2020 Mayor's Recommended Budget Book
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TOWN OF EAST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT RECOMMENDED BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2019 - JUNE 30, 2020 TOWN OF EAST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT RECOMMENDED BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2019-JUNE 30, 2020 Table of Contents Principal Official: 1 Youth Services 43 Grants/Lease Administration 45 Mayor’s Budget Message: 2 Finance: Administration 47 General Information: Accounts and Control 49 Organizational Chart 8 Information Technology 51 East Hartford at a Glance 9 Purchasing 53 Budget Process Summary 10 Treasury 55 Assessor 57 Financial Summaries: Revenue and Collections 59 Budget Summary 12 Employee Benefits 61 Revenue Summary 13 Risk Management 63 Expenditure Summary 14 Pie Chart - Estimated Revenues Development: and Expenditures 15 Administration 65 Budget Comparisons 16 Fund Balance, Mill Rate and Capital Public Safety: Expenditure Calculations 17 Police - Administration 67 Police – Patrol/Operations 74 General Fund Revenue Detail: 18 Police - Criminal Investigation 77 Fire - Administration 80 General Fund Expenditures: Fire - Suppression 82 Fire - Marshal 87 Legislative: Fire - Apparatus Maintenance 89 Town Council 25 Fire - Alarm Maintenance 91 Town Clerk 27 Fire – Emergency Medical Services 93 Registrars of Voters 29 Fire - Emergency Management 95 Selectmen 31 Fire Training 97 Public Safety Communications 99 Executive: Office of the Mayor 33 Corporation Counsel 35 Inspections and Permits: Human Resources 37 Administration 101 Public Library 39 Probate Court 41 Table of Contents Boards and Commissions: Public Works: Beautification Commission 147 Administration 103 Patriotic Commission 149 Engineering 105 Veteran’s Commission 151 Highway Services 107 Board of Assessment Appeals 153 Flood Protection 110 Personnel Appeals Board 155 Waste Services 112 Historic District Commission 157 Fleet Services 114 Board of Ethics 159 Building Maintenance 116 Library Commission 161 Metropolitan District Commission 119 Public Building Commission 163 Maintenance 121 Pension & Retiree Benefits Board 165 Economic Development Commission 167 Parks and Recreation: Planning and Zoning Commission 169 Administration 124 Inland/Wetlands Environment Comm. 171 Other Facilities 127 Redevelopment Agency 173 Senior Services 129 Human Rights Commission 175 Emergency Medical Commission 177 Health and Social Services: Zoning Board of Appeals 179 Administration 131 Fine Arts Commission 181 Community Health & Nursing Services 133 Hockanum River Commission 183 Environmental Control 135 Commission on Aging 185 Social Services 137 Commission on Services Persons w/Disab. 187 Board of Education 189 Debt Service: 140 Special Revenue Programs: Special Programs 192 Contingency: 142 Appendices: Capital Improvement: 144 Summary of Existing Debt Service 197 Five Year Capital Improvement and Narratives 198 Grant Summary 222 PRINCIPAL OFFICIALS MAYOR Marcia A. Leclerc TREASURER Donald M. Currey TOWN COUNCIL Shelby Brown Richard F. Kehoe, Chair Joseph R. Carlson Linda A. Russo, Vice Chair Pat Harmon Ram Aberasturia, Majority Leader Caroline Torres Esther Clarke, Minority Leader Marc I. Weinberg ADMINISTRATION Corporation Counsel Scott Chadwick Director of Human Resources Santiago Malave Town Clerk Robert Pasek Director of Insp. & Permits Greg Grew Director of Development Eileen Buckheit Director of Park & Recreation Ted Fravel Director of Finance Michael P. Walsh Director of Public Works Keith Chapman Director of Health and Director of Youth Services Cephus Nolen, Jr. Social Services James Cordier Fire Chief John Oates Director of Libraries Sarah Morgan Chief of Police Scott Sansom Mayor’s Administrative Aid Jessica Carrero BOARD OF EDUCATION Bryan R. Hall, Chair Tyron V. Harris Tom Rup Harry Amadasun, Jr. Marilyn Pet Valerie B. Scheer Ann Grabowski Dorese Roberts Stephanie K. Watkins Superintendent of Schools Nathan Quesnel 1 TOWN OF EAST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT MAYOR’S BUDGET MESSAGE RECOMMENDED BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2019-JUNE 30, 2020 2 MARCIA A. LECLERC (860) 291-7200 MAYOR FAX (860) 282-2978 www.easthartfordct.gov Office of the Mayor February 23, 2019 To the Members of the Town Council and to the Residents of the Town of East Hartford: By way of this letter, let me respectfully submit to you the Mayor’s Recommended Budget for the Town of East Hartford for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020. Revenues The Town’s October 1, 2018 taxable grand list, the economic engine that produces $132 million of revenue for the town to use to balance its budget was down on a net taxable basis due to the completion of the Pratt and Whitney Headquarters and Engineering Building and that building moving into 80% tax exempt status for five years based on a program available to Pratt under Connecticut General Statutes. Currently, given the State’s financial situation, no reimbursement of this State abatement is available to the town. The associated loss of revenue to the Town of East Hartford is projected at $2.2 million annually or $11 million over the life of the