Roughly 50 people attended a public hearing on West Hartford’s proposed fiscal year 2017-18 town budget earlier this week.

By Abigail Albair, West Hartford Press Editor

[Editor’s Note: This article was shared with We-Ha.com by the weekly newspaper, The West Hartford Press.]

The majority of the comments made by more than two dozen West Hartford residents during an April 5 budget hearing included pleas that the Town Council protect senior centers and the library from budget cuts, as well as that it keep senior citizens living on fixed incomes in mind throughout the deliberation process.

Town Manager Ron Van Winkle initially proposed a net 10.3 percent property tax increase for fiscal year 2018 during a council meeting last month.

The proposed new mill rate for real and personal property – prior to Board of Education reductions to its budget – was 42.76 mills, an increase of 3.25 mills from the current rate. The state has capped the motor vehicle tax at 32 mills, a decrease from the mill rate of 37 for vehicles adopted in last year’s budget.

Without the proposed impact of the governor’s budget, the mill rate proposal would be 40.48 mills, an increase of only .97 mills.

The Board of Education adopted its budget April 4, totaling $160,157,754, a decrease of more than $6 million from Superintendent Tom Moore’s original proposal. A large portion of that reduction – $5.8 million – was made by the board voting to remove the governor’s plan, including shifting a third of the teacher’s pension payment to municipalities and eliminating the special education excess cost reimbursement to the school district, in the adopted budget.

On the town side of the budget, $103.7 million in spending is proposed along with $17.4 million in capital spending.

The Town Council is now grappling with a proposed $8.69 million loss in Education Cost Sharing.

Among the options for town reductions are the closing of one fire station, which would save $25,000; a reduction of police overtime related to non-core programs, which would save $250,000; the elimination of town trash pick-up as of Oct. 1 in favor of the sale of barrels, which would save $3.255 million and generate $1 million in revenue; the implementation of a pay-as-you-throw trash system, which would save $400,000 and generate revenue yet to be determined; the closing of the Bishops Corner library branch, which would save $220,000 and closing the West Hartford Senior Center to save $120,000.

Danielle Fernino was the first of many to speak about the senior center during the hearing.

“I want to say how very important the senior center is to seniors. People are living longer and this senior center provides classes of all sorts to them, events that they can attend and all kinds of activities that make life better for them,” she said. “Many people would feel isolated if they didn’t have this place to go to. … Seniors have made great contributions to our community throughout the years. … They need a place to go to. For many people that’s a second home.”

The Bishops Corner neighborhood is filled with families and senior citizens, Muriel Sokolow said.

“A library is an adjunct of a school system. It would be, in my opinion, a travesty to take away that library,” she said.

Regarding the senior center, she said, “Today, kids move away, and don’t necessarily come back to their hometown and there are many seniors who have kids scattered all over the country and for them, especially, the senior center becomes a place like a family. My plea is, don’t close those two places.”

Speaking in support of the library, West Hartford Public Library Foundation Board member Jill Spear said, “The West Hartford Library, as all public libraries, provides the ultimate reusable resource. Every dollar invested is returned many times over.”

Phil Walker, the chair of the Senior Citizens Advisory Commission, asked the Town Council to hold down any increase in taxes as senior citizens will be particularly hard hit.

A contingent of the 1401 Farmington Avenue Community Association spoke with similar remarks.

“The town neither plows nor maintains our roads, consequently a substantial portion of what we pay in condo charges goes to pay for services that the neighbors around us receive,” John Lemega said. “There are no children at 1401 so we place no burden on the school system. Based on Mr. Van Winkle’s estimated budget increase … my spouse and I confronted a potential tax increase of several thousand dollars that, because we’re on a fixed income, we really can’t afford.”

Lemega, unlike the many who spoke in support of keeping all library branches and the senior center open, asked the council to adopt the entire list of potential cuts and further cut the education budget.

Peter Towey praised the manager for his budgeting, noting that the percentage increase would be less than one percent were it not for the impact of the governor’s proposal.

“I think that’s a very reasonable number to maintain the services and benefits and keep this community moving forward,” he said. “As we move forward, I think we need to realize that, just as if we set our mill rate and have a large tax increase… if we cut programs to absorb a $14.5 million [loss] that may not occur, those programs cannot be reinstituted mid budget year.”

One speaker focused on the Leisure Services budget and proposed cuts to the town’s outdoor pool operations.

Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Chris Bennett read a letter signed by all advisory board members.

“The parks and rec department’s mission is to enrich the quality of life of all residents through health lifestyle initiatives,” the letter reads. “They provide a comprehensive program of recreational activities, and provide safe, accessible and well-maintained recreational facilities for everyone to enjoy. … It is our understanding that only minimal savings would be achieved by closing Eisenhower Park’s outdoor pool – the only public pool on the north side of town and the only pool with a deep end.”

He reiterated the importance of Leisure Services to the council, citing positive personal experiences.

“It touches so many lives in ways that maybe aren’t really evident when the scalpel is out,” he said.

The Town Council is set to adopt its budget April 25.

For more details on the meeting, see the April 13 edition of The West Hartford Press.

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