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

Conveyance tax comes up short

The General Assembly, thank God, found time to debate whether schoolchildren should be able to opt out of frog dissections.
But it didn't manage to take up the issue of extending the conveyance tax.
That would mean about $500,000 less in revenue for the city of Bristol and a lot more in the 17 other towns that have the special extra tax when property changes hands.
There is apparently a good chance the conveyance tax issue will be taken up in special session by lawmakers, but you never know. And it's not clear when that might happen.
It could mean that Bristol will have to raise property taxes more or find other ways to cut its proposed budget.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

City website won't get upgrade yet

The city’s clunky website won’t get an overhaul anytime soon.

The Board of Finance recently stripped $35,000 that had been set aside for new website software from the proposed budget as part of its effort to hold down property taxes.

That leaves the Bristol Development Authority and other city offices that are eager for improvements out in the cold for another year or more.

With the city’s existing software, “there are limitations to what we can do,” said Scott Smith, who oversees the city computers.

“Some of the technology needs to be updated,” Smith said.

Development officials want to use the BDA website to showcase Bristol to potential developers or businesses that are looking for new locales. They said they want the site to feature video and pictures along with data that puts the city in a good light.

Smith said the city’s software can’t handle embedded video – a video set inside a normal web page – but it has some flexibility to show off pictures and texts. It can also link to videos hosted on outside sites such asYouTube.

“It’s better than nothing,” city Councilor Ken Cockayne said.

Jonathan Rosenthal, the development authority’s director, said “the look” of the website could stand to be updated, but there is only so much he can do.

He promised to work closely with Smith to make whatever improvements are possible.

Rosenthal said the content will be updated completely so that it reflects what the office is actually doing.

Smith said the city has a content management system for its website that lets departments have some flexibility in establishing what to put online.

But the basic templates are the same for every municipal department, Smith said.

Some departments have extensive offerings – the land use office, for example – while others have little more than a bare-bones description of what they do.

Bristol is far behind many other Connecticut municipalities in terms of what it puts online and what residents can do online instead of going to City Hall.

Officials said they wished they had the money to make changes soon, but with the budget so tight, they had no choice except to squeeze out the website money until perhaps 2011.

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

Stortz: 'The worst is yet to come'

A letter from former Mayor William Stortz:

We read and hear where Bristol, and other municipalities, continue to experience difficult financial times. And as I have said before, the worst is yet to come. Bristol, like other cities has to make cuts and raise taxes, to be able to balance the budget and still provide services. In reality, if the problem was addressed at the outset, things would not be this dire.

Following my last letter commenting on the fiscal situation, which included some suggestions on cost cutting and revenue enhancement, I received many additional ideas from city employees and non-city employees alike. The people are interested, and have some interesting ideas and observations. Some, but not all, are included in this letter.

But the key concept is that Bristolites, if encouraged and taken seriously, are willing to help. And City employees, considered by some to be part of the problem, can very well and should be, part of the solution.

Some of the ideas may not be doable, but the point is that people are thinking and want to help. Suggestions include: look at the high and increasing cost of outside Attorneys. Look at the city’s effort for sidewalk snow removal: why multiple departments, and should the routes be re-evaluated. Review the way workers are scheduled and utilized during snowstorms. Many people thought that the snow removal process should be looked at. Again, duplicate streetlights, especially North Main Street were mentioned. Lack of coordination between Departments with same or similar functions. A number of out of state registrations were seen in employee parking lots, let alone throughout the city. Cash flow and other procedures were mentioned. Some suggested going back to a 40-hour week to reduce OT and also to reduce staff and equipment needs over time. Early Retirement combined with flexibility for City to reassign staff. Combine Departments where feasible. Why do some supervisors get ½ automatic OT each day? Why get up to 5 days/yr off for good attendance?

There were many others, and hopefully there will be an effort to solicit ideas from those possibly willing to come forward. The situation is dire, and will be for some time. Besides the actual deficits, a Virtual deficit has been created: we are years behind on road maintenance, equipment maintenance and replacement are lagging, a number of millions have been taken from the Fund Balance, other infrastructure needs attention and money.

