[0:29] All rise for the pledge, please.
[0:35] » Can you lead us in the pledge?
>> Yes, sir.
[0:37] » I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic
[0:43] for which it stands. One nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:49] justice for all.
>> Moment of silence for the men and women
[0:52] in the armed forces, our first
responders, our veterans, those fighting
[0:57] the good fight in Ukraine, and those
suffering in the military conflict in
[1:01] the Middle East. And may those six US
soldiers killed in the line of duty, may
[1:06] their memories be eternal.
[1:13] Thank you.
>> [clears throat]
[1:17] » Diane, do we have anybody for public
participation?
[1:20] » We do.
[1:27] » Got it. Hi, Rosanne Patruso, Courtland
Drive. So, I um just came out tonight.
[1:33] might have been watching the meetings
online um over the pre the presentations
[1:38] over the watching the meetings online um
over the the presentations over the last
[1:43] few weeks. I wanted to come out and
voice my support of the board of
[1:46] education's proposed budget that was
presented by Dr. Parlott.
[1:52] The budget is a decrease in spending
year-over-year. I believe it
[1:55] demonstrates fiscally respons um
responsible accounting for the decline
[2:00] in enrollment numbers but still provides
the level of support for students needs
[2:05] and to help them um grow as learners.
Dr. Parlato highlighted district
[2:10] accomplishments last week and like any
other organization she addressed areas
[2:14] in need of improvement and an action
plan for future success. I believe that
[2:18] the town council members asked great
probing questions and um I I appreciated
[2:24] that you participated in discussions
about the inequities of state funding
[2:29] and unfunded ma mandates during Dr.
Parlott's presentation. I hope that
[2:34] tonight town council will support the
education budget as it's proposed to
[2:39] continue moving our district in a
positive direction under Dr. Parlato's
[2:43] strong leadership and her commitment to
our district. Thank you. Thank you,
[2:46] Rosanne.
>> Anyone else? Diane.
[2:50] » No.
>> Anyone else from the public like to say
[2:52] anything?
>> Okay.
[2:55] » All right.
>> All right. Katie,
[2:58] » like move it.
>> Yep.
[3:00] » Okay.
I'd like to make the motion that we move
[3:06] for the town of New Milford budget
the amount of $49,581,236.
[3:18] » Any discussion on the motion for the
town side of the budget?
[3:24] All those in favor?
>> I
[3:26] » opposed.
>> Thank you. Any abstensions? Thank you.
[3:30] Next,
>> I'd like to make the motion that we
[3:34] approve the board of education budget of
78,773,658.
[3:47] » We have a second. Any
>> Roland? Yeah.
[3:49] » Oh, any discussion?
>> All those in favor?
[3:53] » I.
>> Any opposed?
[3:56] Any abstensions? So, thank you everyone.
uh before we uh adjourn a couple of
[4:03] housekeeping items uh that we need to be
aware of. Now what where does the budget
[4:08] go from here? So the budget now will
move over to the board of finance.
[4:12] Walter uh who's the chair uh of the
board of finance will be uh holding a
[4:18] town meeting of which the public can
give input and then they will have an
[4:22] opportunity to um have their
deliberations if they so choose and then
[4:28] they can make adjustments that would be
by category [clears throat] if they so
[4:32] choose. Another thing that we need to be
cognizant about, uh, Olga and I had, uh,
[4:38] uh, got information from OPM and OPM is
kind of the fiscal, um, entity up in
[4:48] Hartford. And we talked about this last
year, similar to the same thing this
[4:52] year, and that is what they call the M,
what is it, OGA? M,
[4:58] municipal spending cap.
>> M, municipal spending cap. The state
[5:02] always puts a cap on. This year's cap as
it was last year was 2 point. What's it
[5:08] this year? 2
>> 2.64.
[5:11] Last year, the same as the other towns
and the same as New Milford. We are over
[5:16] that cap. We are at 3.23.
New Fairfield is at 5.8. New Town is at
[5:23] 3.75.
Bethl is at 6.7.
