Politics & Government

Budget Hearing Set for Thursday Night

Public can air opinions on BOE, BOS spending plans.

The Board of Finance will host a hearing on the proposed 2011-2012 budget downstairs in the Community Center at 7 p.m. Thursday April 7.

“That’s really the opportunity for us to hear from the public,” Board of Finance Chairman Richard Ohanesian said.

The night will begin with presentations from the Board of Education and Board of Selectmen about the respective spending plans. The Board of Finance will also have additional information available for residents, Ohanesian said.

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The public will get a chance to comment and ask questions to the boards as well.

As proposed, the Board of Education’s budget is $22,904,566, a 2.8 percent increase from the current spending plan of $22,283,809. As it has for several years, the board nets excess cost reimbursements out of the budget, which for next year is $391,000. Also netted out is a one-time $195,000 jobs grant.

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The Board of Selectmen’s proposed budget is $9,314,852, a 2.5-percent increase from the current adjusted budget of $9,085,283.

Debt Service is slated at $2,071,000, a 6.6-percent decrease and the Board of Finance Budget is slated at $105,350, down 9.5 percent.

In all the spending plans total $34,395,768, a 2.1-percent increase from the current fiscal year.

The other side of the budget is revenues. There are several sources of funding, including grants, state aid and taxes.

The majority comes from taxes, currently about 85 percent.

Although the state has not finalized its budget, the town does its best to figure how much revenue it expects from all the sources, including tax income, based on the current mil rate of 26.09.

The Board of Finance will look at the “gap,” or level that would not be covered under current scenarios, which is about $579,000,  Ohanesian said.

Short of finding new revenue, the finance board can reduce spending, raise taxes or “a combination of those things,” to balance the numbers, he added.

If spending and revenue levels remained unchanged, the mil rate would increase .53 to 26.62, for a 2.3-percent increase in taxes, according to Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner’s budget presentation. That would mean an additional $135 in taxes for a house assessed at $254,000.

The finance board cannot increase the budgets. If it lowers spending levels, it cannot dictate where the cuts would be made. The Board of Selectmen and Board of Education would make those decisions on their respective budgets.

After the hearing, the budget schedule is as follows:

April 13, 2011:  The Board of Finance will hold a Budget Workshop beginning at 3:30pm at the Community Center.

April 18, 2011:  The Budget will be finalized at the Board of Finance meeting at 7:30pm

April 29, 2011:  The Budget Mailer will be sent to all households.

May 9, 2011:  Annual Budget Meeting at 7pm at the Canton High School Auditorium.

If 150 electors are not present to vote at the budget meeting or 150 qualified voters sign a petition, the budget will go to a referendum.

That looks likely this year. Selectman David Gilchrist Jr. said he usually waits for the final proposal to circulate a petition if there is a large increase but is already planning to do so this year since the town is anticipating the need for a referendum for proposed changes in the town’s charter.

More detailed budget information can be found at http://www.townofcantonct.org/controls/NewsFeed.aspx?FeedID=169 and http://www.cantonschools.org/budget.shtml


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