On Saturday, March 4, the annual Board of Finance public hearings were held for both the Town and the Education FY 2023/2024 proposed budgets. As previously reported, both budgets carry steep increases to meet a variety of internal and external needs. At present, the proposed budgets are approximately $13M for the Town and $51M for the schools. The hearings are a kick off for the active BOF budget season, during which every Wednesday evening the Board of Finance discusses the budget until approval and it is brought to taxpayers. Now that budget season is underway, requests for more information from the Board of Education (BOE) and Board of Selectmen (BOS) are flowing. The hearings also presented an opportunity to set the tone and expectations for communication among Boards, which was a bit strained at times in this meeting.

Board Chair Wes Marsh explained, “by state law we are the budgetary authority for the Town, which means both Boards have to get by us first before they send [the budgets] out to the taxpayers…We are the last ones to see it, which means by State law, we’re the last ones to change it. We are there to sort of mediate between highs and lows of budgets,” essentially to balance the need with affordability. The budget for the Town encompasses the operating budget, including payroll and non-payroll expenses, the Medical Insurance Fund, capital and non-capital recurring costs, debt service, taxpayer revenue, and non-taxpayer revenue.

Over the past several months, the BOS—with the Town staff—created and revised their budget. First Selectman Ms. Pat Del Monaco stressed that the increases in the Town budget are being driven by inflation, significant increases in paramedic services, and a shortfall in the Medical Fund. She explained that large amounts of trimming have already occurred in the capital expenditures except for those that the BOS determined were necessary this year. This budget area is often targeted for BOF cuts. There was a lengthy discussion about the paramedic and ambulance costs, but Del Monaco explained that it will be impossible to budget a different number for those services because the contract was not given to the Town yet, which, when done, will allow for negotiations. Nuvance is switching its process and is preparing a budget for the Towns that use its services for the first time. “That is what our bill is going to be based on, so we will have a budgetary breakdown from them,” Del Monaco said. BOF members bristled at the monopoly-nature of these costs—which amount to an increase of hundreds of thousands—as there is no competition for Nuvance in the area. Managing this service in-house was discussed, as it was done in the past, but that option is deemed too costly, as the Town would need to over-hire to have sufficient staff in place. “The goal is to have the contract before the end of the fiscal year. And I know that they are working on that, but we have not seen the draft. So it’s a process that will take a while,” Del Monaco said, dashing hopes that it may come through during the budget season.

Among the many items that were requested of the BOS, was an update on the Communication Center and how staffing switches have worked and where the call answering statistics stand, in addition to an update on overtime spending. BOF member Ms. Cheryl Reedy also asked for one of the upcoming sessions to cover five-year capital plans for both the BOE and BOS.

A tense moment arose when BOF member Mr. Kim Hanson asked for growth in Town departments over time, both the total count and salaries over the last ten years. Hanson took issue with Finance Director Ms. Olga Melnikov seemingly pushing back on his request and a brief spat occurred with Selectman Ms. Khris Hall, with whom he has history.

Reedy had a peacemaking moment in which she stated that she hopes there will be civil discourse going forward, saying “I’m not happy with the way things are going right now.” She stressed that it is important to listen to Melnikov’s valuable thoughts, while it is also imperative that the BOF is allowed to ask for materials without pushback and to receive requested materials in a reasonable amount of time. “If Kim asked for something as a member of the Board of Finance, he’s entitled to get it.” She went on to say that members have often asked for information in the past and then never receive it.

There was lengthy back-and-forth about the potential for increased overtime based on the plan to extend police patrols to cover marine enforcement this summer. Del Monaco explained that this was not the case, as school SROs would have been worked into the patrol schedule when school is out for summer, but some BOF members did not appear to be convinced there isn’t a potential for increase. “This is something that we have been working towards for a number of years,” Del Monaco said, “this is what we think we need to do for public safety in the town of New Fairfield,” going on to say that no personnel costs were increased in the budget for this.

In the school presentation, Superintendent Dr. Ken Craw said that the school district faces its share of challenges in the post-pandemic world. With federal funds drying up, the district now seeks to fully fund the large staffing up that occurred when schools began rebounding from the pandemic. That, in addition to inflation-related costs, have driven the education budget to a steep incline. That said, Craw stressed that “This is a carefully crafted budget that focuses on continuing to address the learning loss created by the pandemic or offering a roadmap to full academic recovery.” He went on to point out that “there’s clear compelling evidence that dollars have been spent effectively,” going on to point out the many educational successes, or at least reclamations of placement, that have recently come to fruition. He also referenced the numbers of increased special education needs as another reason to justify maintaining the current level of certified staff and the addition of paraprofessionals to support these students.

BOF members asked Craw about the possibility of efficiencies in administrative costs at the elementary campus, as was originally stated in selling the idea of replacing Consolidated. However, Craw explained that the number of students and increased behavioral needs, learning recovery issues, as well as social emotional issues creates the current need for four administrators at that site. When asked whether there could be revenue in bringing Strides transition students into the district, it was explained that the staffing is not in place to support bringing additional students in. Also, BOF members were told that the number of possible Sherman students is uncertain.

When asked how academic growth is measured, Craw explained, “we focus on the results as both quantitative and qualitative, we also look at high quality instruction, we’re looking at the trends and patterns that we see in class.” And when asked how we are comparing ourselves to other towns, Assistant Superintendent Ms. Julie Luby said, “I think the most important thing to compare ourselves to is ourselves because it’s about forward motion.” She did say that there are six other towns on par with New Fairifeld, in terms of population size and number of free and reduced lunch-eligible students, which is the State’s suggestion for how best to compare. The district has been asked to supply this list of towns and all comparison data to the BOF. Additionally, BOF members requested a full set of standardized test scores so they can review all grades and subject areas throughout the district. The BOF would also like to know what local schools—particularly Brookfield, Danbury, New Milford, and Newtown—are offering for Advanced Placement courses by topic and number and how they compare to New Fairfield.

Marsh and other BOF members are concerned about a remarkably expensive cost for the removal of an underground tank that needs to occur in the next year and a half. Also, the BOF was asked to clarify the potential turnover savings estimate and whether it was padded. Craw said it is not easy to anticipate how much savings there will be but that the trend has been that they’ve needed to hire more senior teachers who command a high salary.

Hanson asked the BOE for specific financial information about the field fees, a large upcoming issue for the Town in the potential replacement of the turf field. Hanson pointed out that “there was a promise made to the Town at that time that tax dollars would never pay for that replacement. There was a Field Fees Committee created to assure that the fees were matching these projected costs in the future.” He asked for former increases in fees that were made to manage that, “because I’m concerned about what’s kind of slipped by the wayside.” He also asked for the school building project promised size versus the size that was built.

Finally, he asked for all costs for curricular and extracurricular athletic programs, and separately for curricular and extracurricular arts programs. He said that he believes that the arts were underfunded for years.

By Sarah Opdahl