Welcome, folks. The special meeting will begin shortly. We do have a list, but if anybody wants to speak, you can still sign up. And we'll be getting going in a few minutes. Thank you. Welcome everybody. This is a special Common Council meeting for May 28th, 2025. Public participation. It is now 6.08. Thanks for your patience. This hearing is regarding the Mayor's proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. I have a list. We'll call on that. Any other person's wish to speak, you can step right up. We'll check online if anybody's called in, and we'll get the conversation going right now. You have three minutes to speak. You state your name and address, please, and make your statement, and the alderman will be listening. So with that, I have Mr. Jason Villani. Greetings, everybody, dear members of the New Britain Common Council. My name is Jason Villani. I live in Wallingford, 47 Parker Farms Road, and I've been a proudly serving reference librarian at the New Britain Public Library since 2008. I am also the union president for the library. We're a chapter in CSCA 2001. I care deeply for this essential public institution that serves the entire population of New Britain, and I'm here today to advocate that you fully fund the library at the proposed budget increase of 8%. There is no other return on investment as far as tax dollars spent compared to the positive civic, cultural, educational, recreational, and social output that a library does for a community. Not to mention it being an essential service for many living in this community. We are doing great things and poised under new leadership to expand THE REACH EVEN FURTHER WITH THE CITY'S HELP. BEYOND A HUB OF BOOKS AND A SPACE FOR LIFELONG LEARNING AND LITERACY, WE OFFER HOMEWORK HELP, JOB SEARCH AND INFORMATION HELP, HOUSING ASSISTANCE AND LEGAL SERVICES, COMPUTER AND PRINTING SERVICES, HOMEBOUND SERVICES TO SENIORS AND DISABLED. WE ARE A RESEARCH AND GENEALOGY HUB, A HOMESCHOOL SPACE, AN ARTS AND CRAFT HUB IN OUR MAKERSPACE, AND WE EVEN JUST INITIALLY STARTED ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER CONVERSATION GROUPS. We have partnered with community organizations to do many of these things and want to be able to continue our stride of expansive outreach and service to the community. This is why it is important to fully fund the library's budget request. That being said, we also have goals to address wage equity as a long-term project due to the rising minimum wage so that we can recruit and retain talented staff the library and our community deserves. We are currently well under Connecticut library wage benchmarks for our region and even below equivalent town hall workers in similar paraprofessional positions. I know you all know how important it is to have competitive wages and that great work cannot be done without equitable wages. The library is one of the best investments the city can support and with your help we can make the New Britain Public Library an exceptional multipurpose community hub for our entire community. Thank you, and please don't hesitate to reach out for more information. Thank you, Jason. Our next speaker is John Pirro. Sorry, John. No, it's okay. Everybody mispronounces it, so it's all right. Are you left-handed like me? No. I wish. I guess I'll begin. My name is John Pirro. I go by JT. I live at 196 Roxbury Road here in New Britain, Connecticut. So good evening, and I just want to say thank you to the City Council, City of New Britain, for allowing my fellow residents and I to testify today. I'm a graduate student at Central Connecticut State University, studying to be a licensed professional counselor, LPC in the state of Connecticut. And I aspire to help people like me who are on the autism spectrum. So today I'm merely here as a mental health advocate. During my studies, I have learned about the social determinants of mental health, STMH, SDMH for short. If you have not read this article published by A. Steven Lenz and Matthew E. Lemberger-Trulove, it was published in July of 2023, I encourage you to do so. Very insightful, very great stuff. In a nutshell, the STMH, social determinants of mental health, encompasses three parts. You have the upstream, the midstream, and the downstream. Upstream are the general laws and policies that can form the structure or influence the quality of societal community resources such as educational institutions and employment opportunities and so forth. Midstream are the effects, products if you will, of the upstream. These could be like the environmental conditions like air quality or access to public transportation or social services or whatever we can immediately access in our environment and community. And then the downstream plainly is us. And depending on what happens in the upstream Upstream and midstream, it can influence our mental health and well-being, especially of myself, residents of the community, and so forth, and especially those who are facing hardship. In considering the proposed budget by the mayor, I implore you all to consider this framework greatly, especially as it pertains to the proposed funding for education and how this will impact vital services that students in New Britain schools need to thrive. The effects of what happens here the upstream will impact the services immediately to the students immediately available to the students which is the midstream which will influence their mental health and well-being the downstream and you know particularly those students who may be predisposed to experiencing or who are currently currently experiencing mental health challenges. Speaking from personal experience having access to support staff and services like school counselors special education resources you know I will not be here today. And as a person on the autism spectrum these services were in Terkel they're still in Terkel and they were and they helped me out in all of my educational journeys and they're what brought me here today. I want other students like me who are on the autism spectrum to have the services that are fully supported by the city of New Britain to ensure they can succeed. Please