Once the budget is set, the BOF has done their job. Then it is up to management to live within that budget AND for management to try to make those changes that result in cost savings and revenue enhancement.

The State will be floundering for some time. The City should not count on increased support from them. The City must work to control it’s own destiny. These efforts should be year long, not be thought about at Budget time. Management must step up be proactive, and get as many people as possible involved. That can only result in more and different ideas.

As I said before, Bristol is a good city, with many good people. Working together, we can work our way through this and come out of it even better prepared for the long term.

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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

Officials still eyeing pension excess

There’s a growing push at City Hall to tap excess pension trust money to cover the cost of providing health care to municipal retirees.
Mayor Art Ward said he’s sought to open negotiations with the unions representing firefighters and the police, but neither has agreed to sit down for talks yet.
Shifting the extra pension cash into a new post-retirement health care trust fund would potentially save taxpayers millions of dollars, particularly if the stock market keeps rising so the excesses remain substantial.  CLICK HERE FOR STORY

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

Mills calls for more spending cuts

Republican city Councilor David Mills, in response to my request for his thoughts on the budget yesterday, wrote a long response. Here it is:

This is in response to your request for my thoughts on the proposed 5.5% increase in the Municipal Budget.

I would like to start by thanking each department head, the Mayor, the Board of Finance, and the Comptroller’s office for all their hard work in preparing the budget. Each has presented their thoughts on the economic state of our city and has worked diligently to pare down the requests to something we can afford.

As a newcomer to the budget process, I have witnessed the work of and dedication of everyone to do what is best for Bristol.

With that said, I cannot support the possibility of a 5.5% increase in the City Budget. I have spoken to many people concerning this issue and most people believe they are being taxed to death. Their trust of government, no matter what level is at best skeptical. They witness the ineptness of the Federal and State Governments and their spending habits, knowing full well that their taxes will increase at both of those levels, and therefore do not want to see an additional increase on the local level.

Recently, I spoke with a local small businessman concerning the budget. He responded by saying his business was off because of the economy, and was having to adjust his spending habits. Although he supported the Municipal workers, he wondered why, since the revenue to the city was down, should they expect a pay increase when most other workers were experiencing a decrease? His question to me was,”if revenue to the city is down, does it make sense to ask these same people to pay more?”He asked if everyone took into consideration the revenue producers when formulating a budget. If they are earning less money, why should government take more?

I have done a great deal of thinking about our budget situation in Bristol. I have attended the workshops and asked questions to get justification for the figures presented. I have found many of the figures to be very general in nature and in some instances answers were not to my satisfaction.

I believe that a sound education system is the backbone of any community. I have been impressed by what has been accomplished over recent years to elevate Bristol to the model status we now enjoy. This took a tremendous commitment from the City to fund the program and the Administrators to present a vision for accomplishment and most importantly the staff to implement the plan on an everyday basis. I do not believe throwing money at a problem is the solution. The solution to the education problem is dedicated teachers, which most are, and involvement of the parents in the educational process.

With that said, I believe we can reduce the school budget and I have made some suggestions as to where I thought this could happen. I am not the expert, but I do know that education takes place in the classroom and this is not an area to cut. I believe there can be a small amount that would be available to lower our projected increase. This should be done without cutting athletic and other extracurricular activities which is always threatened.

On the City side, Police and Fire are always very difficult to address. Public safety is always an issue that no one would jeopardize. I would question the staffing levels understanding that there are regulations that we must follow.

v  One area that must be addressed concerning the Police and Firemen this year is GASB 45. The Firemen are awaiting the Arbitration award and I can understand their reluctance to enter into any further negotiations, but why are the police also reluctant? Gasb45 was addressed before I was elected to the Council, so to say that more time is needed, and more requests to the Police and Fire Unions to come to the table are necessary is just delaying the inevitable. It is also not offering the city the opportunity to realize a $700,000- to $800,000 savings in a year that we are hurting. Is the cities best interest ever served?

