we can figure out who the check should be written to. : ) Thanks to everyone who took the time to speak their mind tonight.
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Budget Time Again - 18 May 2010
We are in the final stages of setting a budget for the 2010-11 budget year (which starts July 1st). The tax board's preliminary budget which we set last week raises taxes 1 mill, from 26.4 to 27.4. For a house assessed at $200,000 (appraised at $286,000), that would mean $200 in extra taxes for the year. If the school was granted its full request, the mill rate increase would basically double. The public hearing is tomorrow night upstairs at city hall. Next week we'll finalize the budget.
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The Election - 3 November 2009
Congratulations to Tony Staffieri on his re-election! Congrats to all the winners - and I imagine those who "lost" will continue to serve Derby in other ways. I'll be back on the tax board for another 2 years. Make sure to check Derby's homepage for all the results.
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Final Budget - 29 May 2009
We set a final budget tonight for the city. 0 mill rate increase. It stays at 26.4. We allocated some extra money to the schools. We found out this week about refinancing of bonded debt which is saving us more than we could have imagined - we're getting a lower interest rate on our debt, and Derby's bond rating from S&P just increased from A+ to AA-. We're now at a tier that doesn't require the bonding equivalent of PMI so that we're saving even more money by not having to pay insurance against our debt. We also changed our tax collection rate assumption to 97% (since that's what we're at this year). We were originally assuming 95%. It's an extremely tight budget though, so maybe what we roll into the fund balance from any leftover money this year could be used if, for example, we end up with a winter like the last one. Basically, there's not much room to play, but this isn't play money to begin with. Overall, I think the board and everyone involved can be extremely proud of what's been accomplished here. Kudos to all the board members and the variety of talents and perspectives being brought to the table.
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Budget Public Hearing - 26 May 2009
The public hearing for the 2009-2010 (fiscal '10) budget was held tonight. Many shared thoughts on the funding for the school, expressing willingness to pay more taxes. Things to remember when dealing with the school side of the budget:
1) The school budget is not being decreased. It's receiving an increase over last year. It's just less of an increase than was asked for.
2) The tax board does not determine the number of school positions that are cut nor how the money is appropriated within the school budget. We only set one number. It's up to the school board to appropriate it. It was interesting to hear from teachers in the school system about the need for more materials/textbooks, when it's my understanding textbook lines were cut and spent elsewhere in recent years. Also interesting is that the new school will require so many support positions (including part of a maintenance person for a new school) when it was previously made clear that the school would not require so much additional support staff like another custodian and its own principal.
3) Yes, the school is underfunded compared to districts of like size and in like communities. But it's likely that the city side of the budget is also underfunded compared to like-sized cities. I'm betting that in general Derby is used to doing more with less - not just on the school side of things. I see Ansonia and Shelton have held to a zero-percent increase in taxes for fiscal '10, likely because they're still trimming lots of fat that has long been trimmed in Derby's budget. Of course, it's harder this year to hold the line on taxes because the teachers' union is still asking for salary increases while the city-side unions have agreed to no increase this year.
Something else to remember when commenting in public - please don't assume you have all the relevant information. A couple of unfair and uninformed digs were made at the mayor. It was said that it took the tax board to lower the mayor's departmental budget, but that is not true. He came in lower than last year on his own. Granted, it's hard to get up-to-date information on these things because usually one would have to personally go to city hall and ask for printouts. Someone else said they wanted to see the mayor stand behind education. He's the one who got the new school approved, and he's also seeking an increase over last year's school budget. Not sure what else there is to do, especially since it's not his job (alone) to set the budget, but the tax board's. Someone who is suing the city (!) was wondering why the city's legal costs are so high (the city can't control the number of frivolous lawsuits filed against it, but must defend itself).
For the most part what people shared was their passion for Derby schools, and they were well-spoken and not politically motivated. And that's great! From my part, we'll probably find more money to allocate for the schools. Treasurer Keith McCliverty mentioned that the bond refinancing will be set tomorrow, so savings from that could probably be redirected toward the schools. He mentioned a probable savings of $200,000 (although that is likely to be realized over multiple years). We'll also have a better idea of revenue estimates by the time we set the budget, so hopefully we can bump up that school number and keep a projected mill rate increase below 1, or below .6 even. A one mill increase would be 1 extra dollar of taxes for every thousand dollars of assessed value on your property. We'll set the budget Friday night.
