GREENWICH — After more than seven months of work by town officials, the $450 million municipal spending plan for 2021-22 will go before the Representative Town Meeting at 7 p.m. Monday for a final vote.
· The The 230-member RTM does not have the power to add items to the town budget approved by the Board of Estimate and Taxation. It can only approve or cut items and cannot propose any new spending.
· The Budget Overview Committee, which has called for restrained town spending and lower tax rates, has proposed four motions to reduce the budget: by cutting $900,000 of the $950,000 proposed for work on final design plans for a new municipal ice skating rink; and by eliminating the allocations of $500,000 for Greenwich Avenue intersection improvements and $175,000 for intersection improvement plans at Brookside Drive and Glenville Road.
· The BOC has also proposed a motion to reduce town employee benefit costs by $2 million after the state revised its increases on health care plan, which would decrease the amount spent by the town.
· Once the budget is approved, the BET will set the town’s mill rates during its regular monthly meeting on May 17.
The budget plan was moved forward by the BET in April after a strictly party-line vote. The BET’s six Republicans voted in favor of the plan and the six Democrats voted against it, with the division over school funding. Republican BET Chair Michael Mason using his tie-breaking vote to avoid what he called a “nuclear option” of carrying over the current fiscal year’s budget of $448 million.
Mason said he expected the RTM to pass the budget.
“There will be some dialogue, but the process is what it is,” he said. “It’s a lengthy process. There are some discussions that are going to continue on as soon as this budget’s done. We will work to close out this year and start to work on next year.”
Democrats objected to cuts by the BET, including a reduction from $1.7 million to $200,000 for planning for Julian Curtiss School improvements, which came after some BET members balked at a possible $25 million price tag for construction in 2022-23. And a $102,000 feasibility study has been deferred to a future year to determine whether Central Middle School must be replaced.
This split has also been exacerbated by party-line disputes over the timing of funding to cover emergency repairs at North Mianus School, after a ceiling collapse and major flood.
BET Democratic Caucus Leader Leslie Moriarty said she had heard “pointed commentary” in recent RTM District meetings in which members disagreed with the BET votes to reduce support for school capital projects and said it might be brought up during committee reports at Monday night’s RTM meeting.
“The Democratic caucus of the BET is united in its support for investment in our school buildings and for the resources to deliver the necessary services and programs for all of our students,” Moriarty said. “Each of the three schools projects that did not get the proper support of Republican BET members, including the recent North Mianus emergency funding request, identified different concerns, but there were common themes relating to authority, governance and planning. These will have to be addressed as the Board of Estimate returns with interim funding requests and in the Budget Guidelines for next year.”
First Selectman Fred Camillo also saw the BET make cuts in budget items he proposed back in January, including plans to improve and redevelop Roger Sherman Baldwin Park. The BET is also requiring Camillo to get private funding for a new Eastern Greenwich Civic Center in Old Greenwich.
The RTM meeting will be held at Central Middle School, but only a preapproved list of 100 people will be allowed to attend in person. Everyone else, including most members of the RTM, will participate via Zoom.
A link to view the meeting is available online at www.greenwichct.gov/721/Representative-Town-Meeting-RTM. Residents who wish to speak must also sign up there by noon Monday.
“Some of these projects have to get done,” Camillo said. “We definitely need a new rink. We definitely have to get a new civic center. If we don’t, we’re going to have to close them.”
The facilities are vital parts of the town, he said, with strong support from the public. And new rink and a new civic center would be heavily used and bring in revenue for the town, Camillo said.
The BET has placed a condition on the $18.6 million allocated for the civic center construction that calls for “substantial” private funding before the budgeted money can be spent. Camillo has pledged to seek money for public/private partnerships to build both the civic center and the ice rink.
“We should be hearing shortly” about an agreement with a “major donor” for one of the projects, Camillo said.
He also stressed the need to push forward with community projects.
“Those are public buildings that are owned by the town, and if you’re living in a house and the roof is leaking, you fix it,” Camillo said. “You want to have a building in as good a condition as possible. That’s our responsibility. But we’re fortunate to have some really wonderful citizens here that are very, very giving and civic-minded. We’re looking forward to more and more partnerships as we go forward.”
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What you need to know before the Greenwich RTM votes on the $450 million town budget - Greenwich Time
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