New London — Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio on Tuesday evening reported to the City Council that the state of the Whaling City is strong, a political cliché the mayor said is "a truth made evident by the work we've done to get here."

"Just one year ago, I stood here and told you that we were out of money and we were out of time, and I said that either we were going to crash and burn, or we were going to come together as a community and fix this," he said, recalling the perilous financial shape the city was in a year ago. "Well, we didn't crash. We didn't burn. We came together and we fixed this."

As part of his annual State of the City address, Finizio presented the City Council his proposed budget of $90,366,051 in spending — an increase of $5,094,814 or 5.97 percent over the current year’s budget — which he called “primarily a hold steady budget” with the exception of education.

The $90.37 million budget for fiscal year 2015-16 represents $46.6 million for general government and $43.7 million for the Board of Education.

The general government proposal is 5.97 percent more than the current year’s budget of $44 million, while the Board of Education’s portion of the budget represents an increase of 5.98 percent over its current budget.

“This budget moves us forward but at the smallest possible increment so as to minimize the burden on taxpayers,” Finizio said. “I believe that these expenditures will allow us to hold our own in most areas while increasing our support for education.”

If Finizio’s proposed budget is adopted, the city’s tax rate would increase from 38.00 to 42.76 mills — an increase of 4.76 mills or 12.54 percent.

A tax rate increase of 12.54 percent would mean an annual tax increase of $601.23 for the owner of a single-family home assessed at the city’s average value of $126,309, Finizio said.

“A hard truth remains: The path to a better New London comes with a price. No magic bullet is going to make that price go away,” Finizio said. “But the money we collectively pay to educate our children, to keep our residents safe, to improve our roads and maintain our buildings is an investment which pays dividends in our quality of life, helps grow jobs and expands economic opportunities for our youth. Ultimately these investments will pay dividends in rising property values, increasing New London’s revenues and reducing our tax burden. But we must invest now to see that future return.”

The city’s taxable grand list has increased by 0.48 percent, from $1,245,466,967 to $1,251,422,003, Finizio said.

City Councilor Michael Passero, a member of the council's Finance Committee who is challenging Finizio for the Democratic nomination for the mayor's office, said he wants to take a "very close look" at the budget Finizio presented.

“I’m very skeptical about another 6 percent increase on the city government side,” Passero said. “I haven’t seen the money used very wisely this year and I think we need to scrutinize that very closely.”

Finizio’s proposed budget does not include funding for additional police officers, firefighters or other city positions but does fully fund vacant positions and positions that were funded for only a portion of the current fiscal year.

“Other than fixed costs and contractually mandated increases, however, there are only minor adjustments in most areas,” Finizio said.

The one exception to that is the education budget and its 5.98 percent increase, which the Board of Education approved earlier this month.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing, is more important than education in New London,” the mayor said. “Nothing will do more to attract families to New London than an outstanding school system. Nothing will do more to spur business growth and expansion than education. Nothing will do more to revitalize our city.”

Along with the increase in the Board of Education budget, Finizio said the 100 percent increase in the Public Library of New London’s budget marks the initiation of “a comprehensive, community-wide education initiative.”

“In order to fully take advantage of everything our school system offers, children need to enter our schools ready to learn,” he said. “But too many parents in New London can’t afford books for their children. Too many parents can’t afford a computer. Poverty shouldn’t lessen a child’s opportunities.”

Doubling the library’s budget to $1,250,000, Finizio said, will allow it to expand its hours, buy more books, hire additional staff and offer more programs for children.

The City Council's budget deliberation process of combing through each department's individual budget will begin with a Finance Committee meeting this Thursday at 6 p.m.

"We certainly have our work cut out for us evaluating all the hot rhetoric we heard tonight," Councilor Martin T. Olsen, the council's lone Republican member, said.

Olsen said what struck him more than the issues Finizio addressed Tuesday evening were those that the mayor did not mention during his speech, particularly the status of suspended police Chief Margaret Ackley and possible increases in insurance costs.

"Each one of those things has a price tag associated with it," Olsen said. "These are expenses he not only glossed over, but he ignored. I'm wondering when we’re going to see these in the budget."

Council President Wade A. Hyslop, who also chairs the Finance Committee, said his committee will look to trim the mayor's budget proposal.

"I believe it is an honest budget he has put forward and the City Council should be able to work with it and hopefully make some reductions if there are reductions to be made," he said. "New London is on the move upward and we have to continue to be supportive of the issues at hand."

c.young@theday.com

Twitter: @ColinAYoung