Town Hall 2015

RTM Sets Budget; Cuts Taxes a Bit More for a $16.33 Mill Rate; Finance Board, GOP Ed Board Members Sharply Criticized

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July’s town tax bills will be a bit lower after the Representative Town Meeting on Monday cut the 2020-2021 budget enough to reduce town taxes from 16.47 per $1,000 of assessed value to $16.33, a reduction of 14 cents. The Board of Finance had proposed a budget with a tax rate of $16.36 (11 cents under the present rate), and the final tax rate is 3 cents less than that. The RTM, with the legal ability to to cut budgets but not to raise them, is the final authority on cutting the budget and setting the mill rate. The RTM voted overwhelmingly to cut various, relatively small items from the Board of Finance’s proposed budget, including financing to: repaint the tennis courts at Weed Beach that are nearest the entrance, remove money from Town Hall maintenance and refurbishing project accounts where money hadn’t been spent, kitchen equipment for the Weed Beach snack concession, and money for a ride-on leaf blower. All the cuts came from the Board of Selectmen’s side of town budget.

Theresa Vogt 02-04-20

Theresa Vogt: Here’s How the New Partisan Behavior on the Board of Ed Can Hurt Darien Education

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During a contentious Representative Town Meeting discussion Monday night, RTM Member Theresa Vogt’s comments criticizing partisanship on the Board of Education was ruled out of order by the moderator, Seth Morton, for bringing partisanship into the RTM and for not being close enough to the topic (the budget). Vogt and others, including David Bayne, who is both an RTM member and the chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, didn’t sway Morton, so Vogt didn’t get to read her entire comment, the end of which addressed actions on the Board of Finance. Others in the meeting made much shorter versions of similar comments. Since it appeared that she had prepared her remarks beforehand, and since her arguments competently address an important topic, Darienite.com was able to ask her for it, and here it is:

Theresa Vogt, District 6.  I am the vice chair of the Education Committee.  My comments tonight are not on the behalf of the Education Committee. I would like to discuss partisan behavior, the lack of transparency, and the behind the scenes communications of certain Board of Ed members, as well as public comments that I found condescending toward the school administration and Darien taxpayers made by the chair of the Board of Finance.

Town Hall 2015

RTM Rules Committee Meets Monday Night: Agenda Includes Leaving Town Budget Approval to Finance Board

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The Representative Town Meeting may not be the final arbiter of this coming year’s town budget. Instead, the Board of Finance may be the last town body to decide on the budget, without then sending it to the RTM. A proposal to do that is one of the items on the agenda for tonight’s 7:30 RTM Rules Committee meeting. You can listen to the meeting live, and see it shortly afterward online, but not submit comment on to the committee. The Rules Committee will also consider a proposal, described vaguely in committee documents posted online, for a local tax deferment program or “low intereste rate program” for town taxpayers.