Small Crowd at Budget Public Hearing, But Plenty of Criticism

If you hold a public hearing on your budget proposal and barely anybody shows up, does that mean that people are happy with it?

Not necessarily.

The Board of Directors and General Manager Scott Shanley found this out Wednesday night, when the town held a public hearing on for the 2011-12 fiscal year in the auditorium of Waddell Elementary School.

Less than 50 people attended, a large percentage of that number town staff, and less than half a dozen spoke publically about the budget. Their comments ranged from labeling it “too hefty” to “way over the top.”

Shanley’s proposal is a 1.8 percent increase over the town’s current budget, calls for a 2.9 percent increase in property taxes, basically maintains all current services, eliminates two positions through attrition, and uses $1.5 million from the town’s reserve fund.

“This budget itself is an attempt to maintain the same levels of services that we have in the current budget,” Shanley told the crowd, adding that the town had scaled back so much over the last few years that further reductions could likely only be achieved through elimination of staff. “We are down to the point now where most of it is personnel.”

Although Shanley added that personnel reductions would be something that the Board of Directors “will be discussing as an obligation.”

Shanley’s proposal also level funds the Board of Education’s $100,838,775 funding request, which is itself a  over the school system’s current budget.

Before the hearing began, Shanley detailed the major factors that led to the increase: a six percent increase in health insurance costs, a $170,000 increase in the town’s pension fund contribution to make up for the decline in the stock market several years ago, increased fuel costs, and new tax exemptions under

He said he also increased the town’s contribution from its reserve fund to $1.5 million – typically the town plugs about $750,000 from its reserves each year into the budget – due to the uncertainty surrounding many of Malloy’s proposals. Malloy’s proposal must be approved by the General Assembly, and could change significantly by the time the assembly dismisses in early June.

“We have no idea what the end result of the governors proposal might be,” Shanley said, adding that the town was “in a position to be able to do that because we’ve been very careful not to spend down our reserves in the past few years.”

But during the public comment portion of the hearing, Lew Pelletier , a Park Street resident, said he did not think it was wise for the town to spend a portion of its reserves to mitigate the tax increase, and that he believed Shanley could have found more areas to reduce in the budget.

“We shouldn’t be using designated funds for something else to help pay our taxes,” Pelletier said.

Marilyn Lassow, a Hollister Street resident who described herself as “a very angry retired senior” said she was struggling to keep up with the town’s tax increases each successive year on a retiree’s income. Lassow said that people advised her that there were assistance programs for seniors, but that she was not looking for any “handouts.”

“I don’t want any help,” Lassow said. “I just want you to leave my taxes (alone) so I can stay in my house and pay my taxes.”

Jack Hilditch, a Summer Street resident, said he has watched his taxes steadily rise in recent years, but that the town was offering very little to show for it.

“I don’t see a commensurate increase in services or quality of services in the town,” Hilditch said.

But Scott Aitken, a Summer Street resident, said that he found Shanley’s budget sensible and, with two school-age children, he felt he was getting “great value” for his tax dollars. Aitken said that he realized that someday his children would no longer be in the Manchester school system, and that he would then be paying the cost of other residents children and not reaping any rewards, but that that was part of the “shared sacrifice” required in a community.

“It’s a tough time. People need to roll up their sleeves and share a little bit more,” Aiken said. “When (my kids) graduate and move on it will be my turn to continue to pay what I am paying because everybody paid and I will continue to share the wealth."

The Board of Directors still has three more budget workshops remaining, including one scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the Lincoln Center Hearing Room to review the proposed budgets for the Police and Fire departments, before voting to adopt a budget April 12.

Mayor Louis Spadaccini encouraged residents to reach out to members of the board and offer their opinions on the budget during the next month, either through phone or email or in person, because he said sometimes residents are able to point out potential areas of savings that may have been overlooked.

“We’re going through this process over the next month. We’re looking at every department very closely,” Spadaccini said. “We greatly appreciate your input, we greatly appreciate your contributions.”