[5:28] What they what they do is usually wave
that. They haven't given us that yet up
[5:34] in Harford because they're still going
through their deliberations, but we
[5:38] wanted to just let everybody know. And
Olga, if in fact they were to keep that,
[5:43] what happens?
>> So, just a small clarification, it's not
[5:46] really a cap on the budget. They don't
they don't say that municipalities need
[5:50] to stay within that cap. that cap is
only applicable um to one uh possible um
[5:58] revenue that may come from the state. Um
and that's why that cap is applicable.
[6:02] It's only when in relation to that
grant. So basically the state does have
[6:05] a municipal revenue sharing grant
um uh actually municipal revenue sharing
[6:11] fund and from that fund they make
several um payments to municipalities.
[6:16] Some of those payments are prioritized.
they are statutoily and they are
[6:20] guarantees. If the funding is um
remaining, if there is available funding
[6:25] after all those payments are made, then
there is a formula based on which um
[6:30] Canadian municipalities will receive
additional distributions and that's when
[6:35] uh the municipal spending cap report
comes into play. Um so basically they
[6:40] just think that you know if um the
municipality is getting some of that
[6:46] revenue from the state then they should
be within [clears throat]
[6:49] this cap um and if the municipality
exceeds that cap that's a choice but
[6:54] then they will reduce that assistance
>> and over for the last two years
[7:00] » have we gotten any of that money
>> we have not received any funding from
[7:03] » have we budgeted any of that money in
our budget that we're currently using
[7:06] this year
>> uh nothing Right. So, [snorts] we never
[7:10] got that money the last two years. It's
not in our budget, but we just want to
[7:14] make sure that everybody knows that that
is something that OPM looks at, but
[7:19] there's nothing in our budget to reflect
that. So, I just wanted to make sure
[7:22] everybody knew that. Uh,
>> Mr. Clarification, the 2.64% increase,
[7:27] is that what you're
>> cap,
[7:32] right?
>> No, no, no. 2.6 is the cap. Yes,
[7:37] » would be an increase. I'm sorry. I
apologize.
[7:41] » And then uh next uh tomorrow
>> [clears throat]
[7:45] » um the grand list is certified now by
Brian, right? Brian has certified the
[7:51] grand list. So this has nothing to do
with the budget, so to speak, but the
[7:54] Homestead Act we're going to be putting
out uh for people to use. uh it's an
[8:00] estimator. So you be able to plug in
your value of what your new proposed
[8:06] value is to the value in in 2020. And
that differential right Olga is what's
[8:13] going to be showing up and it will show
what your if this budget is passed by
[8:18] the public what your new uh taxes would
be on that.
[8:22] » But it's 2024 grand list versus 2025
grand.
[8:26] » Correct.
>> Sorry. Any questions, you can call the
[8:29] mayor's office and we'll talk more about
that. But I want to thank everybody for
[8:33] coming tonight. As I said, next step it
goes over to Walter and his crew and
[8:37] thank you to the town council.
>> Do you have the date?
[8:40] » No, Walter does that.
>> Do you know what you're going to?
[8:44] » Yep. Yes.
>> Walter, if you could,
[8:45] » please. Let's The date is important.
>> Yeah. The date of the town meetings to
[8:50] be determined. It's uh by
uh town charter uh from your budget is
[8:57] going to be published in spectrum. After
it's published, there's a time window
[9:02] that we have to wait between publication
and having the the public hearing and
[9:07] then we will set a time for our
deliberation. And I encourage everybody
[9:13] to come to the public hearing if you
want to comment. Last year there was
[9:16] only five people that commented and the
year before there wasn't much more. So
[9:20] I'd appreciate if people would show up
and give us their input.
[9:24] » Great. Thank you, Walter.
>> Welcome.
[9:26] » Okay. And if I could have a motion to
adjourn.
[9:30] » Thank you.
>> Second.
[9:31] » All in favor?
>> I
[9:32] » opposed. Abstensions. Thank you,
everyone.
[9:36] » Have a good night. Thank you.
[9:47] That's
[9:57] all.