Officials Cautious, Relieved to See First Budget Get Second Chance

Parents, some with small children in tow, were elated Monday night as the second annual Town Meeting approved restoring the Town Council’s original $87.6 million budget in a vote of 324-24.

And while some officials were cautious about whether the restored budget might pass in the May 19 referendum, many were relieved to see what they called "the right budget" get a second chance.

“The budget we presented in March was the proper budget,” Board of Education member Bill Beckert said. “Our role as the Board of Education is to communicate to the town what we think is an adequate funding level to ensure Farmington continues to have excellent schools.”

Setting a passable budget is up to the Town Council, he said, stressing that he completely supported the budget that was presented at the referendum. "The Council's role is to measure that against the economic concerns of residents and recommend a budget that can garner majority support at the referendum. It is how our charter is set up."

Board of Education Chairman Mary Grace Reed said Farmington residents have come to expect an excellent school system will always be available, without getting involved in its maintenance.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen people support education like this,” she said. “I thought it was wonderful to see the community take hold of its own process. This is supposed to be the town’s meeting and tonight it really was … The charter provides that the community has their opportunity. I just hope and pray that we can pass this budget.”

Other officials agreed that residents were simply taking advantage of the process afforded by the town charter.

“We have no problem with it because it’s part of the process,” Town Council Chairman Mike Clark said. “That said, historically when this has been done the following referendum shows people feel you’ve usurped the democratic process.”

Councilmember CJ Thomas warned the town would see far more ‘no’ votes May 19.

He stressed that Farmington’s spending increase has been very low over the past four years. According to Thomas, the average rate of increase is 1.76 percent per year, including the proposed increase. The rate is less than the 2 percent that both inflation and Social Security have increased.

The Farmington Taxpayers Association leads the effort to reduce town spending throughout the year and especially during budget season. Before the May 5 referendum, members went door-to-door encouraging residents to vote ‘no.’ Some worry the backlash against the new budge will incite an even greater number of ‘no’ voters to turn out, as was the case a few years ago.

“We voted back money, it failed, the budget was reduced further. We cannot guarantee what the council will do if this budget fails again and I don’t think you want to find out,” Jennifer Hogan warned.

What the council would do if the original recommended budget fails twice would depend on the vote, council member Patty Stoddard said.

“It would depend on how many it fails by and how many people show up to vote,” she said. On Friday, Republicans said they had to make deep cuts to the budget because the defeated referendum expressed residents’ desire to see less spending.

“With defeat of the first budget, the Town Council recognized that the people have spoken. They’ve made it clear through the democratic process that they are willing to give up services in order to have lower taxes,” Clark said.

At the Friday meeting, councilmember Mike Demicco told the council he could not support a budget that is not in the best interest of the town.

“I respect the results of the referendum but cutting $750,000 and causing real harm to our town is not an appropriate response to the referendum,” Demicco said. “I think it’s reflective of the will of the people in this room and the people in this town."

The challenge will be to get residents to the polls on May 19, when residents will vote again on the Town Council’s proposed 2011-2012 budget.