abatement. Revenues in the form of grants from the State of Connecticut and totaling nearly $50 million annually were held flat in the fiscal year 20 projections as new Governor Ned Lamont completes his first State budget and an equitable distribution of municipal aid. Expenditures Board of Education (BOE) spending will increase by $3.4 million due to $2 million related to rising medical costs for their active employees and $1.4 million of higher negotiated labor contract costs. This amount will be mitigated in large part by eliminating the $1.7 million budgeted OPEB contribution and using $750 thousand of the expected $2.2 million Alliance Grant increase to fund BOE initiatives. After these adjustments, the net increase to the BOE will be $971 thousand. East Hartford, like nearly every town and state in the nation struggles with unfunded pension and Other Post Employment Benefit (OPEB) liabilities. In an effort to continue the long process to reduce those liabilities, the town will contribute $939 thousand more toward the Pension Plan based on a projected investment return of 7.60% and an annual amortization rate of 3.25%. The Town will also contribute $2 million as part of this budget into our OPEB Trust. This amount, coupled with the $1.6 million Fund Balance trigger contribution made in January of 2019 should substantially meet the town’s obligations for fiscal year 20. 3 Debt for the town increased by $743 thousand year over year but the full impact of that increase was fully mitigated with the town using Bond Premiums earned from the 2016 bond sale to substitute for the higher expenditure in fiscal year 20. Other noteworthy increases in expenditures year over year included town contractual settlements of $673 thousand, $282 thousand for Information Technology staffing and licenses, $238 thousand for MDC and their Clean Water Project, a true up of expected Overtime payments in Public Works and Parks to complete regular maintenance of facilities and infrastructure of $143 thousand, and finally, MIRA tipping fees were increased by $30 thousand related to rising costs due to turbine maintenance issues. Noteworthy decreases in expenditures year over year include $250 thousand for lower automobile and general liability claims, $201 thousand for lower Capital Lease spending as no leases were issued in fiscal year 19 while past years leases were fully paid off, and finally, lower Golf Course losses are expected reducing the golf course subsidy by $100 thousand as the well project was completed allowing the course to reduce its reliance on MDC water and the initial Capital Lease to resurrect the course has been paid off. Other Noteworthy Items In fiscal year 2020, the town will begin the process of competitively bidding out waste collection with recycling together in an effort to reduce the overall cost to the taxpayers through permanent staffing reductions by attrition and market driven efficiency. If successful, it will mark an end to town labor forces collecting refuse as the private market assumes that role. In future years, through the use of market competition, the town will avoid the cost of replacing automated waste trucks totaling $2.5 million. In addition to the reconfiguring of Public Works staffing, the town is rethinking its policy of full depth road reclamation when completing road repaving and instead amending the approach so that more milling and repaving will be completed on most roads which will allow the annual road miles paved to increase from about six miles per year to ten miles per year. This approach will allow for more road paving improvements to be completed with the same dollars but with significantly less neighborhood disruption while balancing the maintenance and useful life of the roadways. With voter approval in November of 2018, the town will begin the engineering phase of the $3.9 million Town Hall renovation project including new HVAC, electrical, roof, cupola restoration repairs, and possible solar voltaic rooftop system. The renovation of the former Blessed Sacrament Church into the town’s new Senior Center is underway and being bid for 2019 construction. This $6.8 million renovation will deliver a center for expanded programming and socialization in the early part of 2020. The expansion and renovation of the historic Wickham Library is also underway and in the process of being bid for construction in the summer of 2019. This $1.7 million expansion and renovation will add a dynamic new handicapped accessible facility to be used by the Library to expand programming and the geographic reach of their Raymond Library operation. While a host of noteworthy infrastructure items are detailed above, the town also commits via this budget to a more robust and operationally sound Information Technology operation with the funding of a shared Chief Information Officer position with the BOE and an allocation of capital money in the amount of $250 thousand to make current and harden the server infrastructure that the 4 town’s Information Technology rides on. Additionally, using surplus funding from an open engineering position, the town has temporarily employed a Geographical Information System trained specialist to begin to centralize the town’s property mapping.