Strange Budget Season In Stratford With Revaluation, Coronavirus

STRATFORD, CT — In a typical budget season, Stratford’s spending plan for the coming year would be in the books by mid-May. But 2020 is anything but typical, and the town budget for 2021 remains a work in progress.

Mayor Laura Hoydick has proposed a $234.34 million budget — a $6.69 million year-over-year increase — with a mill rate of 39.64, down 0.58 percent. Both the budget and mill rate were cleared last month for Town Council consideration after an Ordinance Committee meeting of council members, but not before the committee discussed what the half-percent mill rate reduction would mean for taxpayers during a revaluation year.

“On average, residents in the town will be paying a substantial tax increase,” Councilman Gregory Cann, D-District 5, said, arguing the mill rate cut would be negligible in a neighborhood with a 22 percent revaluation increase.

Property values in Stratford were assessed last fall for the first time in five years, an event which could change the financial impact of the mill rate — the number of dollars in taxes charged for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

Council Chair Christopher Pia, R-District 1, called for bipartisanship and said it was premature to make broad statements about tax rates, a sentiment echoed by Councilman Bill O’Brien, R-District 9.

“This mill rate is not set in stone. We have the opportunity to lower that mill rate,” O’Brien said. “… Things will work out fairly for everyone.”

The budget and mill rate were referred by the Ordinance Committee with all in favor except Cann; Councilwoman Kaitlyn Shake, D-District 2; and Paul Tavaras, D-District 3.

While the town budget is usually set in early May, any budget deadlines on or before May 15 have been extended 30 days by the state due to the coronavirus outbreak, which in recent months has killed thousands and resulted in school and business closures across Connecticut.

Residents who attended the Ordinance Committee meeting, held via teleconference in late April, praised the budget’s $13.97 million bonded capital improvement plan and its lowered mill rate, but questioned if the school board budget could be further cut to accommodate expenses incurred by the virus.

The Board of Education requested $118.56 million for its budget, a 3.49 percent year-over-year increase. Hoydick then cut that number to $117.74 million, a 2.75 percent increase.

As of Monday, there was no budget meeting on the town calendar, and town staff were taking questions from council members about the budget last week, according to Chief Administrative Officer Chris Tymniak, who said he didn’t have a sense of when the budget vote would happen.

“They’re doing their due diligence, which is exactly how it’s supposed to work,” Tymniak said.

For more information about the proposed 2021 budget, visit bit.ly/2Xcf3Kq.