Granby Annual Town Meeting Tonight

Granby residents will have an opportunity to be heard and to vote on the 2012-13 budget at the Annual Town Meeting tonight in the auditorium.

The Town Meeting begins at 7 p.m., and a special meeting of the Board of Finance is scheduled immediately thereafter to set the mill rate if the budget is approved.

Presentations will first be made by the finance board, the Board of Education and the Board of Selectmen, followed by public comment and a vote.

Municipal Budget Calls for .9 Percent Increase

The total proposed general government budget is $13,628,317, representing a .9 percent increase over the previous year. It includes $9.1 million - representing a 2 percent spending hike - for operations and $1.1 million in general funds for capital projects.

There are no new spending initiatives in this year’s municipal operating budget, according to town officials. In addition, the budget does not include funding for several noteworthy items, including the following: a police investigator/youth resource officer requested by the police department; a maintainer for the department of public works; and a staffer at the library to increase its operating hours.

First Selectman John Adams told the finance board in March that the 2 percent spending increase for the operating budget was not sufficient to maintain current services provided by the town.

“The 2 percent increase in the operating budget continues to erode services provided by the municipal portion of government,” said Adams at a meeting March 26, noting that, outside of the police department, the town is currently staffed with the same number of employees as it was in 1986. “Municipal budgets have been starved at the expense of other needs for the past 20 years. I am asking you to work with the Board of Selectmen to develop a plan to address these pressing needs and continue to keep Granby a safe and prosperous community.”

Schools Call for 1 Percent Spending Increase

The Board of Education's proposed budget is $27,252,831, representing a 1 percent spending increase over last year.

School board Chairman Cal Heminway said on March 26 that Granby - at $12,135 per student - ranked 141 out of 166 school districts in per pupil spending. In return, Heminway said that Granby students were performing at a high level, evidenced, in part, with high test scores.

Still, even with the 1 percent spending increase, the school district was moving forward with several initiatives, including starting an integrated preschool, extending kindergarten from half to full day, expanding the World Languages program at the high school and elementary school level and hiring a high school guidance counselor.

The preschool program is a cost neutral move this year, according to Heminway, because the district will save money on tuition paid to send students to outside programs.

All-day kindergarten will cost $397,000 - some $80,000 more than the initial $317,000 estimate - with all but $30,000 going to the seven employees (3.5 teachers and 3.5 teaching assistants) who will staff the program.

Superintendent of Schools Alan Addley said that the kindergarten program will be paid for exclusively through the town’s Quality and Diversity Fund - which is money received from the state through the town’s participation in the Open Choice program - and $80,000 from a separate Open Choice support grant.

Mill Rate Would Increase .59 Mills

All told, if accepted by voters, the mill rate would increase from 30.10 to 30.69 mills, which would represent a 1.96 percent tax increase over the current year.

For the budget to pass, at least 230 eligible Granby voters must be present at the Town Meeting, with two-thirds of those in attendance voting in its favor.

If a quorum isn’t met, or the budget is not passed by a two-thirds majority at the Town Meeting, then the budget proceeds to a machine referendum vote at a later date. If the budget is voted down at the referendum, then subsequent machine votes will be scheduled every other week, with public hearings held in the interim weeks until it’s passed.

Town Announcement

Here is the full announcement from the Town of Granby concerning the Annual Town Meeting:

Electors and citizens qualified to vote in Town Meetings of the Town of Granby, Connecticut are hereby warned that the Annual Town Meeting will be held in the Granby Memorial High School Auditorium, 315 Salmon Brook Street, Granby, Connecticut on Monday, April 23, 2012 at 7 p.m. for the purpose of considering and acting upon the following resolution:

To consider a resolution:

That the Annual Budget for the 2012-13 Fiscal Year as recommended by the Board of Finance for the Town Meeting, including appropriations from the General Fund, Dog Fund, Cossitt Library Fund, Local Capital Improvement Program Fund, Capital Equipment/ Improvement Fund, Capital Non-Recurring Expenditure Fund, Town Aid Road Fund, Sewer Utility Fund, Recreation Events Fund, Education Quality and Diversity Fund, and Other Funds, be adopted.

Dated at Granby, Connecticut this 2nd day of April 2012.

BOARD OF SELECTMEN