ensure that these services remain and are strengthened. Thank you. Thank you John. Our next speaker is Kelly Knauss. I think I'm supposed to speak at the other meeting. It's not about the budget. Yeah that that is scheduled to start at 7 or after. Okay. So I'm supposed to speak at the other meeting. Yeah this is only about our budget. Okay so I'll speak at 7. See you then. I'll sit right here. Thank you. God bless you. Sorry. I need it. Next we have Mary Rogers. Good evening. I'm Mary Rogers and I live at 298 Cherry Street in New Britain. I support the budget suggestion that doesn't reduce the mill rate. I own and live in a two family home in New Britain. I calculate that the proposed decrease would save me eighty one dollars per year less than seven dollars per month. For me that isn't much of a savings. I realize I am fortunate and that for others, every penny counts. And $81 could be a significant amount. But that inequity is an equality issue, which New Britain can't solve alone. A recent article on MS.com titled, From Taxes to Housing, How Can Connecticut Inequality Be Addressed? Here Are Some Possible Solutions, asked, how should Connecticut address the gaps that help define life in the state, making it one of the nation's inequality capitals. The article quotes Mayor Aaron Stewart saying, I would say to restructure the property tax system. It's an incredibly regressive tax that really hurts your middle class working families here and oftentimes puts the onus and the burden on the municipalities to continue to raise and raise property taxes. I agree that restructuring the regressive property tax system could help. But I would go further and say that what is really needed is a total overhaul of the states and federal tax systems. Again, New Britain alone cannot solve this. What can we do? One thing is to make the most of the taxes that we do collect by providing vital services. I am happy not to save $7 per month to support the Board of Education. As Superintendent Dr. Tony Gasper said in a recent New Britain article, When we equip our young people with the tools they need to succeed, we build stronger families, a stronger workforce, and a stronger New Britain. I am happy not to save $7 per month to support the New Britain Library. The library is more than just books. It is community space with exceptional staff and varied programs that help all of New Britain's residents. I am happy not to save $7 per month to support a new building inspector position in the health and building department, especially since this position can create revenue for the city. Remember, this suggestion doesn't increase taxes. The cost isn't going up for residents. The current proposed budget saves residents a little, but comes at a great cost for the city, which then the residents lose in other areas like vital city services. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mary. Next is Alicia Strong. ALICIA STRONG Good evening council members. My name is Alicia Strong 2 0 1 7 Corbin Avenue New Britain and I'm here on behalf of New Britain Racial Justice Coalition. We're a grassroots organization that's been organizing directly with working class residents and tenants across the city. And we're here tonight because the people of New Britain are speaking clearly. They want investment in public services, not a symbolic tax cut. We've knocked doors, hosted community meetings, and had countless conversations with our neighbors. And in the past few months, NBRJC has collected over 150 signatures from New Britain residents who agree with our priorities. people who are calling for more funding for schools housing and the library that's 150 people who are not only frustrated but ready to be heard even as a tenant myself who owns a vehicle in the city my tax bill might get cut maybe 20 30 40 dollars but as a working class resident that doesn't change anything for me in relation to the public services that without that tax break that it can provide A PUBLIC LIBRARY THAT STAYS OPEN AFTER SCHOOL AND LATER HOURS, THAT IS SOMETHING I SUPPORT. HOUSING PROGRAMS THAT HELP FAMILIES AVOID EVICTION IS SOMETHING I SUPPORT. THESE SERVICES STRENGTHEN OUR ENTIRE COMMUNITY AND PROVIDE REAL LASTING VALUE, MORE THAN A FEW EXTRA DOLLARS IN OUR POCKET CAN. AND THIS ISN'T JUST COMMUNITY OPINION. IT'S BACKED BY DATA. JUST ABOUT A MONTH AGO, BEFORE THE HUD HEARINGS, A CONSULTING FIRM PRESENTED A STUDY TO THIS VERY COUNCIL. That study confirmed what we've been saying all along. Residents want and need more investment in affordable housing, public education, and basic infrastructure. You've seen the data. You know these needs are real. So I ask you, don't ignore the voices of people who live here, work here, and raise their children here. Don't trade public investment for superficial savings. Tax cuts may sound good on paper, but in reality, they shortchange the services our communities rely on. On behalf of the 150 residents who signed our petition and the many more we speak to each week, I urge this council to fund our schools, fund our libraries, and fund housing. Invest in a new Britain that works for everybody. Thank you. Thank you, Alicia. Our next speaker is Patrick Thompson. Good evening, Common Council. My name is Patrick Thompson, address 241 High Street, New Britain. I'm here to urge you to adopt the city budget that maintains the current tax rate and invests more central public services than the mayor's proposed budget. I do really think that it's critical that we try to invest these funds to infrastructure plans that are the infrastructure of the library. Giving it that 8% increase will be paid dividends down the line for our residents. for not only just, you know, students and people who want to, you know, just get free access to knowledge and books. It's also a great access to our unhoused population who are sadly continuously growing from our unaffordable housing in the city. I also think that it pays dividends by increasing the amount we give for our active budget for education, and it will be a great blessing for our schools that desperately need it. And it's something that I wish our current mayor would