Council seeks cuts, finance board refuses

Bristol Taxpayers Association President Bob Fiorito joked with Paul Keegan, a city union leader, following Monday's Joint Board meeting.

In a rare twist, city councilors Monday pushed for spending cuts in a proposed $177 million municipal budget that Board of Finance members refused to support.

The spending plan for the coming fiscal year won approval on a 9-5 vote that saw four Republican councilors and one finance commissioner argue unsuccessfully for lowering the 6 percent property tax called for in the budget.

The majority gunned down proposals to slice spending on parks, the library, a contingency account, money set aside for salary hikes and other measures that might have reduced the tax burden a bit.

The fiscal oversight panel, created during the Great Depression to stifle spendthrift politicians, said that last-minute cuts would hurt services, weaken the city’s finances and undermine its work during the past few months.

Finance Chairman Rich Miecznikowski said the tax hike will hit the average homeowner for about $240 extra in the fiscal year beginning July 1, an amount he called “minimal.” Click here for the rest of the story.

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Schools face 'devastating' budget cut

Determined to freeze property taxes this year, Board of Finance members are eyeing a $175 million spending plan that would allocate $2.5 million less for education than it got this year.
The move would “devastate education” and leave the school system unable to cope with the needs of a growing number of low-income students, said Tom O’Brien, a longtime Board of Education member.
Neither O’Brien nor other school officials could say Tuesday what cuts the proposed reduction would mean for the education system other than trimming the number of support personnel working with needy children.
While fiscal overseers said they don’t want to hurt education, they also declared strong support for freezing property taxes this year if it can possibly be done.
“We’re trying to be fair to everyone,” said Finance Chair Rich Miecznikowski. “The taxpayers are falling off the cliff right now.”
The finance board is pondering $4.3 million in cuts suggested by the comptroller’s office in order to reach a budget for coming fiscal year that would hike property taxes less than 1 percent.
But finance commissioners said they’d like to see more cuts in order to freeze, or even lower, the mill rate. Click here for the full story.


Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Moylan and Peterson can stay... if city councilors want them

Let’s go back to the early days of Mayor Frank Nicastro’s administration – but not literally.

When Nicastro claimed the mayor’s office in 1993, one of his first moves was to oust the longtime leader of the powerful Board of Finance, Dick LaMothe.

LaMothe had long used his perch to hold sway over many of the issues facing the city.

With LaMothe no longer in the picture, John Letizia stepped up to fill the seat, determined to maintain the tight-fisted tradition of the fiscal oversight panel.

For Nicastro, Letizia appeared too ready to try to become a rival power in city government. So when Letizia’s term expired, the mayor said he would not reappoint him.

The decision caused an outcry and a majority of the City Council, including then-Councilor Art Ward, refused to endorse a replacement for Letizia. They said they would not vote for anyone but Letizia to fill the seat.

For a year, Nicastro refused to reappoint Letizia and the council refused to give its backing to a successor picked by the mayor.

Until a replacement could be picked, officials agreed, the city charter was clear: Letizia could stay on.

One councilor, Joe Wilson, said he read the charter to require that councilors go along with whoever the mayor nominated for the finance board.

But others, of course, disagreed.

In the end, the city attorney, Richard Lacey, issued a ruling that said councilors had the right to vote for or against the mayor’s nominees for the finance board.

Lacey, after many hours poring over old city documents, concluded that finance board choices ''require both nomination by the mayor and concurrence by the city council.''

Lacey said in his legal opinion that early documents from the period when the finance board was created in 1932 show that officials ''placed great importance'' on maintaining the full membership of the oversight panel.

Initially, in fact, the finance panel itself could fill vacancies if the mayor and council failed to appoint someone to fill an empty slot.

Seven years later, changes were made so that only the mayor and council would have the power to fill vacancies and make new appointments.

“There was no intention to make appointments the sole prerogative of the mayor,'' wrote Lacey after studying a special committee's report from 1939.

The committee's recommendations that year were approved except that the council rejected a proposed two-term limit for finance panel members.

With nothing specific to bolster Wilson's contention, Lacey wrote, the normal legal rules for interpreting charters come into play.

And there, he wrote, the rule is that mayors appoint and councils confirm unless the charter specifically says otherwise.

With Lacey’s ruling in hand, and the impasse likely to linger unless someone gave in, Nicastro decided to endorse Letizia after all.

Why does it all matter now?

Because Ward, who is in his second term as mayor, has told two finance commissioners he won’t reappoint them. Their terms expire this month. He plans to nominate two replacements for Janet Moylan and Mark Peterson next month.

