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NORWALK, Conn. – Three of Norwalk's Democratic Councilmen are asking for a change to the approach regarding the $4 million deficit in Norwalk's school budget that was uncovered in late April.
The resolution put forth by Warren Peña (At-Large), David Watts (District A) and John Igneri (District E) is one of two resolutions likely to stir discussion at Tuesday's Common Council meeting. The other one recommends experimenting with the traffic flow on Calf Pasture Beach Road, temporarily reducing it to one lane in each direction, in response to a campaign by Norwalk residents.
In the resolution that addresses the school budget, Peña, Watts and Igneri say they do not agree with the payment plan offered to the Board of Education by the Board of Estimate and Taxation, and note that the $4 million shortfall was not taken into account when they voted for the budget in February.
The plan at present calls for the BOE to cut $1.8 million out of next year's budget and $2.2 million out of the following year's budget. Igneri, Watts and Peña think the payment should be deferred for four years.
The Board of Education and Superintendent Susan Marks were working to cut $5.8 million out of the budget proposed by Marks in December before the shortfall was discovered. The shortfall was added to the $5.8 million, meaning that $10 million in cuts were necessary, but Mayor Richard Moccia and the BET deferred $2.2 million for a year, lowering the amount of cuts necessary to about $7.6 million.
Marks said that figure is closer to $9 million, as she must allow for unemployment costs when she lays off teachers.
The resolution calls on the city of Norwalk "to provide the full $4 million needed to cover the deficit and any payment of said assistance be paid at least four years from the date of said notification to the City of Norwalk of said shortage."
The resolution also notes that the council has yet to receive any information as to “(1) where did the money go, (2) why the loss went uncovered for so long; (3) were all education expenditures approved by the BOE or under BOE established policies; (4) were funds spent as reported on staff that were not approved by the BOE and (5) how come the calculation for other post-employment benefits, or OPEB, was incorrect and not detected by BOE and City Officials earlier than April 2012.”
The other resolution, sponsored by Democrats Anna Duleep (At-Large), Matt Miklave (District A), Bruce Kimmel (District D), Watts and Igneri, would reduce Calf Pasture Beach Road from four lanes to two in order for the city to establish “vehicle free lanes” for the months of July and August, with the exception of the Fourth of July. This would allow the city to study the effectiveness and use of the "road diet" recommended by an independent study, to see if that should be a permanent change, as requested by many residents.
Democrats have seven seats in the 15-member council. Democrat Carvin Hilliard is president of the council.
The meeting is at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Common Council Chambers in Norwalk City Hall.
Comments (4)
Gregory Blvd & beach road arent the same. While they do carry the same, or largely the same traffic they are not alike in their uses. A two lane beach road wont last 5 years before they change it back. The real issue IMO is the abuse of the neighborhood by promoting the parks so much. If they were for Norwalk residents itd be no big deal. ALL of East Norwalk suffers from this abuse. Kind of ironic that nobody considers OUR streets & traffic issues here before aproving events or condomiums or anything else, because it brings in money, but they refuse to let a Mosque be built in another area of town because of traffic complaints. I'd bet money that East Norwalk sees more traffic congestion every day than they would once or twice a week, on weekends forget it, it stinks if you live here, we have become nothing more than a money raising venue.
As far as our financial woes we simply NEED to eliminate things until we can afford to educate our kids. We spend money very frivolously for a City that acts like it cares. It hurts but all of us as individuals have had to cut back in recent years, unless of course you are a city employee. Eliminate all the City unions except maybe the Police & FD who are the only ones who actually NEED some sort of organization to protect them from job related liabilities. P&R, DPW & the others have zero need for unions but those unions cost the taxpayers alot of money. Take away city vehicles in all but the most needed positions, stop putting nice pretty but expensive lighting all over where existing lighting was fine, turn off the lights at the beach once its closed. I'm always amazed to see those lights on hours & hours after the park closes. There are alot of ways to cut back, you just need to bite the bullet & do it.
Why not finance the $6MM - $9MM of pension expense and use those funds to support the BofE instead? That way, no taxes have to be raised. Alsom, the City can put up Jersey barriers and create a bike lane on beach road.
Financing something does not make it free - taxpayers are still on the hook. Eventually the bill has to be paid. Plus the city will face the same dilemma during the next budget cycle when costs increase, as they seem to every year. Should they finance the following year's gap as well? Taking on debt is the easiest solution politically because it gives us services we want while allowing us to avoid paying the bill, but eventually there's a reckoning and it's painful. Take a look at what's happening in bankrupt California cities for an example of what I mean.
According to the Hour, Mayor Moccia blasted both resolutions and referred to the school spending resolution as a "feel-good resolution" that was "politics at its best." Article here:
http://www.thehour.com/news/norwalk/common-council-to-consider-dems-resolutions-to-plug-boe-budget/article_88ed08c1-67ee-5cd7-b22d-459468d4e652.html
In my opinion the Mayor is right regarding the school spending resolution. The Mayor's opponents are seeking to gain maximum political advantage from the fiscal difficulties in which the BOE finds itself. Message to upset parents: vote for us and we'll give you everything you want. The fine print in that message, of course, is that there's no free lunch so they'll need to raise taxes on everybody to pay for the extra spending. Sounds like a classic example of leading from behind, where politicians rush to the front of an angry crowd of parents and march in the same direction, hoping to be credited as leaders.
Regarding the beach road resolution, I hope the Mayor will refrain from criticizing it further. Beach road is clearly far larger than it needs to be. The Mayor's dismissive comments quoted in the Hour - about people thinking it needs to be a private road leading down to the beach - simply don't make any sense. Gregory Boulevard is one lane and that's no problem whatsoever. Putting some traffic cones in place is an easy way to test the feasibility of reducing Beach Road to one lane, and if there are any problems the cones can be immediately removed. I don't fully understand the Traffic Authority's role in all of this, but I hope they and the Mayor will not prevent a test of a change that could improve Beach Road for everyone.