Taxpayers Association forces budget referendum

By JUSTIN KLOCZKO, West Hartford News

The town’s taxpayers association has collected enough signatures to force a referendum on the recently passed $216.7 million budget by the town council.

Town Clerk Essie Labrot said she has verified 2,405 names submitted by the West Hartford Taxpayers Association in time for the May 21 petition deadline. The minimum required signatures are 2,295. Under town rules, at least six percent of the town’s registered voters needed to sign the petition.

The 2010-11 budget, which originally proposed a 4.1 percent spending increase, was cut to a 2.24 percent increase and passed by the town council 8-1. A referendum date for June 15 will likely be set by the council at tomorrow’s council meeting. No more than two referendums can be allowed, each costing the town $40,000. If voters reject the budget, the town is required to reduce it, but not by a minimal amount.

George Kennedy and the WHTA have voiced displeasure with the $121 million school portion of the budget, saying it has grown disproportionately over the past ten years from the municipal part of the budget. Rising long-term liabilities such as pension costs and salaries have been major drivers in the budget, something Kennedy urged the council to cut.

The recently adopted town budget cuts five town jobs and 27 school positions, setting the tax rate at 38.38 mills.

Mayor Scott Slifka, who has met with the group to try and cooperate with the budget process, said he doesn’t support the referendum because it’s a waste of resources during a difficult economic period. He said it impedes the council’s focus on working toward next year’s budget, which officials say will be more difficult.

“We very disappointed about the fact that they’ve decided to push through the referendum. We think it’s a waste of our resources and our time,” said Slifka.

Next year’s budget will be more challenging for the council. On top of a projected $10 million revenue shortfall for next year, $3 million in ARRA money the town has been receiving from the federal government will go away. This year, $4.5 million the town acquired from a Blue Back Square settlement went toward reducing health care costs and the town’s debt service.

“It seems that their goal is to extract a pound of flesh from the school board and nothing else. They’re not going to achieve that result through this referendum process,” Slifka said.