Wallingford Mayor Reduces Increased School Spending Through Veto Power

WALLINGFORD, CT — Wallingford Mayor Vincent Cervoni used veto powers in the Town Charter to reduce the Town Council’s increased allocation to the Board of Education’s budget, and lower the mill rate in the process.

The Town Council last week approved, by a 6-3 vote, an amended town budget that added $2.3 million to the Board of Education’s allocation than was originally proposed by Cervoni.

With the amended budget, the council also set the tax rate at 30.93 mills. Cervoni’s proposed budget carried a tax rate of 30.41 mills, which represented a 3.65 percent increase over the current mill rate of 29.34. A mill is equal to $1 of tax for each $1,000 of assessment.

Cervoni notified the council in a letter on Friday that he was reducing the council’s budget increase from $2.3 million to $1.1 million.

“While I appreciate the council’s efforts at resolving the projected education deficit, the result of the council’s action took the administration’s proposed tax increase of 3.65% and further increased it to 5.46%,” Cervoni wrote in the letter. “I am left with the task of balancing the needs of the Board of Education with the taxpayers’ ability to fund such a significant tax increase.

“The mill rate as proposed by the town council is 30.93. This was achieved by adding $2.3 million to the tax revenues to further fund the Board of Education. While I believe that such an increase is too significant for the taxpayers, I am mindful of the concerns expressed by and on behalf of the Board of Education.”

For those reasons, Cervoni said he was “exercising the power granted the mayor” in the Town Charter to reduce the council’s increase in its budget adopted on May 14 from $2.3 million to $1.1 million.

“The council’s amendment had increased the education budget to $119,217,277,” Cervoni wrote. “The change to the council’s amendment results in a final education budget in the amount of $118,017,277. This will act to reduce the General Fund Revenue Budget and General Fund Expenditure Budget to $196,137,156. The resulting mill rate will be 30.66.”

The council could override Cervoni’s veto with seven votes, but that seemed unlikely given the increased budget was approved by a 6-3 vote. Republicans Craig Fishbein, Joe Marrone, and Christina Tatta voted against the amended budget.

Marrone, the council chairman, told the Record-Journal that he thought Cervoni’s reduction to $1.1 million was a “reasonable compromise.”

Marrone also said that there didn’t appear to be interest from several council members in holding a special meeting to discuss a potential override, according to the Record-Journal.

The council has 10 days to override a mayoral veto under the Town Charter.