Finally, the rest of the municipal departments. We need our infrastructure to be upgraded on a consistent schedule. We want our Parks to remain the Gem of the City,. Our Library is outstanding and could be the nicest municipal building in town. The workers at City Hall do an excellent job assisting the public and assuring our City Government functions well. So where do we cut?

I believe some of the departments can be consolidated, thus eliminating some supervisory positions and providing better services by avoiding duplication. I believe the Department heads should be encouraged to streamline their department for the greatest efficiency. There should be flexibility in scheduling to allow for services to be offered when they are most needed. Work schedules must allow for utilization of manpower throughout the workforce. Do the Public Works Department and the Parks and Education all have to do outside maintenance work independent of each other? Would our playing fields and thus the public be better served by consolidating this function so a better product is created? What if there was a field crew that was assigned to specialize in field maintenance?

This is only one example of consolidation and utilization of all employees. How many additional areas should be addressed? How much better could we serve the public if the contracts allowed work to be done on a schedule that would also fit the needs of the public?

In closing, I realize I have presented ideas that may not be implemented now. However, if we are going to prosper in the future and continue to progress, these and many other situations need to be addressed.

 My role as a Councilman is relegated to voting for or against the budget. Until I am totally convinced that every area has been totally scrutinized, I will not support this budget. I do remain totally open to all information to assist me in my decision.

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

Local leaders talk taxes and more

I asked a number of people in politics yesterday. from both parties, about their thoughts on the proposed property tax hike. Here are their answers, which I'll keep updating as I hear from more of them:
Former Republican city Councilor Mike Rimcoski:
THE ANNUAL3  ACT PLAY HAS STARTED.
ACT 1   THROW OUT A RIDICULOUS NUMBER OF A 6 PER CENT INCREASE WITH ALL DEPT HEADS SCREENING THIS IS THE MINIMUM NEEDED TO RUN THE CITY,  \
ACT TWO   DIRECT ALL DEPT HEADS  TO CUT THEIR REQUESTS,     THE B,O,E, WILL SCREAM THE LOUDEST SAYING THE CHILDREN WILL BE HURT THE MOST(  HOLDING THE KIDS AS HOSTAGE)
ACT 3   THE  INCREASE WILL BE SHAVED IN HALF AND THE ELECTED OFFICIALS WILL LOOK AROUND AND SAY WHAT A GOOD JOB THEIR DOING.  I KNOW FROM 6 YRS  ON THE COUNCIL..  I NEVER VOTED  FOR A TAX HIKE, BECAUSE I KNEW THERE WERE OTHER CUTS THAT COULD BE MADE  TO   REDUCE A TAX HIKE.
SENIORS ARE SCRAPING BY   YOUNG FAMILIES ARE STRUGGLING TO STAY AFLOAT BUT THE HIKES GO  ON.SURROUNDING TOWNS  ARE CUTTING SERVICES TO HOLD THE TAX HIKE DOWN.  
ONE PROBLEM IS WITH THE  NUMBER OF OUT OF TOWNES WHO  HEAD DEPARTMENTS  AND ANYONE WHO THINKS THEY HAVE THE SAME F FEELINGS FOR BRISTOL THAT A LOCAL PERSON WOULD SHOULD CONTACT ME AS  I HAVE OCEANFRONT PROPERTY IN ARIZONA ID LIKE TO SELL THEM.
MARK  TWAIN WROTE THE FOLLOWING WHICH APPLIES TO ALL POLITICIANS LOCAL STATE  AND NATIONAL THE  WRITER INCLUDED  :  "ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CAT AND A LIE IS THE CAT HAS ONLY NINE LIVES "
GOP city Chair Tom Barnes, Jr:
As the budget season comes to an end it looks like the taxpayers in the City of Bristol are going to see a tax hike that could be as high as 7 percent for the coming fiscal year.   Last year the argument was people are really hurting and can’t accept ANY increase in their taxes, so the Mayor, City Council and the Board of Finance worked for a zero percent increase. Through hard work they were able to meet this goal, but it used many one-time revenue sources that made it even harder to balance the books this year.  The rainy day fund is spent, the City Roads are the worst I have seen them in years and we still have a budget deficit.  Why is this year SO different than last year?  Could it have anything to do with it not being an election year?