But councilors don’t have to go along with it. That’s been clear since 1995.

So if Ward nominates successors, the council is free to back them or not. If councilors want Moylan and Peterson to remain on the finance board, they can keep them there simply by following the lead that Ward helped establish 15 years ago.

If councilors don’t stick with Moylan and Peterson, it’s because they, too, want them gone.

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Debate rages over finance board firings

Two of the three Board of Finance members who voted against the budget last month are getting the ax.

Mayor Art Ward said he told the pair, Janet Moylan and Mark Peterson, they would not be reappointed. Their four-year terms end this month.

Though the mayor insisted his decision had nothing to do with their performance, political foes said there’s no way the pair’s desire to see a lower property tax increase didn’t play a big role.

"If it looks like a goat or smells like one, it usually is one," said TJ Barnes, the city’s Republican Party chairman. "The whole thing kind of smells like politics to me. Click here to read the entire story.

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Moylan, Peterson get the boot

Mayor Art Ward said Friday that he told two Board of Finance members they would not be reappointed.
Ward said that he told both Janet Moylan and Mark Peterson that he'd be happy to tap them to serve on other city panels if they're interested, but not on the finance board again.
"There's nothing against their performance," Ward said.
He said he has seen a surge in interest from people hoping to snag a spot on the nine-person finance panel, which has eight volunteers and the mayor as its members.
The mayor said he wants to bring in new people to "bring some new insight" to the board, which oversees city spending and borrowing.
Ward said he wants to interview those wishing to serve to make sure he can "get a real good mix on all the boards."
Ward said his meetings with Moylan and Peterson this week were "very amiable."
He said their ouster has nothing to do with their opposition to this year's budget.
Moylan sent this message about the decision:

The mayor offered me the chance to serve on any other board if I wanted to.  I told him I was not prepared to pick another board and that I thought the expertise I brought to the table was in the finance area.  He said he had other people interested in serving on the Finance Board and he was not re-appointing me.
I feel that the powers that be did not like being questioned or pushed to make hard decisions.  In the last two weeks of the budget process that pushing caused in excess of a million dollars to be cut from the budget and when the mayor wanted one more vote for the budget they managed to find another $420,000 to get the mill increase down to 1.25.
By not reappointing Mark and myself this because a very inexperienced board with John Smith and Rich Mize having the longest tenure.  That means the same people will be pushing the budget again next year.  They will not start early and they will not make the necessary cuts to keep the mill rate down.  Until the issues created by the unions and previous administrations are addressed there really is nothing else left to cut in the budget.  The controller's office has done a three year projection and
unless something serious is done there will be mill increases for the foreseeable future.
I felt I did a good job for the city and I am disappointed that my doing what I believe is the right thing to do was met with disapproval because it did not agree with the wishes of the powerful.  I will continue to be interested in what happens in the city and hopefully will find a way to contribute.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

City budget approved on 9-5 vote

A joint meeting of the Board of Finance and City Council tonight approved a $171 million spending plan on a 9-5 vote. The new mill rate will be 27.24.
Those opposing the budget were city Councilor Ken Cockayne and David Mills and finance commissioners Janet Moylan, Mark Peterson and Bob Casar.
More in Tuesday's Press.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Budget passes finance board on 5-4 vote

In a rare 5-4 vote that opens the door for the City Council to decide how high property taxes should go, the Board of Finance backed a $171.5 million municipal spending plan Thursday that would hike the mill rate 5.2 percent.

The budget calls for a spending increase of less than ⅓ of 1 percent, Mayor Art Ward said, and leaves many departments “pretty close to bone dry” for the coming fiscal year.

Declining state aid, shrinking income from interest and fees and other revenue hits caused by the recession created a gap in the money the city typically receives, officials said, leaving them with little option except to sock taxpayers for more.

“I know it isn’t going to be easy for anyone,” said Ward, who backed the budget.

But four members of the finance panel refused to go along — Janet Moylan, Mark Peterson, Cheryl Thibeault and Bob Casar.

That means that when a joint session of city councilors and finance board members gives final approval to the budget May 17, councilors could, at least in theory, side with the budget critics and lower the tax rate.

The system generally gives the nine-person finance board more clout in the decision, but when it’s divided so closely, councilors have the ability to tip the balance one way or another.

Two Republicans on the council, Ken Cockayne and David Mills, have already said they won’t go along with so big a tax hike. One Democrat, Cliff Block, said he would vote for it.