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Politics... as usual - 23 Apr 2009
Looks like Mel had a falling out with the Democratic Party... again. The Derby Democrats website now posts a message "PAY YOUR BILL" when it previously said that labor had been donated. The website was created by Mel.
I actually went to one of his sludge sites for the first time today since November 2007. I hadn't realized that he created a new site hosted by WordPress. He claims he's not the author, just as he claimed for his other site(s). But he hadn't paid to keep his registration private for the older and many of his outdated sites. So it's a fact that he was the creator.
I've invited Mel to meetings to discuss his issues, but I have never seen him. He's apparently interested in holding a one-sided conversation instead of trying to learn and build the city. When is the slogan of some people going to be "Derby First" instead of "Me First"?
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Referendum Results - 22 Apr 2009
Derby lost yesterday - the referendum was voted down because of fear and ignorance. The opposing arguments against this act were basically:
1) "We don't know how the documents will be worded". Well, isn't that the case with any development agreement? How does that change with the passage of this Act? Except this Act would have allowed an extra layer of oversight by allowing the Board of Alderman to review projects, which isn't allowed now in the current development process (and that's just one of the many benefits to this act). Fear was a weapon.
2) "We don't know anything." How is it that after the city's bond counsel was consulted in public hearings, after research was done by the city, newspapers, news stations, Hamden, Blumenthal, and Jojo the cat where all concluded that this would have been a positive step for Derby, that the opposition can claim they didn't know anything? You know, they're probably right. (Zing!) It's time to listen and honestly seek answers instead of playing games and holding to pre- and misconceptions.
Up next, setting the '09-'10 budget. It's going to be tough to take into account each department's needs while trying to do what's best for the city overall.
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In honor of facebook status updates... - 21 Apr 2009
Mark... would like for people to refrain from stating as fact the following types of information: conjecture, suppositions, information backed by little or no research, "political" information (opposition just for the sake of opposition), misleading information, outright lies, etc.
Mark... would like to encourage everyone to do more listening than talking.
Mark... would like everyone to relax. If you have a valid point, it will come across just fine in the course of a normal conversation. Raising your voice or screaming does not make your invalid point more valid.
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Connecticut City and Town Development Act, Part II - 20 Apr 2009
The vote is tomorrow. Voting yes is supporting Derby. Please check out the post below, as well as the following link. It seems every news source is on board, as well as Attorney General Blumenthal. [update: The AG's support is caveated by "it depends on the wording of the agreement." Which of course would be applicable to ANY development agreement, not just ones approved through this Act.]
- Derby Homepage with links to news articles
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Connecticut City and Town Development Act - 5 Apr 2009
A referendum will be held in Derby on Tuesday, April 21st. You'll be able to vote yes or no to allowing the Connecticut City and Town Development Act to be used in Derby or not. I think there is a lot of confusion about what this act allows. Here's a quick summary as it was explained to me:
- This is basically another tool to allow the city to attract developers (to give us a competitive advantage over other municipalities). I believe Hamden has instituted the act as well.
- It does not allow the Board of Alderman to do whatever they want regarding development. There are still the normal processes of development and regulation in place, including going through wetlands and planning and zoning approvals.
- This will allow developers who have detailed plans and the backing of the city to qualify for better interest rates from lending institutions. Derby would not be liable for any default and our bond rating would not be affected.
Here are some links that might help you in your research:
- Legal notice filed about the referendum
- Connecticut Statutes, Volume 2, Title 7, Chapter 114 on the Development Act
The language is thick, but here is what I understand to be the key wording of this act:
"Sec. 7-493. Bonds and notes to be special obligation of municipality. Applicability of statutory debt limitation. Bonds and notes issued pursuant to this chapter shall be special obligations of the municipality and shall not be payable from nor charged upon any funds other than the revenues pledged to the payment thereof, nor shall the municipality issuing the same be subject to any liability thereon except to the extent of such pledged revenues. No holder or holders of any bonds or notes shall have the right to compel any exercise of the taxing power of the municipality to pay any bonds or notes or the interest thereon, nor to enforce payment thereon against any property of the municipality except the development property mortgaged or otherwise encumbered under the provisions and for the purposes of this chapter. The bonds and notes shall not constitute a charge, lien or encumbrance, legal or equitable, upon any property of the municipality, except the development property mortgaged or otherwise encumbered under the provisions and for the purposes of this chapter."
