Somers Board of Education and Board of Selectmen Present Budgets

On Tuesday night, the Somers Board of Selectmen and the Board of Education presented their 2013-14 proposed budgets to the Board of Finance.

The overall budget is $29,581,218, which is a 1.16 percent increase over the current $29,241,201 budget.

The Board of Selectmen budget had no increase and is the same $6,742,645 that it is currently. First Selectwoman Lisa Pellegrini said that some areas went up, while others went down, allowing the budget to be level funded.

The proposed Board of Education budget is $20,407,880, an increase of $580,706 over the current budget. That represents a 2.93 percent increase.

Superintendent of Schools Maynard Suffredini said that the increases came from things that cannot really be helped. The increases are in the areas of salaries, insurance, regular transportation, special education transportation, and special education tuition.

With the insurance, there is a $202,084 increase over the current cost of $3,453,816. Suffredini said that the district is still negotiating the insurance costs, so with any luck, that number will decrease.

Free Daily Newsletter | Facebook | Twitter

“I’m cautiously optimistic that the figure you see will be lower,” he said.

Suffredini said that the budget is looked at very cautiously and the growth is kept conservative because everyone is aware of the economic culture. However, if cuts need to be made, he said that the district is at a point – because of what has had to be done in past years – where it will start looking at programs and services.

“I can say with fairly good confidence that we’re going to start cutting some of these things,” he said. “We’re trying to keep the programs up and running in the schools. We don’t want to start dismantling the school department. It’s been a real strength within the town. I think people like the school department.”

While the mil rate has not been discussed formally, there are some on the Board of Finance that do not want to raise taxes. Pellegrini said that it will be up to the board to decide how – or if – they want to deal with the possible motor vehicle exemption.

With Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposal, Somers will lose $1.8 million, and Pellegrini said that it will happen at some point.

 “According to the governor, this coming year, towns would be able to collect the tax, but it would definitely go away in 2014,” she said. “There is no new aid that would be forthcoming to supplement this loss. It would be up to the towns to increase their property tax accordingly or cut their budgets accordingly. Such a cut is nothing short than an amputation.”

With just the loss of the motor vehicle tax, a 2.4129 mil increase would be needed.