Assuming nobody flips, that leaves both sides with six votes. The other three councilors, Democrats Kevin McCauley, Kevin Fuller and Kate Matthews, could tip the balance either way. Fuller and Matthews are both newcomers.  CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

City leaders divided on 5.5 percent tax hike

A divided Board of Finance is moving ahead with a proposed $171.5 million spending plan that would hike property taxes by 5.5 percent.
Finance Chairman Rich Miecznikowski, who called himself “super conservative,” said officials “have done everything possible” to cope with plunging revenues and rising costs.
“I don’t think we want to get to the point where we cripple city services” or harm education, Miecznikowski said.
Fiscal overseers sliced nearly $1 million from the draft budget, but the plan still seeks to increase the mill rate from 25.99 to 27.43. CLICK HERE FOR STORY
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Finance board tackles budget again tonight

When the Board of Finance meets for a workshop session tonight, members are likely to search for ways to slice a proposed 6.4 percent property tax hike.

Mayor Art Ward said officials will endeavor to cut the proposed $172.5 million spending plan that would hike property taxes by 1.66 mills for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
That plan, which has not been endorsed by any city board, was left on the table following the most recent finance board meeting.

But it quickly became clear that it might be difficult to muster the political support for so large a tax hike during such a rough economy.  CLICK HERE FOR STORY.

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Moylan takes aim at spending plan

Aiming to knock the proposed tax hike down to 3 percent, Board of Finance member Janet Moylan is eyeing across-the-board spending cuts.
To reach her goal, she would need to find $2.8 million to slice away from the proposed budget that would hike taxes by 6.4 percent in the coming year.
Cutting education, she said, would have to be part of it.
To absorb its fair share of the reduction, the allocation for education would be reduced by $750,000 — putting the overall school budget about $250,000 below this year’s level.  Click here for story.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Moylan eyes a cut in school spending

Aiming to knock the proposed tax hike down to 3 percent, Board of Finance member Janet Moylan is eyeing across-the-board cuts to chop away enough spending.
To get there, she would need to find $2.8 million to slice away from the proposed budget that would hike taxes by 6.4 percent in the coming year.
Cutting education, she said, would have to be part of it.
To absorb its fair share of the reduction, the allocation for education would be reduced by $750,000 -- putting the overall school budget about $250,000 below this year's level.
"They can't get away scot free," Moylan said.
She said she's not sure that she will ultimately push for so much cutting. She said she wants to know the impact on every department first.
But, Moylan said, people are struggling and it's too much to ask them to pay more than 6 percent more in property taxes.
She said she is just not sure the city as a whole can afford to shell out so much more.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

City taxpayers may see property taxes rise 6 percent or more

I'll add more details here on Wednesday, but here a couple of stories that begin to lay out the picture:

A big tax hike is possible this year
Despite a sagging economy that’s put a tenth of the city’s workers on the jobless rolls, the Board of Finance is eyeing a 6.4 percent hike in property taxes this year.
Mayor Art Ward said the increase is in the city’s best interests while Finance Chairman Rich Miecznikowski said the proposed mill rate would ease the city’s fiscal worries for the long run.
A majority of finance commissioners said this week they would support raising the mill rate from 25.99 to 27.65 for the budget year that begins July 1. Click here for the story.

Some are opposed to such a big tax hike
Critics are taking aim at a proposed property tax hike.
“It’s bull,” said city Councilor Ken Cockayne.
“I would vote against it today,” said Bob Casar, the newest member of the Board of Finance.
Janet Moylan, another finance commissioner, said that with so many out of work or struggling, she’s not sure such a large tax hike is responsible. Click here for the story.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

MetLife dumped for dental; Anthem gets the nod instead

The Board of Finance last night agreed to drop a proposal to switch the dental provider for city employees to MetLife. After officials took a look at the size of the network that both MetLife and Anthem have in the area, they agreed that Anthem should continue to manage the city's dental plan. That means an extra $90,000 a year in costs.
MetLife had about half as many providers in and around Bristol as Anthem.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Casar choice delayed for a month

Details to follow later, but Mayor Art Ward told me he's not going to offer a Board of Finance appointment tonight. My understanding is that the mayor wants a chance to talk with Bob Casar first and plans to include the finance chair and vice chair in the talks.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Casar eyed for finance board slot

City councilors plan Tuesday to fill three critical volunteer positions, including a vacancy on the powerful Board of Finance that controls city spending and borrowing.

If Mayor Art Ward’s choice is accepted for the nine-member panel, Republican Bob Casar will fill the slot left empty when its former vice chair, Roald Erling, resigned last fall.

