The Borer administration is taking advantage of a 2017 exemption that allows a rejiggering of the city’s budget-passing timeline in the wake of an $8 million hole found in education spending due to cost overruns. Mayor Dorinda Borer has scheduled the FY 2027 budget proposal and passage for May 5 and 6, respectively, with her presentation the day after the State of Connecticut finalizes its spending plan. The plan was approved by the City Council by a unanimous vote during a special session.
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The need for the rescheduled timeline, which by charter has the proposal on the third Thursday in March and passage by the first Thursday in May, came after auditors found a shortfall in the Board of Education’s side of the budget. Costs for special education spending, transportation and plant operations came in over budget, approaching the $8 million mark.
In an email sent last week, Mayor Borer outlined the problem.
“On the deficit, there was a large deficit in BOE of approximately $8 million due to special education tuition and related out-of-district transportation and other expenses that are over budget in BOE,” she wrote. “Private Tuition was budgeted for $9,037,214. It came in at $13,515,598 –a $4.5 million d shortfall. Out-of-District Transportation budgeted for $1,893,940 came in at $3,771,384. Operation of Plant (security/utilities, etc.) $3,672,829 came in at $4 925,885.”
The mayor said she addressed the overruns in a recent public portion as a session of the City Council and has taken steps to mitigate the shortfall.
“To address the issue, the city-side had a $4m surplus and I put a few projects on hold to address the shortfall to balance out the FY 25,” she wrote. “I’m doing everything possible on my end to mitigate the BOE issue and to assist with their budgeting as my concern is FY 26.
She has been in contact with Gov. Ned Lamont and the city’s delegation to get the special education funding increased.
“I have now been to Hartford 3 times to speak on education funding. Cities across the state are experiencing these deficits,” she wrote.
“I have met with the governor twice and have had meetings with our state delegation, and have attended two press conferences with other mayors as well pitching a change in the ECD formula and assistance for Special Education’s Tuition and Out of District Transportation,” she wrote. “I’ve also set up a meeting with Neil to see how I can help brainstorm how to keep more students in our own district.”
The special education funding issue that comes out of the state’s own planned May 4 budget deadline is the reason Borer is moving the date to May 5.
(The) simple response is that the state is passing its budget no later than May 4, and if I present May 5, it allows us to see if there was any new consideration for education funding as there is a statewide push for an increase in special education funding for cities,” she wrote. Special Education is the main driver of overruns in the BOE right now, and we, as all cities across the state like ours, are in need of support.
She referred to the budget chaos that accompanied the state’s failure to pass a budget until October.
“Mayor (Edward) O’Brien based the city budget on the Governor’s Budget that came out in January and then the legislative body passed a much different budget with significant less, causing an issue,” she wrote.
That “issue” was a complete reallocation of the proposed budget, and helped lead to decisions that, at least in part, led to the state’s takeover through the Municipal Accountability Review Board (MARB) from December of 2018 until last year.
Questioned on the charter prescriptions regarding budget dates, she said the state offered an off-ramp for cities after its own budgeting went haywire almost nine years ago.
“We are able to change the dates prescribed in our charter because in 2017 when the state could not pass a budget by the end of Session (May) and instead passed it in October, a bill was passed that allows municipalities to supersede their charter on budget timelines as everyone was in a holding pattern. I believe Hamden did this last year, and I thought it was a good idea,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, the City Council was told of the new timeline and, according to council Chairman Chris Vargo, Jr., the early results have been encouraging.
“(We) have worked very hard to map out a timeline that allows the mayor to provide us with a budget after the state passes its budget, allows for a public hearing as required under the charter, and gives the City Council time to conduct its department meetings, deliberate and vote all before the budget must pass for tax bills to be sent out. This has been a very collaborative and cooperative effort because we must balance the mayor’s objectives with the City Council being able to do its work,” he responded.
Fiscal Year 2027 begins July 1 and goes beyond just the city and Board of Education. While the City of West Haven Fire Department – Allingtown will have its own budget voted by the City Council, the two remaining independent fire districts, First Taxation (Center) and West Shore wait until the city’s budget is finalized before setting their own dates.
The state requires all municipal and quasi-municipal budgets to be finalized by May 31.