Finizio: Budgets Should Focus On Long-Term Planning

New London has been focusing on single budget cycles rather than a long-term plan, and needs to confront budgetary issues head on rather than with small changes over a period of years. Those were some of the opinions of Democratic mayoral candidate Daryl Finizio, who held a public forum on the municipal budget and financial issues before about a dozen people at the on Tuesday evening.

Finizio said the 4.9 percent increase in the mill rate prepared by the city manager is the biggest increase in recent years. He said it follows other years where only minor increases or decreases occurred. Finizio said failing to estimate revenues conservatively or anticipate a budget crunch can lead to major changes, namely layoffs or tax hikes. He also expressed opposition to “hidden taxes,” such as the increase in fees on parking tickets and city services, which he said disproportionately affect the city’s poor as well as small businesses.

“I’m going to estimate our revenues conservatively. I’m going to create a lean budget,” he said. “And if I can’t justify every dime in that budget, I’m not going to put it in. But if I feel it is justified for our investment as a community, I will support it, even if it involved a potential tax increase.”

Finizio said he felt the proposed budget was too high, particularly in overtime costs. One major aspect of the proposed budget is the addition of a police lieutenant as well as 11 new police officers. Finizio said that while one study sets the optimum number of officer at 118 the additional officers would bring the force up to 108, the issue becomes one of how officers are allocated.

“It’s not a matter of how many cops there are, it’s where they are and what they’re doing,” he said.

Finizio said he has had experience with municipal budgets through his prior work as a legislative policy analyst for the New York City Council and as a member of the Westerly City Council. He said the mayor should be able to break down data and understand what the real needs are, as well as make honest estimates rather than estimate high in hopes of bargaining down to a number he or she is actually hoping to achieve. He said the city has a healthy bond rating, and will be able to pay down existing debt and get a lower rate on bonds for issues such as fixing the high school to .

“With a couple years of good fiscal discipline, good fiscal management, we could see things get much, much better,” he said.

Finizio also said that with 45 percent of the city’s revenue coming from state or federal sources, the city should have a full-time grant coordinator to handle those responsibilities. He said that the new mayor will act as an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Board of Education, and that he would recommend cost-saving steps such as consolidating the financial services at the .

The discussion branched into areas related to social services and development as well. Finizio said several buildings in New London are used as tax shelters, with owners who have no incentive to fix them up. He said the city could take a more active role in improving these structures by strengthening building codes and using liens against owners who refuse to make repairs. Finizio also said the city needs to treat all neighborhoods fairly, make infrastructure improvements in the order of need, and give more support to homeless shelters and other social services in the city.

“This city does not have a track record of being supportive of homeless outreach or advocacy, and that needs to change,” he said.