Split Budget Discussed at Selectmen's Meeting [VIDEO]

With both the townside and education budgets currently on the table for review, North Haven residents added their two cents to the fiscal discussion at last night's Board of Selectmen meeting.

The town's aggregate budget is expected to rise 1.2 to 1.3% this year, owing mostly to $27 million in capital requests put forward to repair and replace damaged or outdated infrastructure.

First Selectman Michael Freda said that some of that money would be trimmed from the final budget, but that the majority of requests represented necessary improvements that could not be delayed another year.

By reducing the town's fund balance from 10% to 8% this year, the town hopes to allocate the 2% difference to pay for the approved capital requests.

Freda also noted that the Board of Education's proposed budget, which was announced in February and calls for a 1% increase, was authorized by the Board of Finance in a workshop session.

"We are financially solid," Freda said, stating that North Haven's fiscal health far exceeded that of other nearby towns.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for April 5th, with a town meeting to follow on May 9, and a budget referendum on May 17.

Traditionally, residents vote on the aggregated town and education budgets as a single item on the ballot. At last night's meeting, however, the question was raised whether it would be possible to separate the budgets on the referendum.

Both Second Selectman Tim Doheny and Third Selectman Steve Fontana expressed reservations about amending the process, saying that splitting the town and education budgets could create significant frictions amongst residents and elected officials.

"We've rarely, if ever, separated the budget," said Fontana. "Significant angst would be created by doing that, and it could set one group of residents against another."

"We don't want a situation where a budget question ends up being better for one side than the other," added Doheny

Jennie Caldwell expressed concern that a no vote could be misinterpreted by the Board of Finance as a call to lower the education budget, when in fact the voter supported a raise but disagreed with the size of the increase or the allocation of funds.

Both she and Brian Testa advocated adding secondary questions to the  ballot to more accurately determine whether citizens thought the budget was too high, too low, or were in complete disagreement with the proposed spending.

"More people will speak up in a ballot box than in front of a microphone and cameras," she said, citing the public hearings the Board of Finance will hold to gauge public opinion on the budget.

Others disagreed, saying it was crucial that town and education budgets be considered together, and that fractured public support for the referendum could lead to it being voted down.

Sherman Katz said that the town budget was indeed voted down some thirty-odd years ago because education spending was deemed by the public to be too low.

The Board of Finance will next convene on March 20.

Stay tuned later today for more Selectmen's meeting coverage!