Editorial Staff.
There has been some confusion in the press about the Haddam Town Budget, and what the actual increase is. See this Letter to the Editor by Maurice Adams, and this Letter to the Editor by Ed Munster. There are two budgets that make up the “Total Budget” – the Town Budget for its work (for example, public safety, public works, and capital improvement), and the Regional School District #17 budget to run the school system in both Haddam and Killingworth. The Town Budget is $8,271,371, Haddam’s portion of the RSD #17 Budget is $24,153,437, which makes the Total Budget $32,424,808. Another way to view Haddam’s Total Budget is: Town Budget (25.5% of Total Budget) + Haddam’s portion of RSD #17 Budget (74.5% of Total Budget) = Total Budget (100%).
The Town Budget is around $8 million, and Haddam’s portion of the RSD #17 budget is around $24 million. So when someone says that the Town Budget has increased by 11.21%, it’s an increase of $834,050. And when someone says that the RSD #17 Budget is down 1.54%, that’s a decrease of $378,065. When it comes out as a headline that says one budget is up 11% and one is down 1.5%, it might seem like that’s an increase of 9.5%, but that simply isn’t the way it works since the percentages are calculated on different bases.
“The Total Budget, including the Region 17 budget, and the amount that the tax rate is based upon, increased 1.43%,” explains Joe Centofanti, Chairman of the Haddam Board of Finance. “There was no tax increase due to increased revenue estimates [see “Haddam 2019-2020 Budget by Dept” PDF below]. The increased revenues covered the $455,985 increase in the Total Budget, therefore, there was no increase in the mil rate.”
If you want to break down the Town Budget further, look at the subheadings. Public Safety has increased $122,724, mostly due to fire protection, Public Works has increased $114,558, Capital Improvement has increased $195,000, and Debt Service has increased $557,800. On the other side, General Government is decreasing by $121,573, Culture & Recreation is decreasing $26,800, and Health & Human Services is decreasing $7,659.
Additionally, we have proposed revenue coming in:
- Property Tax is projected to increase $123,268
- Intergovernmental Revenue is projected to increase $234,717
- Total Charges for Services is projected to increase $59,000
- Interest Income is projected to increase $39,000
The total for that revenue is $455,985, which matches the increase in the Total Budget.
