The West Hartford Town Council voted 6-3 Tuesday night along party lines to adopt the FY26 budget, which has been amended from the Town Manager’s original proposal.

By Ronni Newton

West Hartford’s FY26 budget has been modified from what was proposed by Town Manager Rick Ledwith on March 11, and the resulting $367,732,066 spending plan adopted by the Town Council in a 6-3 party line vote Tuesday night represents an increase of $20,192,985 (5.81%) over the current fiscal year’s budget.

The mill rate will be 44.78 mills – an increase of 5.74% – for real and personal property for the upcoming  2025-2026 fiscal year, up 2.43 mills from the current 42.35 mills.

Ledwith’s original FY26 proposal had a mill rate of 45.21 mills for real and personal property. The motor vehicle mill rate, which is capped by the state, will remain 32.46 mills. With the modifications made since the March 11 budget presentation, in order meet its its overall general fund expenditures, the town will collect a total of 6.5% more in tax revenue for the upcoming fiscal year, a reduction from the 7.35% in the initial proposal, Ledwith said.

“Since the release of the original proposed budget … we have worked diligently to find ways to reduce its impact while still preserving the high quality of services our residents expect,” said Ledwith. It was a robust process, he said, that between the Town Council and Board of Education included three community conversation meetings, three formal public hearings, and seven workshops. “Every effort was made to minimize this increase while maintaining fiscal responsibility and investing in core services like education, public safety, infrastructure, and community wellbeing.”

A total of $2,558,273 in adjustments have been made to Ledwith’s March budget proposal – a majority of which is the anticipation that the town will actually receive excess cost reimbursement for special education expenditures from the state in FY26 equal to what was recently negotiated for the current fiscal year and approved by the legislature and Gov. Ned Lamont.

The shortfall in excess cost reimbursement from the state has been an issue under discussion between legislators and the governor. but Ledwith said the town has been assured by the legislative delegation and Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, and does expect to receive $1.4 million more than anticipated when the budget was first drafted in March. If the funds do not come through, Ledwith said he would return to the Town Council and look to have the town and school district each share a $700,000 reduction in their budgets.

The appropriation for education has been reduced by that $1.4 million to account for the reimbursement, as well as by the $475,000 trimmed from the budget adopted in a 6-1 vote by the Board of Education on April 1.

Discussions have taken place in Town Council committees over the past six weeks since the budget was proposed with the goal of minimizing the tax increase. The remainder of changes to the town budget, Ledwith said, primarily include a reduction of $400,000 from the contingency fund for unsettled collective bargaining agreements on the town side, the use of $115,000 in cannabis tax revenue to fund an existing social worker position and the use of $88,000 in opioid settlement funds for an existing paramedic position, a $100,000 reduction in debt expenses, use of $100,000 in bond premium, and miscellaneous cuts spread out among various departments.

“We deeply appreciate the public’s engagement through this process and thank the Council for your countless hours, dedication, insight, and commitment to our community not only through this budget process but for what you do throughout the entire year,” Ledwith said, also expressing his thanks to the finance department team and directors.

Before the roll call vote on resolutions for budget appropriations and the tax levy, each Council member shared their comments, and thanks to all who participated in the budget process.

“The budget is a heft document. It comes with a hefty responsibility,” said Democrat Deb Polun, the vice chair of the Council’s Finance and Administration Committee. When the budget was presented in March, she said that many Council members were startled at the dramatic increase.

The rising cost of special education was a major driver on the school side, and increases in health insurance premiums and negotiated and retroactive pay increases were major factors as well. “The town and schools are run by professionals who are outstanding in the true sense of the word,” Polun said, and both the town and schools are “a people business.”

And, Polun said, 85% of the town’s revenue is from property taxes – with very little Grand List growth is reflected in the basis for the FY26 budget, since the valuation was as of Oct. 1, 2024. “That’s from you and from us, the taxpayers in town, whether we own our homes or rent, we’re paying property tax to fund our libraries, to fund trash pick-up, and public safety, and our teachers, and all that makes West Hartford such a vibrant place to be,” she said, adding that she is hopeful that when the new buildings now under construction are completed there will be more Grand List growth and new neighbors to share in the responsibility of funding the town. Polun also noted the need for additional revenue sources, including the 1% hospitality tax collected by the state that was supposed to be shared with towns where it is generated.

“Personally I would have like to have kept taxes flat this year,” she said, but that would mean cutting another $20.1 million from the budget, and not even cutting the entire fire department could accomplish that. “Closing all of our libraries, plus all of our parks, schools, senior centers, and other leisure services programs, and eliminating street maintenance and eliminating snow removal, and eliminating trash pick-up – that doesn’t get us to $20.1 million either,” she said, so it might also mean laying off 125 teachers. “Those types of changes, that’s not who we are. That’s not why I moved to West Hartford or why most people moved to West Hartford and have chosen to stay in West Hartford.”

Where the budget has landed is a compromise, Polun said, “maintaining what we have so that we can maintain who we are.”