Other major appointments on the agenda include the proposal to install Tom Barnes on the Bristol Downtown Development Corp. board and to tap Melissa Simonik as an assistant city attorney.

Casar said Monday he’s looking forward to the appointment, which the city’s GOP leader recommended to Ward last week.

“I would bring a unique skill set to the board with my background in both financial crimes investigation and auditing, experience that will likely make me professionally skeptical of some of our budget items,” Casar said.

He said he will “challenge public officials to remember that the taxpayers of Bristol are our customers” so fiscal overseers “need to be good stewards of their dollars, particularly during these trying economic times.”

Read the full story here.

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Dunlap eyed for Board of Finance slot?

The word floating around political circles is that Mayor Art Ward plans to tap his former campaign treasurer, Bob Dunlap, for another term on the Board of Finance.
Ward merely smiled coyly when I asked him about it.
He said he would let me know his pick on Thursday, when he sends it out to the City Council.
But there's no doubt the mayor is at least talking about the possibility of selectin Dunlap for the volunteer post on the powerful finance panel. Dunlap served on the board until 2006.
Ward flirted with the idea back in 2008, but ultimately didn't pick Dunlap, who was fined for failing to follow campaign finance laws properly during the 2007 race.
Dunlap lost his finance panel seat during former Mayor William Stortz's term. He was regarded as a conservative on spending and usually allied with the more tight-fisted members among the city's fiscal overseers.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Economic development cash increased

Despite a budget crunch that has Board of Finance members worrying about layoffs and service cuts, the panel said last night it had no choice except to plunk another $150,000 into the depleted economic development fund so the city can continue offering grants to lure new companies to town.

Finance commissioner Janet Moylan said she was “not sure we have any other choice” except to fill the fund.

But she nonetheless voted against it, the only fiscal overseer to oppose it. She said the city could probably wait until the next fiscal year to restore the development account.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Erling steps down from finance panel

The vice chairman of the city’s powerful Board of Finance is stepping down.
Roald Erling, who has logged 20 years on the board, is ready to enjoy his retirement without the burden of public service, several officials said Wednesday.
Erling, who could not be reached, has always been one of the most fiscally conservative members of the nine-person panel that has controlled the city’s budget and bonding since the Great Depression.
“He was a very dedicated member of the finance board, very learned very knowledgeable,” Mayor Art Ward. “He served with distinction.”
A low-key, easy-going man, Erling nonetheless had no trouble saying no to politicians’ pet projects.
A critic of government growth, Erling voiced strong support for maintaining a healthy rainy day fund while holding down property taxes.
Erling, whose term expires in 2011, served on the panel from 1983 to 1997 and then rejoined it in 2003. He was last reappointed unanimously by the City Council in 2007.
When he resigned in 1997 to care for his ailing wife, then-Finance Chairman John Letizia called Erling "the epitome of a finance commissioner" because "he was knowledgeable, hard-working, dedicated, honorable and his only agenda item was to help the city’s taxpayers."He said that Erling, who was vice chair of the panel at the time, “functioned as my co-chairman" because Letizia "had such tremendous confidence in his judgment."
"Roald had the ability to analyze the details and then view the big picture before making a decision,” Letizia said, adding that Erling’s “deep spirituality enabled him to overcome any personal prejudices he might have had in any situation.”
Assuming he is reelected on Tuesday, Ward said he will likely nominate a successor to Erling at the December City Council meeting.
Others on the panel are Finance Chairman Rich Miecznikowski, Ward, Greg Fradette, Janet Moylan, Mark Peterson, John Smith, Cheryl Thibeault and Paul Tonon.
Moylan and Peterson are approaching the end of their terms next summer. The rest are set until at least 2011.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Ron Messier leaving Board of Finance

Veteran Board of Finance member Ron Messier said Tuesday he asked the mayor not to reappoint him to the powerful nine-member panel.

Messier, who has served for a decade, said he is bogged down at work and anxious to spend his spare time with his family.

Messier said he toyed with seeking another term, but realized it would be better to let someone new take his seat.

Mayor Art Ward could nominate a replacement for Messier within weeks.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Thibeault wins reappointment, Messier's fate uncertain

Cheryl Thibeault gained a four-year reappointment to the Board of Finance this week.
City councilors agreed unanimously to back her for another stint on the powerful panel.
One other fiscal overseer’s term came to an end in June, Ron Messier. Nothing was done to reappoint or replace him.Mayor Art Ward said he plans to meet with Messier in the next few days.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com