Taxpayers are still struggling to make ends meet, unemployment is still high locally and nationally and the city infrastructure is still in decline. So why sock the taxpayer with a large increase this year?  Because we did not see a small increase last year and we used all our one-time resources to make that happen. Now (in a non-election year) we are seeing a large increase in taxes, no early retirement incentives, no layoffs, and no concessions from the city unions. Why is that? 

We had some discussion about using some of the over funding in the City Pensions to help us meet our retiree medical benefit costs. Where has that issue gone?  I have personally spent many evenings at meetings to discuss this issue to see if it made sense, but in the end it was a waste of my time and my committee members’ time.

Is this issue going to be the one that gets discussed and passed next year to keep the mill  rate down?  Next year is an election year after all.

Republican city Councilor Ken Cockayne:

I will not support any increases at all.  Tough decisions need to be made and in my mind increasing taxes is not an option.  We need to find alternatives to this.  Unfortunately that could include cuts.  I don't know what those cuts are, but I fear it will not only be a loss of services, but a loss of jobs as well.  This is the proverbial Gorilla in the room that no one wants to acknowledge.  I feel this is avoidable, but without everyone on board recognizing the urgency of this situation we may be in trouble.

Another option that appeared to be gaining traction is the GASB 45.  However, with some of the parties refusing to come to the table to negotiate this, combined with what appears to be an unwillingness from the administration to push, it will likely be shelved.  I predict it will be put off until it can offer the most bang for the buck during an election year, which is a shame.  We are playing politics with people's lives and I truely hope voters and taxpayers see through this.  We are going to end up losing jobs in this town and we have a viable alternative right in front of us. 

I hear people's frustration with everything that is happening in this economy everyday.  I so badly wish things were as simple as saying no to everything, but it is not.  We need to progress as a city in a fiscally responsible way and prioritize when and where we are spending our tax dollars.   We must do whatever we can to preserve the jobs we have and increase opportunities at the same time.  That does not necessarily mean more municipal employees.  If we can improve our town with smart investments, then we can attract more families, businesses, jobs and ultimately more tax revenue.  It is very difficult balance to achieve, especially in tough economic times. 

Unsuccessful 2009 Republican City Council candidate Derek Czenczelewski:
A 1.44-mills property tax hike is not something that I would support. It's unbelievable that this is even being considered with the current financial situation many Bristol taxpayers are currently in. Simply raising taxes will not solve our budget crisis. We need responsible, universal cuts across the board. Some people believe that a cut is when a board requests two million dollars more from their previous year's budget, and the city "only" gives them one million more. I'm not sure where these people are from, but where I'm from that's not a cut. That's spending money we don't have. We need to scale back our budget, and only after serious, substantial cuts are made would I even consider a small ( under .5) mill rate increase. Our current situation is somewhat similar to the American auto industry. Most of our financial obligations are tied up in past and present employee salaries. We can either be like Ford, fixing our problems internally and becoming more streamlined and efficient. Or we can be like Chrysler, taking a bailout from the taxpayers and never really correcting our inefficiencies. How about sending this budget to referendum and letting the taxpayers choose which plan makes the most sense?

