Last week, the Coventry Town Council had a unanimous vote on a budget to put forward to referendum on June 17.
The discussions among the Town Council were challenging, often very difficult. We want to thank the BOE and TC Dems for the difficult conversations in our caucus over the past 3 weeks. We had many disagreements, many agreements, and a commitment to getting the best possible budget for our community. We want to thank the TC caucus for working through our differences and still remaining a team that respects one another. Not one Republican or Democrat likes the budget we put forward. I've been told that's a sign of a good negotiation. Regarding BOE, Dems came to the table proposing no cuts. Rs came to the table with a $100,000 cut. Ultimately we settled at $62,500. Dems tried to stay as low as possible so that the reduction would not have to be met through laying off staff. Matthew Kyer made very elegant comments after the vote regarding our expectation that both parties will support a yes vote, and that we won't see "vote no" signs sprout around town.
This unanimous budget hopefully avoids a 3rd referendum that would be very damaging - beyond what we are already losing.
The budget going to referendum is a 2.66% increase in spending. With additional revenues added in (huge thanks to our interim finance director for getting the work done of analyzing accounts for savings), the effective spending increase is 1.71%. The 1.66% is what the mil rate will be based on.
The new mill rate is 23.77.
Message from the Democratic Town Council Members
While our caucus came to the table with a starting point of no increase to BOE, we did end up making a $62,500 reduction to BOE. The Rs came to the table with a $100,000 reduction.
Here is video of the meeting. It is 4+ hours long and recorded in 2 parts.
Part 1: https://coventryct.viebit.com/watch?hash=g8lUALsw21rpEE0D
Part 2: https://coventryct.viebit.com/watch?hash=AQeEu9eWVbEpifbO
Given what is happening in neighboring towns, this unanimous vote was miraculous. Let's get to work making sure it passes!
The effective spending increase is 1.71%
Use this tax calculator to understand your property taxes. Remember that your car taxes may effect the bottom line significantly - so be sure to add them into the equation.