Hamden Council Passes Budget, Sets Mill Rate

Taxes will be going up slightly more than originally thought under the $200 million budget the Town Council approved Wednesday night.

The new budget of $200,151,976 carries a mill of 38.9405 mills, which means property owners will pay $38.94 for every $1,000 of assessment. So an average home with an assessment of $200,000 will pay $7,788, or $38.94 x 200.

Currently the mill rate is 37.137, so for the 2012-13 fiscal year that tax bill was $7,426, and it will increase by $362 for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.

Taxes are due July 1, 2013 and Jan. 1, 2014.

The council unanimously approved the budget, but many weren't happy with it, especially with the snafu that arose recently over state Education Cost Sharing grant spending requirements that led to a $2.5 million last-minute shortfall.

The money, which comes from the state to help pay education costs, was included in the municipal budget erroneously. A compromise led to the BOE picking up half the shortfall and taxpayers the other half, which led to the mill rate increase over Mayor Scott Jackson's proposed 1.44 mill increase.

"This was the worst budget that has been sent down to us in 10 years," said Republican Councilwoman-at-Large Betty Wetmore. "I feel revenues are overinflated and departments are underfunded, especially police and fire."

The budget puts $13.5 million into the pension fund, but the crisis surrounding the fund remains, Wetmore said.

"Maybe behind closed doors it's being discussed but I don't know, " she said. "It's a huge problem that's not going to go away."

"To say the town's pension crisis is not being addressed is outrageous and inaccurate," Chief Administrative Officer Curt Balzano Leng said. "Mayor Jackson has made solving his town's pension crisis the number one priority: he increased retirement funding by $3.5 million in the approved budget, which is the largest one-year increase in the town's history, completed a comprehensive independent analysis by the Segal Company to advise us how to enact true comprehensive pension reform and he acted in his role as chairman of the Retirement Board and as mayor to reduce the annual pension cost of living increase paid to retired employees from the 3 percent given every year to the reduced number of 1.59 percent this year, which is the Consumer Price Index percentage increase that the pension ordinance allows the the town to mirror. No previous mayor in the history of the town has taken such an action." 

"Putting $13.5 million in the pension fund is not a complete solution," said Councilman Austin Cesare. "It's a first step in the right direction down a very long road."

"Yes, it's been a very difficult and messy process," said Councilman Al Gorman. "But it shows we are committed to working on the pension."

"These improvements follow the Segal plan for year one recommendation toward comprehensive pension reform that have immediate financial impact and an estimated overall plan savings in the tens of millions for Hamden's pension," Leng said.

The state needs to hear the message that the town needs a more equitable share of ECS money, he said, because it's homeowners who are paying the price.

Now that budget season is over, the council will continue to monitor how it is spent, council president Judi Kozak said.

"We are going to scrutinize spending that every dime is spent how it's supposed to be spent," she said.