Capital projects put off to another day

By Wiley Wood

Early in the budget process, Michael Sconyers, chairman of the Board of Finance, announced his intention of reducing the tax rate at least fractionally this year, in recognition of the negative economic impact of the lockdown.

The selectmen’s budget, stripped of two long-planned capital improvement projects—the replacement of the Mountain Road bridge and the underground oil tank at Botelle School—came in at 1 percent above last year’s total. It included a modest increase for Town Hall staff.

Costs for the transfer station are rising significantly, as the fee for disposing of municipal solid waste jumped 30 percent this year. Aggravating the situation is a large increase in Norfolk’s resident population because of the lockdown.

Road repairs, which are  always an important element in the town budget, will be cut back in the coming year. While expressing confidence in the new Public Works superintendent, Troy Lamire, First Selectman Matt Riiska said that the current level of spending on Norfolk’s 40 miles of roads is not sustainable: “In 2012, we budgeted $548,000, this year it’s $380,000. We’re being fiscally responsible, but we’re being irresponsible in maintaining what we have.” Next year, Riiska expects that the town will have to borrow money for its capital expenditures, whose total he sets at $13-15 million over the next decade.

The Botelle School budget, at $2,440,000, decreased about 2 percent from last year, or $50,000, at Sconyers’s direct request. But the school realized significant savings this year due to the shutdown of the Botelle building in mid-March, and the Board of Education transferred some $30,000 of infrastructure spending planned for next year—new security cameras, bullet-proof window film and an upgraded telephone system—to the current year’s budget. The school was still able to return some $45,000 of unspent moneys to the town this year, according to John DeShazo of the Board of Education.

The discussion about Botelle’s budget followed familiar lines. Some consider spending on the school as an investment in the community’s children and the health of the community as a whole; others look at the declining enrollment (about 70 students this year and maybe 65 next year) and ask just how high the per-student spending can rise.

The conversation this spring was complicated by the shutdown. School administrators pleaded for additional resources to bring the students up to speed in the fall, given the inevitable setback dealt by distance learning. Specifically, they asked for enough funds to hire a part-time math specialist. It appears that the adopted budget will allow this.

The third element of the budget, Norfolk’s contribution to the cost of the Northwest Regional No. 7 School District, has not been absolutely finalized at the time of this writing. The district’s proposed budget has increased by 3 percent, but Norfolk’s share will go down because of a reduced proportion of Norfolk students in the regional district next year. The New Hartford Board of Finance has objected strenuously to the proposed increase. Final numbers will be decided on May 27.

The annual budget hearing, at which Norfolk’s Board of Finance sets the tax rate for the following year, was scheduled for 6 p.m. on May 28. At the meeting, conducted via Zoom, the tax rate was lowered by one mill, to 25.98, meaning that a Norfolk taxpayer will pay the town $25.98 per $1,000 of assessed property value.