Somers Budget Public Hearing to be Held Monday

Somers First Selectwoman Lisa Pellegrini is encouraging all residents to attend the annual budget public hearing on Monday.

The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in the Somers Elementary School auditorium.

The 2013-14 proposed budget is $29,933,765, which is an increase of $692,564 - or 2.37 percent. There would be a .65 mil property tax increase, making the new rate 23.77.

The median assessed value of a home in Somers is $197,800, and the proposed budget would mean an increase of $129 for the year on a property of this assessment.

In this budget, the town portion is $6,040,385 and the school portion is $20,220,880. Capital improvements that are town funded are $275,000, that are state grants are $889,260, and that are potential state grants are $742,547. Debt service amounts to $1,765,693.

Up until very recently, the proposed budget on the town side was $6,742,645 - which was level funded from last year. It was decreased by $702,260 - or 10.42 percent by the Board of Finance earlier this week.

The school budget was also reduced by $187,000.

Pellegrini expressed great concerns with these new - and unexpected - cuts. There had been much praise for the level-funded town budget, so nobody saw this coming.

According to Pellegrini, these funds - in addition to the $187,000 taken from the school budget - will be put into a capital line budget that she has no control over.

She fears that if she has to make these large cuts, she won’t be able to effectively run the town. She equated the 10.42 percent cuts to if over $2 million was taken from the school budget.

Pellegrini said that these cuts were made because the board has concern over state funding, which she understands, but that the town needs to budget to meet the needs of the community.

Pellegrini said that these cuts would have significant impacts - including to public works, police, fire, the transfer station, or the library. She said that she and her directors met and will be reviewing everything again and trying to figure out where to make these cuts.

According to Pellegrini, she’s been told to continue operating as normal and she will get this money back later.

“I can’t do that,” she said. “I need to be fiscally responsible. My budget is my budget.”

She added that if the budget goes through this way, residents should be prepared for “drastic changes.”

The public hearing is the place for residents to come to have their opinions heard, she said.

To check out the budget flyer, visit www.somersct.gov.