Transcript Document

Jennifer Wislocki, Board of Finance
Thomas E. Marsh, First Selectman
Pamela Christman, Chester Elementary School
7/21/2015
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A mil represents $1 of tax paid on $1,000
in property assessment. The current mil
rate is 23.12 meaning that each property
owner is taxed $23.12 on each $1,000 of
assessed property.
For each mil assessed the Town collected
approximately $423,000 in 07/08.
The Grand list grew about 1.75% in the last
year. The value of a mil in the next fiscal
year will be about $430,000.
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Property taxes will make up about 85.4% of
the revenue. Other revenue sources are:
State funds +/- 8.1%
◦ Education cost sharing 5.2%
◦ Grants, Casino, etc.
2.9%
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Miscellaneous +/- 4.2%
◦ Permits, fees, ambulance fees
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Surplus +/- 2.3%
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If your property taxes pay about 85.4% of
town expenses then for fiscal 08/09:
 Approximately 6.68 mils pay for Town
services
 1.58 mils pays for General Government
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Town hall services
Board and commission budgets
Library
Park & Recreation
 1.36 mils pay for Public Works
 road repair, plowing, mowing etc.
 Building maintenance
 Tree maintenance
 1.29 mils pay for emergency services– fire, police, etc.
 Ambulance expenses are about 143K but revenue generated is
almost $130k.
 Police protection costs about .7 mils
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Town Services, cont’d.
◦ 1.0 mils pay for Public Health and Human Services
◦ .85 mil pays for Town incurred bond debt
◦ 1.12mils pays for miscellaneous costs
 Insurance
 Legal & Engineering
 benefits
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.95 mils pay for the Capital Budget
8.12 mils pay for the elementary school
8.12 mils pay for Region 4
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A full time police officer is being added. This
position replaces a previous part time position.
A change in staffing in the Assessor’s office will
reduce labor and benefit costs while allowing the
office to be open through the lunch hour.
The Elementary School parking lot will be
reconfigured and repaved to allow for better
traffic flow.
Policy changes that have been implemented or
are under review will smooth the budget process
and allow for better planning.
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Funding for road construction has been
moved to the Capital budget. Road repair
stays in the operating budget.
◦ This allows the town to provide level funding year
to year smoothing out peaks and valleys that result
from the significant variation in road construction
costs year to year.
◦ Undesignated Fund Balance, or a “savings” level
target will be developed to insure fiscally
responsible government savings without overtaxing residents to meet the objective.
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For next year the total proposed budget is
up $531,266 or 4.62%.
◦ +$118,289 Town operating and Capital
◦ +$180,992 Elementary School
◦ +$232,055 Region 4
In addition we used $253,000 from surplus
for this fiscal year so we are starting this
year in a “hole” equal to that amount.
The result is we need $784,266 to balance.
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Revenue is up $215,000
Chester has a substantial projected
undesignated fund balance (savings) of
about $1.3 million or 11.6% of the 08/09
proposed expense budget. Some of these
funds can be used to offset expenses.
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03/04
04/05
05/06
06/07
07/08
08/09
$700,000
$875,000
$650,000
$400,000
$253,000
$275,000
used
used
used
used
used
Proposed
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How Much More Will This Cost?
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As the previous slide shows several years ago
Chester was using significant “savings” to
offset spending. This practice results in
starting each subsequent year at a deficit.
During the past several years the Boards of
Selectmen and Finance have been moving
toward “balanced” budgets while developing a
policy that sets savings goals without
overtaxing residents to reach those goals.
We debated long and hard this year over how
much savings to apply.
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During the past several years the Boards of
Selectmen and Finance have been moving
toward “balanced” budgets while developing a
policy that sets savings goals without
overtaxing residents to reach those goals.
We debated long and hard this year over how
much savings to apply.
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$192,000 is available in new revenue
$275,000 is being used from the projected
surplus for FY 07/08.
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As previously noted, using fund balance this year
means we start next year at a deficit. However, the
Boards of Selectmen and Finance also want to keep
growth in the mil rate to a minimum.
A .75 mil increase is suggested in order to
provide approximately $317,500 in additional
revenue. This represents a tax increase of about
$155 on a home with a market value of
$300,000.
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Other taxes like Sales and Income Tax are calculated
on a base that changes.
For example the sales tax rate of 6% has remained
constant for years.
The state collected $3.1 billion in 03/04
Chester collected $1,063,000
The state collected $3.4 billion in 05/06
Chester collected $1,150,000
That is a $300,000,000 or 10% increase based on the
same 6% rate
Chester’s increase $87,000 or 8.1%
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The state income tax rates have remained
 constant since 2003.
 The state collected $4.9 billion in 03/04
 Chester residents paid $4.1 million (’03)
 The state collected $6.1 billion in 05/06
 Chester residents paid $5.4 million (’05)
 That That’s a $1.2 billion (24.4% increase) on
the same tax rate.
 Chester’s increase was $1,300,000 (31.7%)
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NO!
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Chester contributed about $1.4 million more
to the state in 05/06 as compared to 03/04
State aid to Chester in 03/04 was
approximately $1 million dollars
State aid to Chester in 07/08 was
approximately $960,000 (a decrease of 4%)
08/09 state aid increases to $1,044,000.
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Larger one time grants are NOT included in the figures. examples are:
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STEAP grants
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Federal Bridge Grants
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Local Bridge Grants
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USDA Grants
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DEP open space grants
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There are many other types of grants
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These are awarded on a project by project basis. Some are good some not so
good. As we found out with the Federal Bridge grant, often there are a lot of
strings attached to the cash. In every case when applying for a grant we are in
essence asking for some of OUR money back.
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CITY
CT AID/TAX PD
Hartford
$1,900/$1,230
Greenwich
$85/$11,000
Essex
$86/$2,970
Killingworth
$406/$2,033
Haddam
$288/$1,700
Chester
$217 /$1,650
East Haddam
$502/$1,368
Deep River
$395/$1,350
RETURN ON $
(1.54)
(.007)
(.03)
(.20)
(.17)
(.13)
(.36)
(.29)
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The goal moving forward is to budget revenue
and expenses to balance, and use surplus
minimally.
The town will continue to have an appropriate
undesignated fund balance (savings).
We must hold our State elected officials
accountable.
◦ There is much discussion at the state level regarding
“Regionalizing” to become more efficient. Ideas have
included regional revenue sharing, and mandated
regional services. This weakens local control and moves
tax money further away from its source – your pocket!
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If the next 9 years look like the past 9 years
total Town spending (Town, School & Region
4 budgets) the budget for 2018 will be about
$17,500,000.
If State contributions grow at 1% per year the
total would be around $1,100,000.
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If the grand list grows at 1.5% per year a mil
would be worth about $485,000.
The mil rate to cover the needed revenue
would be 33.8
A home with a value of $300,000 would have
a property tax bill of $7,100.
Today that same home has a tax bill of
$4,800.
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