Mayor Announces New Budget and Tax Decrease

Mayor Mark Lauretti proposed an $111 million budget and a tax decrease to the Shelton Board of Aldermen and the Board of Apportionment and Taxation Tuesday night during his 20th budget address as mayor.

Lauretti compared the current recession to the situation when he first took office in 1992 and had to announce a 7.86 increase in mill rate or 27% increase in taxes to combat the issues facing the city budget.

Twenty years later, the situation is markedly different as the mayor proposed dropping the mill rate from 18.61 mills to 18.57 mills, based on a projection of $112 million in revenues for the city and expenditures of $111 million, leaving a surplus of $203,319.

“I’m sure that Shelton taxpayers will be helped as they find themselves burdened with the call from our governor for shared sacrifice,” said Lauretti during his address.

But to put things in perspective, this drop in mill rate means that someone with a house assessed at $100,000 would only pay $4 less in taxes per year.

“We kept all the spending levels at where they were last year,” said Lauretti. He added that some departments received small increases due to contractual obligations and that there were no layoffs in this budget proposal.

The budget now goes to the tax board for review during the next few months, after which the Board of Aldermen, who may make changes to the budget as conditions change, will vote on its approval.

The city also agreed to continue to cover the unemployment costs for the Board of Education from the layoffs last July. However, the mayor’s budget recommends allocating $63.7 million to the Board of Ed, which is $1.2 million shy of their requested budget of $64.9 million.

“It’s short of where the board was hoping for,” said superintendent Freeman Burr, “We understand this is where we’re starting.”