Minority Leader Mark Zydanowicz said everyone is doing their due diligence, but said the West Hartford payroll increase is higher than that for federal employees, military, and private industry. He said he understands the reasons, adding that the town needs to keep up with it so that there are not needs for major increases all at once.

Zydanowicz said that while he’s approved a lot of the future Grand List growth that will come through new projects in the town. “I’m afraid that by next year, that even when it does hit, we’ll still sit here with an increase a year from now and I think we need to avoid that because it’s getting unsustainable.” Cuts shouldn’t always be referred to as cutting employees just because that pulls at the emotions.

Plans for construction of the new Elmwood Community Center has been delayed a year due to cost considerations, and Zydanowicz said that’s something he applauds.  The team in West Hartford needs to collectively work together to look at tightening up the budget going forward, he said.

Democrat Barry Walters said that before the current budget was proposed, “we were already faced with a lot of ‘what ifs,'” referring to potential cuts coming from the federal government as well as the state. “I personally walked into this process with the attitude that I could only work with what was in front of me,” he said, “and perhaps lay a  foundation for the inevitable coming from the state and from Washington.

The original budget proposal in March “was extremely upsetting,” Walters said. “My immediate thought was the tax increase associated with the budget is simply just too much to expect our residents to pay,” and would negatively impact the most vulnerable residents. But he said that as he delved into it, “I found no major area where a significant change should be made to lower the budget,” no big red flag.

Walters said Connecticut’s dependence on property taxes for municipal funding is a process that’s broken, leaving the town hobbled by state policies and failure to fully fund mandates. Facing uncertainty at the federal level, the Council is now “tasked with adopting a budget that best serves all of our residents without overburdening the most vulnerable,” he said, and while this is not the perfect budget, “it’s the budget we have.”

Republican Mary Fay said the original budget proposal with a 7-plus percent increase “was a non-starter for me. That was just way too much given the times.”

While times are tough, Fay said, the town should not look for the federal government or others for a bail-out but rather be better prepared. “We really focus on wants as opposed to just needs,” she said, citing the animal shelter – which will cost twice the original budgeted amount, and the Eisenhower Pool as two examples.

“So I think there’s some things that we need to do to tighten our belts,” Fay said, recommending that rather than a roll forward budget the town start with a line-by-line analysis to really identify opportunities as other towns have done.

Fay said she thinks there have been some decisions that have led to “this bad budget decision,” citing tax abatements on some developments and the approval of low-income housing so that all the development does not add to the tax base. [Editor’s note: there have been two abatement/tax stabilization plans approved by the Town Council in the past decade, including in 2020 for One Park – which was formerly a nunnery and not on the tax rolls, and had failed to secure financing after years of negotiation – and in 2023 with approval of a fixed assessment for the 100% affordable housing development The Camelot.]

“We really do have to think about needs vs. wants,” said Fay, expressing concerns about seniors being able to stay in their homes and attracting young professionals. The revised budget is an improvement, she said, “but I still don’t think we’re at where we should be considering the time and considering the pain that people are feeling now.”

Democrat Tiffani McGinnis said department heads were all asked to keep their budgets tight, which wasn’t easy. When she saw the town manager’s original proposal, “I have to admit that I immediately started worrying about what this increase would do to our most vulnerable residents, as well as our seniors that live on a fixed income. I know what it’s like to have limited resources and not know how you’re going to pay for any additional expense,” she said.

McGinnis wanted to be on the Town Council, in part, to be a voice for “people who are often overlooked at every level of government,” and she said the administration in DC is dismantling many of the programs that they rely on, trying to run the country like a business. For West Hartford to significantly cut the tax rate, it would involve cutting “programs and services that people need and want.”

She said the caucus “combed through the budget with a fine tooth comb,” but noted that the Council can only make line item changes to the town budget, which is about 40% of the total, and also noted that while the growth was minimal, West Hartford was luckier than many towns that had no Grand List growth this year.

When the Residences at Heritage Park are completed (the east side of the former UConn campus) it will add an estimated $2.2 million in tax revenue, and when the 1800 Asylum portion is complete it will close to double that amount, McGinnis said, noting that :even with those increases in Grand List growth, we desperately need to have a conversation at the state level about a fundamental change in how towns can increase their revenues without increasing property taxes.” The state also needs to fully fund excess special education costs, she added.

Republican Alberto Cortes said budget night is the hardest night. “I know how it is to be scraping by and I know that we have residents in town that are currently in that position. … We need a budget that serves the residents, that can continue to serve the town year after year.”

Cortes said since he has been on the Town Council, the Board of Education budget has increased by $34 million. “That’s a huge number,” he said, and the largest increase is this year. “We’re evolving at a rapid pace,” he said, but running our services lean. He said he fears things are going to snap like a rubber band.

Cortes urged the Council to make sure it’s using the right formula, and to “right-size” the government.

Democrat Carol Andersom Blanks said the six weeks of budget time is the Council’s “version of March Madness” and one of the three major responsibilities of the Town Council. Blanks, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said the police and fire departments already operate on very lean budgets, and do their best to protect and serve.

