East Haven Town Council Approves Mayor's 'No Tax Increase' Budget

EAST HAVEN, CT — The East Haven Town Council this week by a vote of "9 to 3 (1 abstention)," approved the $89.5 million dollar "no tax increase" budget presented by Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr. at his State of the Town address just a month earlier.

Maturo explained in a news release from his office, "In the 2015-2016 budget, we enacted the largest tax decrease in a non-revaluation year since 1989. This marks the second budget in a row since that historic tax cut that we've preserved those savings for our residents, an accomplishment that is particularly noteworthy given the number of municipalities considering mill rate hikes this year due to the fiscal challenges facing our State."

Under Maturo's "no tax increase" budget, the owner of an East Haven home located on Lenox Street and valued at just over $153,000 dollars, (3BR, 2 BA, 1,346 sq. feet), is slated to pay $3,396.00 in taxes - a full $649.00 (-16.1%) less than the homeowner was paying in the 2011-2012 budget ($4,045.00). Under the newly-passed budget, the owner of a waterfront home on Cosey Beach Avenue (3BR, 2BA, 1,680 sq. feet) pays $9,467.00 dollars, or $658.00 (-6.5%) less than the homeowner was paying in the 2011-2012 budget ($10,125.00).*

Maturo noted in a prepared statement, "We made a promise to the residents when this team returned to office in 2011 to keep East Haven an affordable community to live, raise a family, and do business. I am thrilled to have made good on that promise and to have generated meaningful tax savings for our residents."

The budget, which passed largely in the form originally presented by Maturo during his March 28, 2017 "State of the Town Address," provides a net increase in Board of Education appropriation of over $700,000.00 dollars - $300,000.00 attributable to a direct funding increase and $400,000.00 in medical insurance administration savings negotiated by the Maturo administration and confirmed just this past week.

Maturo continued in his statement, "This past week, we concluded the renewal of our health insurance administration contract, which resulted in over $500,000 in net savings for the Town, approximately $400,000.00 of which will directly benefit our Board of Education in the form of lower operating costs. When that savings is added to the $300,000.00 dollars in additional education funding which I have included in this budget, the total increase in available appropriation for the Board of Education will exceed $700,000.00 dollars in the 2017-2018 budget, not included any potential increases from the State."

In the adopted budget, the largest funding increases, aside from education, went to public safety, with Police (+$316,506.00), Fire (+$199,783.00), and the Public Safety Dispatch Center (+$45,687.00) seeing a total increase of $561,976.00. Maturo explained that increases to education, public safety, and other departments were made possible without a tax hike due to savings in debt service (-$1,243,749.00), insurance (-$230,000.00), and legal services (-$125,000.00).

Maturo explained, "Since 2011, we've reduced our long term debt by an astounding 57%, from $48.1 million dollars to approximately $20.5 million dollars in this budget. Over that same span, we've lowered our debt payments from a staggering $7.4 million dollars in 2011 to a manageable $3.2 million dollars per year. Throughout that time, we've used those debt savings, just as we've done in this most recent budget, to increase funding to education, public safety, and other departments while reducing and stabilizing our tax rate."

Maturo noted, "We've laid out a blueprint for success and we've demonstrated that we know how to do more with less. In fact, in 2016, Standard and Poor's awarded the Town an historic, two-tier credit rating upgrade from "A-" to "A+" in validation of the Town's success reducing debt and stabilizing our tax rate."

With the 2017-2018 operating budget enacted, the Town will now turn its attention to passing its capital budget for 2017-2018.

Maturo explained, "Since 2011, we've pursued aggressive but responsible capital programs through which we've paved and repaired tens of thousands of linear feet of road, curbing, and sidewalks, restored our Town Beach with pristine new beach sand, and purchased a number of new police, public works, and fire vehicles. Over the summer, in addition to beginning grant-funded infrastructure programs like the construction of a new Skate Park at the Middle School complex, we will be reviewing departmental capital requests to determine what other infrastructure projects we are in a position to tackle over the next year."

Maturo concluded, "I'd like to thank the Board of Finance, the Board of Education, the Town Council, and our entire team for their cooperation in crafting this year's budget. Given the severity of the State's fiscal woes and the pressure on municipalities across the State, this may be the best budget this team has ever produced. I'd also like to assure our residents that this team will continue to work tirelessly to make every dollar count and to keep East Haven a safe, affordable community in which to live and do business."