Fairfield Mill Rate Hike Lowered Again; RTM Cuts $1M From Budget

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield’s budget saw another $1 million in cuts Monday after a spirited and sometimes tense discussion of the Representative Town Meeting.

The town meeting voted 23-17, largely along party lines, to approve the $332.3 million 2021-22 budget, which has a projected mill rate increase of 0.78 percent. When the budget was first presented, the estimated mill rate hike was nearly 2 percent, but the Board of Finance significantly reduced the increase by eliminating $2.1 million from the spending plan in March.

Debate Monday repeatedly gave way to discord, with shouts of “point of order” ringing out across the teleconference line and officials talking over one another during the meeting, held remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The lone motion to pass unanimously was from Democratic Caucus Leader Jill Vergara, of District 7, who moved to cut surplus contributions by just over $1 million, citing the town’s $4.8 million projected surplus.

“The town overtaxed the people by close to $5 million this year,” Vergara said, adding Fairfield relied on fiscal cliffs in the previous financial year rather than using the fund balance.

The town’s estimated surplus has grown from $3.2 million as recently as March, according First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick, a Republican.

“It’s a good problem to have,” she said.

Later in the meeting, Board of Finance Chair James Brown, a Republican, said $2.6 million of the surplus was related to tax collections.

“We budgeted very conservatively last year due to COVID,” he said.

The board intends to adjust Fairfield’s tax collection forecast, Brown confirmed, adding the change could further decrease the mill rate, which the body is set to finalize Thursday.

Superintendent Mike Cummings told the town meeting Monday that the $192 million Board of Education budget could lead to staff cuts. School board members asked for a $9.5 million year-over-year increase but instead received a $7.5 million increase.

“There’s going to be reductions in staffing because of this,” Cummings said.

The Board of Education may get up to $1 million in insurance savings, town meeting members noted, among other projected funds.

Several proposed budget adjustments failed Monday, including motions to cut $180,000 for future collective bargaining agreements, $80,000 for non-contractual salary increases and $60,000 for a redesign of the town website. Although the reductions didn’t pass, all got at least 12 supporting votes.

While discussing the possible removal of funds for non-contractual salary hikes, Vergara and Kupchick exchanged barbs.

“What I don’t like is having this hidden in a hidden account,” Vergara said.

Vergara’s budget questions had gone unanswered for weeks, she said, adding she had only received answers from Kupchick’s office a few hours before the meeting.

“Our staffers do their best to try to answer the large volume of questions you send repeatedly,” Kupchick said, noting there was precedent in past administrations for her approach to non-contractual increases for department heads.

Vergara took issue with Kupchick’s response.

“I don’t appreciate being berated for doing my job that I was elected to do,” she said.

Later in the meeting, representative Karen McCormack, R-District 2, appeared to try to defend Kupchick, referencing Fairfield’s recent history of Democrat first selectmen and seeming to begin to compare those administrations to how Kupchick was being treated. McCormack was quickly shouted down by a cacophony of voices calling for a point of order and accusing McCormack of questioning the motive of a town meeting member.

“It’s a huge budget increase,” Vergara said in response to McCormack. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Representative Bill Gerber, D-District 2, later called McCormack’s statement “absolutely disgraceful.”

McCormack continued to voice support for the budget put forth by Kupchick's office.

“If you look at the prior years where there’s been a revaluation, the increase to the mill rate in comparison to those prior years is nowhere near the highest that it’s been,” she said. “This is not an outrageous increase.”