“In an ideal world, no one wants a tax increase but in the time and the climate we are in now it is just not realistic,” Blanks said. “There are serves and there are cots and there are expenses that must be paid for, she said, adding that the district education is “West Hartford’s gem.”

Going forward, she said, the town must work collaboratively with the Board of Education and the legislative delegation “to address the rising cost of our town,” because large increases year after year are unsustainable. While the mill rate is lower than proposed, because of costs that are fixed “soon we will all feel some discomfort,” she said. “But we will also have confidence that essential services will be delivered and uninterrupted.

Deputy Mayor Ben Wenograd, who chairs the Finance and Administration Committee, praised the transparency of West Hartford’s budget process, the line-by-line reviews, multiple workshops, and work by committee chairs who challenged department heads to justify their requests. He also praised Ledwith for his responsiveness to the public’s questions, including sitting down to meet with residents to hear their concerns and ideas, and Mayor Shari Cantor for her experience and creative approaches, including the use of Pension Obligation Bonds to manage unfunded liabilities, which has led to pension costs no longer being a major budget driver.

“The drivers we are talking about are things we really cannot control,” Wenograd said, like the nearly 10% premium increase in the state partnership plan for health insurance, which was a tough hit this year. And while the Council can’t make line-item changes to the Board of Education budget, he noted that out-of-district tuition for special education was 2.3% of the school budget 10 years ago, and is now well over 5% of the budget. Along with transportation, those are large costs and “really beyond our control.”

Getting the state to provide proper reimbursement is s systemic problem, he said, “and we need to deal with it, and we are, through our lobbying and advocacy for our town.”

Budget increases are unsustainable, Wenograd said, “and we do need to look at these increases going year-to-year, but it has to be done in a reasonable manner.” Unreasonable cuts, like those being done in other communities and at the federal level, he said, “are not the type of cuts that result in triple-A ratings. Those aren’t the cost that result in us being ‘the best place to live.'” West Hartford is a great place to live because of good fiscal management, he said, “not just cutting for the sake of cutting.”

We are all taxpayers, we are all volunteers, and we are all impacted personally as well, so this is hard,” said Cantor, who shared her comments last and thanked her colleagues, town staff, and all who were involved with the process..But she noted that while the budget is the hardest thing the Council does, it’s also the most important and this year was truly a collaborative effort with the Board of Education.

Budgets never stand still in time, she said, “but it tells a story of priorities, successes, and challenges,” including preparation for unknown challenges that could be difficult, and there is certainly uncertainty in the world, and people feeling anxious about the future.

“So this particular budget, we strongly believe it is what’s necessary, and as I think the Board of Ed said – it’s what we need, it’s not what we want,” Cantor said, to meet the expectations of the community, preserve the quality of the schools, and preserve the town as one of the best places to live while investing in the future,

“We’re going to be looking at everything and strategizing how we help to mitigate increases,” she said. Next year the community conversations will be rolled out with more advance notice, and spread out more, in order to engage in helpful dialogue.

“To say that we’re all uncomfortable is accurate. … All of us wanted no tax increase,” Cantor said, “And that’s one of the reasons why we’ve worked so hard to grow our Grand List and we are working to contain other costs.

Budgets are connected and don’t stand in isolation, said Cantor, noting that average tax increases have been 2.85% over the past 10 years prior to this year, and including this year is 3.1% on average, while the CPI over the period was 3.28% and average inflation was 3.73%. At the same time, the percentage reimbursement for excess costs of special education from the state has dropped from 80% to 62%, and per pupil expenditures are ranked 100 out of 169 municipalities.

Property taxes remain the primary revenue stream, and she said there are added responsibilities which are important – like early voting, but with limited reimbursement from the state, “that is an unfunded mandate.”

The town only gets $1 from dog licenses, and a small percentage from speeding tickets. The state has allowed a few extra revenue streams – “they’re a little odd,” she said – like nip bottles, cannabis tax, and the opioid settlement funds, and also have limits on what they can fund. She also noted the hospitality tax of 1% was something we fought for, “and the state has received $500 million over the last five years in revenue that could have gone to municipalities,” which could have been used for investments in the town.

“We have $500 million in approved projects, that’s Grand List growth. That’s about three times Blue Back,” Cantor said. And while affordable housing that’s included in those projects doesn’t generate the same rate of Grand List growth as market rate, the town has not yet reached the 10% affordable housing goal and it’s important for people who work in town to be able to live in town. “If we had all of those projects approved we wouldn’t have had a tax increase this year,” she said.

“We are not a business. We are a service,” Cantor said. “We are an institution, a town, that cares for its people and takes care of its people.” To cut $20 million, the community would not be the same.

“We are being squeezed in lots of different ways, and there are things we are really going to look at going forward. We know that we have more work to do, but this is the budget that is the most responsible fiscally to invest in our future, continues to not take any shortcuts, not dig a hole for next year, and not do any of the things I see communities doing for one year – gimmicks or betting on something that might not come to fruition.”

This budget, Cantor said, prepares the town for the expected volatility of the next year so the town can be best prepared to deal with it on various levels.

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