On a side note, I wanted to say something about the City Council's decision to purchase the property at 268 Park St. I find it troubling that our council, who just a few months ago ran on the "Fiscal Conservative" platform would vote to spend money on a "want." Purchasing this property is not a need, it is a want. Plans to renovate Muzzy Field are still years away from being feasible, so purchasing this property can wait. I'd hate to have to tell 3 or 4 employees they are no longer being employed because we wanted to aesthetically enhance the property in front of Muzzy Field. I couldn't bring myself to telling school children they wont have new textbooks because our elected officials can't tell the difference between a necessity and a nicety. It's fair to say that this decision was a serious lapse in judgment and I sincerely hope our officials realize that before any deal is formally made. My message to our city officials is clear: You were elected to represent the taxpayers and to be fiscally conservative, as you all claimed to be during the campaign season. This decision is not fiscally responsible. While I agree with all of you that opening up Muzzy Field would be aesthetically pleasing, and should happen in time, that time is not now.
Gary Lawton, independent mayoral candidate last year:
 I think it really shows the carelessness on part of our city government.
First I agree that the school budget needs to be looked at very closely. I mean we pay Dr. Striefer almost 200,000 a year. I mean we are a city were the medien income is about 55,000, New Britian, Meridan and Waterbury all pay there Superintendent of schools about 150,000 a year and there populations are greater and medien income is more than ours. I say start at the top and work our way down, dont penalize the people in the trenches make those at the top pay first, work our way down.
 Second, While on the subject of paycuts, when I ran for Mayor i said i would cut my salary down to 60,000 a year, well lets see that done . Once agian start at the top start cutting salaries its time for some at the top  to give a bit more than those at the bottom. We as taxpayers should have the right to take awya pay for poor performance as well as reward  and this would be a good time to do it.
  Third, it is time to make the hard choices, does the library really need to be open every day, can't some departments be combined,  to many duplicates of equipment between all the departments, can some of it be shared so that excess can be sold off. City Hall closes 1 day a week. Departments sharing vehicles instead of each having there own, so on and so forth can all add up to some real savings.
 Finally I was brought up to go  by the rule if you don't have it you don't spend it, yet this current city government , and I blame them all,  just keep spending. It is true every Department does not want to lose its funding,SUCK IT UP PEOPLE, you need  start using some fiscal responsibilty and start just saying no to certain things, because in the end  it will not  matter if  Bristol possibly goes bankrupt or just fade out of existance.
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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

Tax hike now set at 5.5 percent

By making some more cuts and fiddling with a few line items, the city's Board of Finance is now eyeing a 5.5 percent property tax hike this year.

That would raise the mill rate from 25.99 to 27.43 for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1.

It isn't clear, though, that the increase will win approval. At least three finance board members may vote against it and perhaps more. Some city councilors may be wary as well.

More details to follow in Thursday's Bristol Press.*******
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

Property taxes heading up

With the budget crunch time fast approaching, city officials are scrambling to figure out how to close a $12 million gap in next year’s spending plan.
A property tax hike is virtually certain, but a consensus appears to be in place to hold any increase to 1.5 mills or less. That means property taxes could rise as much as 5.8 percent.
“We can’t go any higher than that,” said John Smith, a veteran finance commissioner.
Both Mayor Art Ward and Finance Chair Rich Miecznikowski said they believe taxes will go up between 1 and 1.5 mills when the final city spending plan is adopted next month.  Click here for the story.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

City picking projects to do next year

City officials began wading through a list of possible projects for the coming year Wednesday with the hope of stretching limited funds as far as possible.
Though the projects committee won’t finish its work for at least another week, officials agreed on a handful of possible proposals that may make the final cut.
Among them is an overhaul of Casey Field, the creation of a parking lot on the site of the former Mills box factory and the reconstruction of Witches Rock Road. 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

City backs insurance administration change

The city's Board of Finance last night approved the plan to dump Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. It was an easy call, fiscal overseers said, because saving $1 million annually in these times is well worth the inconvenience it may cause some employees who may need to find a new dentist or doctor after July 1.
I know it's hard for city workers to contemplate a change, but since we've had more insurance companies than I can remember over the years doing the Press policy, I can assure them that they'll be fine. It's just a pain to wade into a new plan and to figure out what's different. At least city workers keep exactly the same benefits. That's the aspect that's usually most painful!
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Schools seek $1.8 million more next year

The Board of Education is seeking another $1.8 million for the coming year in order to keep the school system operating as it is, minus Bingham School. For details, see today's Press story and yesterday's story in the Hartford Courant.
There overall city budget picture remains bleak, with revenues well short of the money needed to keep everything humming along as it has been.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

City switching insurance administrators to save $1 million

There is a special Board of Finance meeting at 5:30 today to consider whether the city should dump Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield as the administrator of its health care spending. The move is expected to save nearly $1 million annually. For the story, click here.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com