Democrats Oppose $13M City Hall Budget Increase

City Council Democrats have proposed a resolution opposing a $13 million budget increase proposed by Republican Mayor Erin Stewart’s city Finance Board.

The resolution calls for investments in education and public safety.

On March 5, 2019, the city Board of Finance and Taxation, which is appointed by Stewart, proposed a city budget that would increase spending by $13,390,779.

The proposal is for the upcoming budget year that runs from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.

While increasing the city budget from $237,729,089 to $251,119,868, the Board of Finance’s proposal would freeze the schools allocation for yet another year. The city budgets under Stewart have not increased funding for city schools since the budget approved in 2016, and her Finance Board’s plan would extend that freeze in education support to a third straight year.

But, Council Democrats say that Stewart’s, “Board of Finance and Taxation proposed a $13,390,779 general fund budget increase, which would raise the mill rate by 5 mills and increase property taxes within the City by nearly 10%.”

The resolution that the nine Council Democrats are proposing says that, “such a large tax increase would have detrimental effects on residents throughout the City, many of whom are already struggling to cope.”

Council Democrats says that, “Common Council members strongly oppose any rate increase until spending has been curtailed and accountability established,” saying that they have, “put forward a resolution requiring the Mayor to deliver an honest, transparent and balanced budget, which would include the reduction in spending.”

The resolution would require, “that the proposed budget the Mayor compiles be balanced, provide for payments of hard debt, medical self-insurance funding, public safety funding and appropriate education funding to benefit the upstanding youth of our community and all of New Britain. “

After the Board of Finance recommends a city budget, the mayor is responsible under the City Charter for proposing her own budget plan to the Council.

While the Council is then technically able to approve a budget different than the mayor’s proposal, the mayor can veto it. Unless that Council can overturn the mayor’s veto by a deadline fixed in the City Charter, the mayor’s budget takes effect without the Council’s approval.

Since “overriding” a veto takes the support of ten of the fifteen Council members, and there are nine Democrats and six Republicans, Stewart and the Council Republicans can block the Democrats from approving their own budget plan.

That is effectively what happened last year, making the city budget currently in effect, with a tax increase and a freeze in education funding, entirely the decision of Stewart and not Council Democrats.

The Democrat’s resolution is on the agenda of the March 27, 2019 Council meeting, which begins at 7:00pm in City Hall.