East Granby Residents Comment on Revised Budget and Most Are Critical

About 35 East Granby residents attended the Town Meeting on Wednesday night to question town officials about the latest budget plan.

Voters rejected the first proposed budget of $20,093,553 by a margin of four votes — 622 to 618 — on May 7. A recount of the vote on May 10 confirmed the budget's defeat.

Town officials revised the budget by cutting $50,000 from the Board of Education budget, reducing the increase in that portion of the budget from 4.85 percent to 4.49 percent. The town budget — an increase of 3 percent — was not touched. The end result would be an increase of 3.3 percent in taxes.

In addition to line item reductions in areas such as out-of-district tuition, legal fees and unemployment, the school district is proposing to increase some fees to generate more revenue, according to Superintendent Christine Mahoney.

Students who pay to participate in programs would see an increase of $50 for each fee. Students who use a school instrument would be asked to pay a $50 instrument service fee.

Mahoney said most of the school district's spending is not discretionary because of union contracts and state requirements such as new teacher evaluations, testing and curriculum standards. 

"We obviously are concerned about the challenges related to each of these particular line items," Mahoney said. "But we are a district of professional individuals who truly care about our educational program. We will continue to make sure that our students' needs are met to the best of our ability within the resources that we have."

After the budget presentation, several residents spoke up to support the school budget, but a majority of speakers were critical of the $50,000 education budget cut, saying it wasn't enough.

John Joseph "Joe" Foy received applause when he said the small town of just over 5,000 residents couldn't afford to maintain its own "first-class" high school anymore. He suggested trimming administrators or providing tuition so that East Granby students could go to other high schools.

"Every year we get a budget that’s quite a bit higher than inflation, and every year, we come back, trimming at the bottom," Foy said. "We’re in a box here. … With all the things the state is throwing at us, we can’t afford to have a first-class high school."

East Granby voters will go to the polls on May 22 to vote on the revised budget. The town meeting set the hours of the vote from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.