By FULVIO CATIVO And
DANIEL P. JONES
Courant Staff Writers
January 17, 2008
— Twelve hours
after the school board voted Tuesday night to approve renovation and
construction projects to ease overcrowding at four elementary schools, Bruce Putterman was firing off e-mails to parents asking for
their continued support in the upcoming budget debate.
"I just want to create an immediate bridge from the passion and energy of
last night to organizing some folks to support the budget," said Putterman, a member of the board.
The projects approved for Braeburn, Bugbee, Duffy and
The town's annual spending plan is expected to call for increases in capital
spending. The task of selling voters on the budget, officials
said, is a top priority, coming only a year after a resounding initial
referendum defeat and as state officials anticipate a possible economic
downturn.
"It's vital that the board and the education community ... [support] a
reasonable budget," said Harry Captain, another school board member.
Representatives of the West Hartford Taxpayers Association, which helped lead a
drive to defeat the council's initial 2007-08 budget in the referendum last
year, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Ron Van Winkle, the town's community planning director, said the town has about
$1 million in the current capital budget for school projects, which would more
than cover the Braeburn project — about $600,000 —
and the Whiting Lane project — about $106,000.
The Bugbee project, however, would need a capital
appropriation from the town council. In addition to the need for more classroom
space, the school needs a sprinkler system to meet fire-safety requirements, and the school's old windows probably need to
be replaced. Officials will have to decide whether to go ahead with all of the
renovations at once.
Capital projects — such as building school additions — are financed through
borrowing with the bonded indebtedness paid over time. The main part of the
town's budget is for yearly operating expenses, including salaries and benefits
for school employees and the fire and police departments, energy costs and town
services.
Both Mayor Scott Slifka, leader of the Democratic
majority, and Leon Davidoff, the council's Republican minority leader, say they
support the board of education's decision to renovate or add space at
overcrowded schools.
The town council will address how to pay for the additional school improvements
as part of approving next year's capital plans for the 2008-09 budget. The council's finance and budget committee will
discuss how to pay for the construction over the next couple of months, Slifka said.
"We know we have some flexibility in the [existing] capital improvement
plan, but we're not at the point to evaluate whether it will impact any
individual project," he said of the school board's decision. "Our
goal would be to maintain the items that are of most critical need."
Davidoff and Slifka agreed that, if funding beyond
that anticipated in the existing capital plan is needed, opposition might
arise.
"If this is additional funding from what they already have
earmarked," Davidoff said, "there's obviously going to be some
conflict and we'll try to resolve it."
"I fully expect that it will become a political football with certain
elements," Slifka said.
The mayor attended forums last week on the school space issue and explained to
parents the process the town council follows to decide on and pay for capital
projects, and to adopt an overall town budget.
"I think we were very pleased to have the opportunity to discuss the
process with the community and get their input," Slifka
said. "And it appears we're headed to a successful resolution that most
importantly does not disrupt the lives of
Slifka noted that several years ago the town found a
way to fit an entire new middle school — a project that wasn't anticipated
until the need became urgent — into the capital plan. "We deal with
capital contingencies all the time," he said.