Ellington residents voted against a proposed $71.6 million budget yesterday that would have raised residents’ tax rates by approximately 7 percent. The vote sparked contentious debate between the town’s Republican Committee, which supported the budget, and the Democratic Committee, which opposed it.

“Unfortunately, although it was a responsible plan, we knew it would be a hard sell to voters,” said Town Administrator Matt Reed. “But if you don’t ask, you don’t know, and so yesterday we asked and now we know.”

Of the 1,490 voters who cast their ballots, approximately 14 percent of the town’s registered voter base, 1,060 voted no to the budget and only 430 voted yes, according to the unofficial results, said Reed.

“It’s too bad that we had such a low number of people that engaged in the process,” said Reed. “But nonetheless, it’s better than 12 people at a town meeting voting, you know what I mean?”

The proposed budget would have increased the town’s mill rate by 2.6 mills. Mill rates are used by municipalities to levy real estate and property taxes; one mill equals $1 of property tax levied per $1,000 in assessed property value. With a current mill rate of 34.3 mills, the proposed budget would have raised it to 36.9 mills, representing an approximate 7.6 percent tax hike. The proposed hike looked to raise an additional $3.2 million to “sustain” the town moving forward, said Reed.

“From an administrative standpoint, it was really a no-frills budget, there was not anything extra in the budget” said Town Administrator Matt Reed. “We’re not buying an extra truck, we’re not buying an extra police car, we’re not initiating any new programs.”

Reed said the extra money was also necessitated by an increase of debt the town expects in the coming years as a result of recently approved capital projects such as a $3 million athletic field lighting upgrade, or a $74.6 million dollar renovation and expansion project of Windermere Elementary school. 

“And of course, all this assumes that there are no new projects over the next couple of years,” said Reed.

What made the issue contentious among the town’s political factions were the reasons provided for the proposed budget increase.

“Prior budgets created a fiscal cliff, by using temporary federal pandemic dollars to replace and therefore, decimate the town and school district’s capital budgets,” read a statement released by the town’s Republican Committee on May 24. “The inevitable result of this strategy – spearheaded by former Board of Finance Chair and former Republican, now Democrat, Michael J. Purcaro – left the current Board of Finance no choice but to pass a budget with a significant tax increase to maintain services.”

The Town’s Democratic Committee released a statement in response, calling the hike “too much for Ellington residents, especially during these challenging economic times, and is further compounded by punishing rate increases from utility companies such as Eversource and Connecticut Water.”

Purcaro, who stepped down from his position as Board of Finance Chair last year and is now the Town of Vernon’s Town Administrator, did not take kindly to the Republicans’ statement.

“That is political rhetoric,” said Purcaro. “Those are flat out lies and that’s the kind of weak, bottom-feeding leadership that’s destructive for our community.”

Purcaro said that during his time on the Board of Finance, he helped establish an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Review Committee to assess the town’s needs and determine the best usage of ARPA funds going forward. Purcaro insisted that the Committee was bipartisan in nature, and that the expenditures it approved were one-time purchases, “that did not create a fiscal cliff.”

Purcaro went on to list various achievements during his tenure, such as switching the municipal health insurance plan to the state partnership plan, enhancing internal controls on spending, and improving the town’s credit rating as proof of his record for fiscal responsibility. 

“That statement is not based in fact,” said Purcaro. “All of those major initiatives, I had 100 percent, bipartisan, unanimous support from the Board of Finance. Democrat and Republican, you couldn’t tell the difference.”

Ellington would not be the only town to be impacted by the absence of Federal and State COVID funding. Across the state, municipalities small and large have turned to cutting school staff in an effort to rightsize their education budgets in the wake of various COVID relief funds set to expire this year. Although Reed said that the town’s Board of Finance has yet to indicate what budgetary cuts it will make, he acknowledged the size of the town’s education budget.

“In towns our size, probably most towns, schools, depending on the services that they offer are very expensive,” said Reed. “That’s the way it is; they have a tremendous amount of staff, they have transportation costs, obviously there’s food. People think that’s the easiest place to cut, but obviously those cuts can be pretty painful to write.”

According to Reed, $46.7 million of the proposed $71.6 million budget would have been allotted to the Board of Education. This represents 65 percent of the budget, and it would represent a 3.7 percent increase from last year’s budgetary allotment. 

Dr. Scott V. Nicol, Superintendent of Ellington Public Schools, released a statement today showing concern for what the rejected budget could mean for the future of school services.

“To be clear, significant cuts to the Board of Education’s proposed budget will impact staffing, programs and services despite what some detractors are claiming,” read Nicol’s statement. “In good faith, I will work with the Boards of Education and Finance to recommend the most prudent fiscal path forward – understanding the concerns of the local taxpayers.”

Nicol’s statement also addressed alarm for the rift that the vote created among the town’s political factions.

“This budget was opposed by the Democrat Town Committee and supported by the Republican Town Committee,” read Nicol’s statement. “On all accounts, this was a first for me as Superintendent, for Ellington has a history of bipartisan governance and passing referendums.”

Both Reed and Purcaro also spoke with contempt of the statements released by both political committees in anticipation of the vote and stressed the necessity of bipartisan cooperation moving forward.

“I get a little frustrated at the narrative that gets put across on the local social media pages from both sides,” said Reed. “It gets frustrating when we’re trying to manage and do what’s fiscally responsible.”

Purcaro said that the road forward would have to be based on “honesty, collaboration, and a true bipartisan effort that engages the public and political leaders.” He said that cuts to the education budget are not a guaranteed necessity, and advised the town’s current Board of Finance to look towards underutilized and overpaid programs and services to cut while looking for new ways to raise revenue. 

“That’s now the hard work moving forward,” said Purcaro.

The Board of Finance will hold Special Meetings this Thursday and next Monday to review and revise the budget. 

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