Here is some simple text relating to the act which was released when the public hearing was announced (which already happened in February):
"In a long list of firsts, the City of Derby is looking to create a unique incentive to attract business in this failing economic climate.
This City and Town Development Act could be used to help facilitate development by, among other things, making loans, selling, leasing disposing and using development property, imposing and collecting facility charges, issuing notes and bonds, establishing capital reserve funds and taking other actions.
Only municipally approved projects that would benefit and help stimulate Derby's tax base would be eligible to take advantage of the many tools that are available once the Act is adopted.
The City is requesting the adoption of the City and Town Development Act to add to the list of incentives it is offering to encourage growth and development. Here are some of the incentives the City of Derby currently has in partnership with the State of Connecticut:
1.) Enterprise Corridor Zone - a State of CT tax abatement program for economic development driven projects
2.) Manufacturer's Assistance - state incentive for machinery and equipment
3.) Special Taxing District - allowing development costs to be offset by property taxes
4.) Brownfields assessment and remediation loans - to assess and clean up abandoned and underused contaminated sites.
5.) Enacting of the City and Town Development Act will not have a negative effect on the City of Derby's bond rating, mill rate, or current debt structure."
It seems like this could really help move along the redevelopment Derby's been trying to accomplish for decades. Good luck in your research and see you at the polls on April 21st.
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November 4th, 2008 Elections - 30 Oct 2008
It's already time for another bout of elections here in Derby. A concerned citizen just emailed me wondering what the ballot questions were. That prompted me to post them here for all to see. I pulled them from the Secretary of State's website. They are:
1) Shall there be a Constitutional Convention to amend or revise the Constitution of the State?
2) Shall the constitution of the state be amended to permit any person who will have attained the age of eighteen years on or before the day of a regular election to vote in the primary for such regular election?
Question 1 seems to be a big deal - I've heard radio ads claiming that lobbyists will be able to set policy if people vote yes to this. That seems a little ironic since lobbyists currently try to influence legislators as much as possible. And it's especially ironic considering the group airing the ad is a lobbyist group. The way I understand question 1 is as such: Do you think Connecticut individuals should have a say in setting policy besides just legislators (and to an extent, the executive and judicial branches)? With our legislators gearing up to codify the allowing of gay marriage, it seems that if on the whole individuals don't want to allow gay marriage, voting yes is the only way to be able to gain some control of the process.
Besides these important ballot issues, you'll actually have some people to elect to office. Here I've provided links to click to see who's in the running (click the link, then click on the "view report" button).
- President of the United States
- US House of Representatives - CT 3rd district
- CT State Representative, West Derby in the 104th District, East Derby in the 114th District
- CT State Senator - 17th District
- Registrar of Voters - no link provided here because two are running and two get elected
There were also going to be some Charter changes to vote on - see the Connecticut Post article for what those were going to be... except there was a timing snafu from the Secretary of State so they won't be on the ballot this time.
To find out specifics on each candidate you could do an internet search for state party websites. Good luck in all your research.
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Congratulations! - 7 Nov 2007
Congratulations to Tony Staffieri on his re-election, and to Ken Hughes and so many of the Board of Alderman. Ron Sill also returns to the BOA - he took time to show me around City Hall when I first went there to start learning about politics. Election results can be viewed on Derby's homepage. I think it'll be another two years before voting for any local officials. Until then, I hope you stay involved, ask questions, and help Derby along in its renaissance!
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WPCA... and Elections - 5 Nov 2007
WPCA stands for Water Pollution Control Authority. Those elected to the tax board actually get "double duty". They're automatically members of the WPCA board. The WPCA helps settle issues related to sewer and water services. The meeting occurs immediately after the tax board meeting on the 3rd Monday of each month. The tax board meeting starts at 7 pm.
In other news, the big voting day is tomorrow. You'll be able to vote for mayor, constable, treasurer, 3 alderman to represent the ward in which you live, 10 tax board members, and 9 Board of Education members. Check out the link to the 2007 candidates on the main page, and plan who you will vote for ahead of time. Best wishes to Derby on election day!
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Taxes - 18 Oct 2007
I had an opportunity to knock some doors with the mayor a couple weeks ago. A few people mentioned how high taxes have gotten. I think people still have the revaluations that were done on their minds. Every few years the town has to make a determination on the value of your property. Since these determinations were done at the peak of the housing market, the assessed values of homes increased a lot.
