Frequently Asked Questions about the 2007-08 Budget:

If your question does not appear, or if you have a question,
please contact the Town Manager’s office at 871-3600.

Question: What is the cost of a referendum?
Answer: Each referendum costs $4,000.00.

Question: How many voters are there in Tolland?
Answer: There are 9,104 voters as of June 2007. There are approximately 14,500 residents living in 5,121 households.

Question: Why do we schedule the referendum on the dates that we do?
Answer: The Town Charter requires that on the first Tuesday of May the annual budget referendum shall be held. If the budget is not passed on the first vote additional referenda as required will be held every other week on Tuesday thereafter until a budget is passed.

Question: How come there is not more information provided about the budget?
Answer: The Board of Education begins the budget process in October and has several public workshops on their budget during the month of January. Minutes from those workshops plus other budget information appears on the Board of Education website. The Superintendent also sends information out on the BOE budget in his newsletter to all households and presents a state of the school address during the budget process. The Town prepares the capital budget in December followed by the General Fund budget beginning in January. During the budget process there is a public hearing on the Capital Plan followed by a public hearing on the Town Managers recommended budget. There is also a public presentation of the Town Council’s recommended budget which follows a week of public meetings at which time they review the requests of all Town Departments. Information on the budget is placed in the Tolland Monthly Magazine, as well as in a legal advertisement in the Journal Inquirer. Prior to the first referendum a flyer is sent to all residents providing information on the Town Council’s proposed budget. All information on the budget including copies of public presentations is located on the Town’s website. Notices of the voting date are placed on the Tolland Green as well as in front of the Fire Department Training Center.

Question: Could significant money be saved by closing the senior center or teen center one day per week?
Answer: To save money by closing a building requires that you reduce the hours of staff. There are two full time employees assigned to the senior center. By reducing their work week by one day each week over the course of a year would save $16,321 in salary and fringe benefits. There may be costs associated with unemployment compensation as well as union concerns with this concept. In regard to the Teen Center there are part-time workers involved and the savings by having the Teen Center open one day per week instead of the current two days would be $3,721.

Question: Why don’t we reduce maintenance of ball fields, cut back on mowing, chemicals and other field-related maintenance?
Answer: The Town has invested significant dollars in building recreation areas. Many of the playing surfaces are currently rated by user groups at a “C” level based on the fact that the fields are not irrigated and we have reduced the budget for maintenance supplies. To let a field go for a significant time means when you want to bring it on-line or improve its conditions you are basically starting over. It costs about $20,000 to refurbish fields based on work we are currently doing at the old high school. The old sports plex facility in Vernon is an example of what happens to Class “A” fields if they are left unattended.
The various clubs and leagues that use the fields perform various types of labor and improvements that add significant value. A recent accounting was presented to the Council and can be obtained from the Town Manager’s office.

Question: Why did we include the purchase of additional trucks for the Parks and Facilities Department in this year’s budget?
Answer: The Parks and Facilities Department of the Town by prior agreement with the BOE maintain all the athletic fields and snow removal at the schools. With the opening of the new high school it was determined that two additional parks maintainers and two F550 dump trucks would be needed to service that area. One additional employee was added this year with the second employee scheduled for next year. The trucks are needed for snow removal primarily but also for field maintenance. There are over 50 additional acres for which the Department is now responsible at that site and the amount of blacktop is similar to many smaller malls. One half of the cost of the new trucks came from the school project funding and not the general fund.

Question: Can the Town Council send a budget to referendum which is the same as the previous budget?
Answer: The Town Charter has no restriction on the Town Council reducing, increasing or leaving the same a budget for a subsequent referendum.

Question: Why are we voting on a budget before the State has finalized their budget and we have better information on state aid?
Answer: The Town Charter mandates that the budget referendums begin on the first Tuesday in May and continue every two weeks until a budget is passed. There is no ability to adjust the time frame. The State refuses to address their budget earlier in the session which would better coincide with municipal budget timetables. The extended session of the legislature does not start until June 19^th. The legislature will again take up the matter of a State budget at that time.

Question: Why does the Council continue to find things to cut?
Answer: The first budget that the Council presents is the summary of work based on information collected from fall/winter 2006 (for the Capital Budget) through March 2007. Estimates for costs are made as accurately as possible at the time. But some items were estimated in the fall/winter of 2006 for the Capital budget you are currently voting on for 2007-08; that’s an 18 month lag time. More information becomes available as time goes by. Just like in your home budget, prices fluctuate for the Town as well. Surplus and deficient funds are identified as projects are completed at, below or above budget. This is the case with a fifth budget referendum. We are beginning to close out the books for this fiscal year (ending June 30, 2007).

Question: What has happened to any savings from our mild winter?
Answer: The Town Council has used $65,000 as revenue to lessen the impact of the property tax. $50,000 has been earmarked for the next fiscal year to help offset the increasing cost of road sand and salt as well as to allow for a mix that relies more heavily on salt during our winter snow operations.

Question: Is it possible to eliminate some departments to save money?
Answer: It has been suggested to look at cutting back in departments other then Public Safety, Public Works and Education. The remaining departments account for only $2,864,078 of the current 47 million dollar budget. Many of the departments are State mandated such as the Town Clerk, Registrar of Voters, Assessor and Tax Collector, while others such as Recreation are 72% funded by user fees. Departments such as Human Services also serve as the Town’s main grant coordinator and bring in over $500,000 in grants annually. Departments such as the Planning Department serve a regulatory function as well as staffing commissions such as the Planning and Conservation Commission. Finance and the Manager’s office serve important internal control functions.

Question: Do Town and/or Board of Education staff pay anything toward the cost of their Health Insurance?
Answer: Teachers and Town employees pay between 16-18% of the cost of health insurance. While these rates may not be as high as some in the private sector, they are some of the highest municipal and BOE rates in the State. Also, on the Town side considerable efforts have been made over the last several years to change the plan design so that more of the cost is borne by the user of the insurance.

Question: How can you reduce my property tax? I cannot afford it any longer!
Answer: Structural property tax reform must come from the State. We can limit the amount of the property tax increase in any given year but that probably saves the average taxpayer $50-$100 a year while possibly impacting desired services. It is understood that no one wants to pay more taxes and everyone is upset by increasing gas prices, fuel costs etc. but by reducing the local budget you do not correct those concerns. We live in a town with the third highest property values in the Capital region with only Avon and Glastonbury greater. This has as much to do with affordability as does taxes. We live in a town with a limited commercial base and not a lot of available land to significantly alter that fact which places a greater reliance on the property tax. Therefore, if as a community we seriously feel that we need to reduce our local budgets on a sustained basis, we need to focus on how to restructure service delivery and service expectations as well as the manner in which we educate our children. This is more a willingness to pay discussion vs a budget discussion because few residents truly know the details of the municipal or BOE budgets. Discussions of this nature should take place prior to the formation of budgets rather than during. The administrative staff needs to formulate budgets around agreed-upon expectations. No citizen is well-served when the scope of services is picked apart piecemeal during a budget reduction process.

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