Groton Town Council to school board: Residents can't afford another tax hike
Groton — Town Councilor Karen Morton told the school board Tuesday that since taxpayers supported the plan to build three new schools and voluntarily see their taxes rise, the town owes it to them to not raise taxes any more.
Morton made the comment during a joint meeting of the Town Council and Board of Education about the budget for the coming fiscal year, which some members of Representative Town Meeting also attended.
Councilors are uneasy because state support is unpredictable due to the continuing fiscal crisis at the state level. Groton was forced to hike taxes for the last several years due to declining revenue, and Gov. Dannel Malloy recently announced a midyear cut to Groton's state education aid of almost 1 percent, the highest dollar amount cut in the region.
If Groton fails to invest in its school programs, families moving into the area to take jobs at Electric Boat will buy homes elsewhere, school board member Andrea Ackerman warned.
“They will get in their cars, go across the bridge to a town that’s down (the road). That’s the future,” she said.
Scott Newsome, Representative Town Meeting moderator, said he’s encouraged by the growth at Electric Boat, the school building plan and what they mean to the town’s future. In November, taxpayers approved a $184.5 million school construction plan to build one new middle school adjacent to Robert E. Fitch High School and convert the two existing middle schools into renovated elementary schools.
“We should be marketing this all over town,” Newsome said, adding that the town should post messages that read, “Come expand with us. Come grow with us.”
“We’ve got a lot going for us,” he said.
Several councilors said they will be looking to the school board to demonstrate that as they expand some programs to improve education, they are making cuts elsewhere.
Last year, the school department cut its health insurance account by $741,000, a strategy that it cannot continue, councilors said.
School board Chairwoman Kim Watson said the board does not intend to cut from the health account, and is beginning discussions Thursday to come up with a strategic plan for the schools.
Councilor Deb Peruzzotti said she wants to see board members approach the council with a plan that shows where it’s going, what programs it deems important to meet its future goals, and what programs it is cutting back on to pay for that future. “You don’t want to always be adding,” she said.
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