We're taxed X amount of dollars on every $1,000 of assessed value - it's called the mill rate. (FYI, the Board of Apportionment and Taxation is responsible for setting the mill rate each year.) So if my home's assessed value (70% of the appraised value) is $140,000, and the mill rate is 25, I would pay 25*(140,000/1000) = $3,500 in taxes.
What's tough to remember is that taxes are a little more complicated than a simple mill rate. Did you know that higher assessed values doesn't have to mean higher taxes? The town has to look at what it will probably spend the next year. If the city spent the same amount the year after revaluations as it did the year before, the mill rate would have gone down.
Here's an example of why thinking about the mill rate is more difficult than at first glance. When some people think of Greenwich, they assume that the mill rate there must be astronomical. In fact, the mill rate is under 10. It's because property values there are so high. And if you want to compare to other towns, you should probably start thinking about population size, number of schools, student population, etc.
Basically, it's hard to compare taxes to other towns "straight up", but what you can do is compare to your previous tax bills. As a newly appointed member of the tax board (and hopefully re-elected on November 6th), it is my goal to keep your taxes as low as possible while factoring in the needs of the city.
Two more things - now might be a good time to put a plug in for Keith McLiverty (who is the current city treasurer and running for re-election). He's the guy making sure the city is earning decent returns on the money we have. And he's extremely knowledgeable about procedure. He even encouraged and received a pay cut! (!) So I'd encourage you to vote for him this November. Also, here is a link to a table showing mill rates for different towns/districts in Connecticut. I found it at CT.gov. It's for 2006-7 so it's not current, but it's just fun to look at.
CT Mill Rates
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Ballots and Preparation - 22 Sep 2007
It's difficult to be prepared on election day. This year, thanks to Jack Walsh (who maintains the Derby website), it's easy to find out who is running for what position. But if you're new to the new voting machines, make sure to check out the following link. It will help you be all that more prepared on election day.
Optical Scan Instructions
Depending on the technology you're using, you should be able to enlarge the image from this link for easier reading. One way might be to click on it.
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Derby Blogs and Other Ramblings - 12 Sep 2007
A couple of weeks ago, the link to the Derby Blog on the Welcome page here went inactive. Today I finally discovered the site was back up and running again. Anyway, while it was down I got an email through this site. I give it below:
"Your blog isn't working but here is another:"
With a link to another Derby blog.
First of all, the site I link to is not my blog. Second of all, the email and name fields weren't filled in accurately - I can't reply via email because the email address was invalid. Thirdly, after visiting the blog, I've seen numerous statements talking about openness and asking for people to state their names when blogging and such. The contradiction in that blog and the email I received is hilarious. I support the idea of sharing your own name whether it be in an email, blog post, or on the website you manage.
In other news, the Democratic primary was yesterday, and John Orazietti beat Dina Weissman for the right to run as the Democratic candidate for mayor. Make sure to check out the link on the Welcome page for the complete list of 2007 candidates. I noticed this morning that only 10 people (6 nominated by Republicans, 4 nominated by Democrats) are running for the tax board, including "yours truly". Since 10 people are on the tax board, that means all of us will be getting elected. I wonder if someone who gets 0 votes still gets "elected"?
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Bradley Playground - 19 Aug 2007
Yesterday, Saturday August 18th, many people were involved in helping to fix up the Bradley Elementary School playground. Mayor Tony Staffieri and Board of Alderman President Ken Hughes definitely aren't afraid to get their hands dirty! Pictures are currently posted on Derby's homepage (thanks Jack!).
We were able to do a lot of painting, spreading of the new mulch (which is safer and longer-lasting than typical mulch), and litter cleanup. I was taken aback at how much trash was on the school grounds around the baseball diamond and playground area. Hopefully the improvements will continue and last! Thanks to Jim Stadt who spearheaded these improvements. Jim is running for the board of education this fall. Ken and Tony of course are running for re-election to their current positions.
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Hello - 10 Aug 2007
I'm new to politics, but I have been trying to attend meetings to get used to the lingo and procedures. One thing I've noticed is that people can become very vocal and passionate about issues dear to them. It's good to know that people want to affect Derby and change it for the better.
If you're in a public position, it's probably difficult to satisfy everyone. But it sure seems like a good idea to listen to the community and then do the best you can. During the process I'd hope that everyone could be civil and rational, understanding that difficult decisions have to be made sometimes.
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