Mansfield Budget OK'd By A Landslide

By Lisa Massicotte, The Chronicle

June 17, 2021

It was smooth sailing at the Mansfield town meeting to decide the budget Tuesday night, where voters passed the 2021-22 fiscal year spending plan by a landslide.

The budget passed with 61 “yes” votes to just one “no” in the Mansfield Middle School auditorium.

“We have a very conservative budget. We didn’t raise the mill rate, we didn’t embark on any substantially new major programs and so there really wasn’t a great deal to object to,” Mansfield Mayor Antonia Moran said after the vote.

There was no debate or complaints during the town meeting and only one citizen asked a question to the council regarding the budget, which allowed for a vote to take place quickly.

Following the meeting and budget vote, the Mansfield Town Council adopted a flat mill rate of 31.38 without needing to reduce the level of town services the budget provides.

Therefore, taxes would remain the same.

Town council Republicans David Freudmann, Charles Ausburger and Al Fratoni were absent Tuesday due to illness and work reasons, according to Moran.

The total approved town/school spending package comes to $45,530,000, an increase of $1,532,260, or 3.48 percent.

The approved general government budget is $21,523,920, an increase of $993,720, or 4.8 percent.

The approved board of education budget for Mansfield Public Schools is $24,006,080, a $538,540, or 2.29 percent, increase from the current budget.

The Regional School District 19 school budget contribution from Mansfield is $11,157,477, an increase of $129,676, or 1.2 percent.

That was previously passed and further resolved to be added into the town’s general government budget.

Most of the increases in the general government budget are due to collective bargaining agreements, overall increased costs and a large capital projects budget.

The capital fund budget is allocated to go toward projects with town infrastructure, community recreational services, public safety and community development.

Moran explained just how important the budget is for the town Tuesday.

“The budget is the major policy document for the town. It tells all of the bodies in the town where they have to direct their energies because that’s where the money is. So it’s always extraordinarily important,” Moran said.

That being said, town officials said they would have liked to see more residents and Mansfield voters being involved in the town’s democratic process.

The voter turnout Tuesday night was at least half of what is expected in a “normal” year, according to Mansfield Town Manager Ryan Aylesworth.

“As I understand it, a more typical turnout would be at least double the amount of folks who were there, probably closer to 150 or so,” Aylesworth said, noting this is also his first year doing the Mansfield budget.

Aylesworth said even if 150 to 200 people showed up, it’s still a very small percentage of the town’s population.

He continued to say, after the meeting he and Mansfield Town Council Finance Committee Chairman Peter Kochenburger began an informal discussion on what they can do in the future to increase turnout.

“We’re happy with the outcome but, at the same time, I think we all recognize that it’s good and healthy for increased citizen engagement with the process. We want to have healthy voter turnout so the people really feel like they participated in the democratic process,” Aylesworth said.

Follow Lisa Massicotte on Twitter - @LMassicotteTC.

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