actually advocate for instead of pledging her fealty to the current Trump administration by going down D.C. and talking about giving money to coal instead of, you know, the schools in our city which are dying. It's a priority that we should take into consideration and act immediately, and I think this budget is definitely the best option towards it. That's all I have to say. Thank you very much. Thanks Patrick. Our next speaker is Jacob Pudlin. Good evening. My name is Jacob Pudlin. I live at 407 Monroe Street. I'm here to speak on behalf of the funding for our schools I think it needs to increase but I don't think you should take my word for it I think you should listen to our mayor who recently posted online that our education system is quote desperate for funding that it is our students suffer in it with its current level of funding I would like to see that number increase I've reached out to Democrats in this council and it sounds like it's possible that number could increase and as someone who pays taxes I want to echo the sentiment that others have said and say that saving six or seven dollars a month is not more important than fixing this problem for our schools. And I hope that you can all find a way to work together to make that happen. Thank you. DIRECTOR DEWOLF Thanks Jacob. Next speaker is Alexandra Sonia. Did I say that Alexander. DIRECTOR SORYA All right. Welcome. Hello members of the New Britain Common Council. My name is Alexander Soria. I live at 83 Kim Drive. I'm here to I'm here to in support of the education system and the library and public services that I don't think saving seven dollars per month is worth is worth cutting funding to these areas. Instead of cutting taxes, I believe we should instead direct the funds that would have already been lost to these services. Thank you. Thanks, Alexander. Our next speaker is Ann Speier. Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the council and Spire 13 Audubon Street New Britain. Yes I was here a month ago when the budget was presented to you because it seemed to me that the best time to give input and speak of my concern for our school district was when you were still about to sit down and look at that budget and maybe make some changes. Well I gather that there have been some changes proposed and I am strongly asking you to please go for them. let me join with the others saying seven dollars a month is not going to do me any good and you're looking at a senior and yes by now we are both on fixed incomes we are both retired at this point seven bucks a month that's silly. However the cumulative effect of not going in that direction could possibly hire another teacher another para give 30 kids a break that day it could make a difference in 30 lives. It will make that big a difference. I can tell you, when my son was in first grade, he had a teacher who did not understand him, to say it mildly, wrote sarcastic comments on his paper, figuring he couldn't read it, and posted it on the wall. He refused to do any more work for her. It was very simple. Luckily, there was money available in the budget that year, and a council that understood overcrowded classes are terrible for kids. They hired another first grade teacher. David moved into another class. He did much better with her. It made a difference. It made a difference to my kid. It made a difference to the 30 other kids who he was disrupting the class for when he was so unhappy. It will make a difference. Find the money and use it. Use it for our kids because if we cannot pull our school district together, we are never going to pull this city together. Families will come in and they will move right forward. That's what we've had for 30 years that I've been doing this. Is it 40? Yeah, it's 40. 55 seconds to influence you with wisdom. It hasn't worked since 1982. Why do I think it will now? Is this a filibuster, Ann? I guess I don't give up. Maybe I'm just stubborn. Let's talk about the library. I served on their board for eight years. I can tell you it is well administered. I can tell you every penny is used well. They service everyone, whether you are wealthy, whether you are homeless, whether you have children who are little, whether you are a teenager, whether you are looking for books, manuals, computer center, training on a computer because you don't know what this mouse thing and how do you make a mouse click. It's all there at the library. The maker space is very popular with people at this point and that's great. But it's really a center for job searching too. It's a center for socialization when people are lonely. Help our library out. Do something for our city please together. Thank you. FRED PODESTA. Thank you Anne. Next speaker is Christy Della Acchia. Close. Anne is tough to go after, good thing I agree with her wholeheartedly. So I am Christy Del Aguila from 414 Alexander Road. I'm a seasoned mother involved in absolutely everything. 10 years having kids in the district, and I have still another 13 more years coming. I'm here today to bring up on record what parents, staff, and the Board of Ed begs for each budget season to please stop flat funding our schools, holding us still near the bottom for per pupil spending. I'm hoping with the new leadership coming, whoever it is, we can finally start to have a bipartisan approach to investing in the city, in the kids. Do you know what else raises besides taxes when teachers are burnt out from trying to do less with more? The crime rate, good hardworking families leave, and the poverty cycle. What doesn't get raised? The reading scores. If we don't pay for this investment now, we will be paying for it in the future. We are seeing green shoots right now and more involvement and let's water those instead of just stomp on them. Thank you. FRED PODESTA. Thanks Kristi. Next speaker on the list is Alexis Crowley. ALEXIS CROWLEY. Hi my name is Alexis Crowley I live at 94 Upton Street in New Britain. I'm here. I'm sort of not super prepared for this because I just heard about this the other day. But I agree with everything everyone is saying. I don't think that cutting taxes is worth losing funding for any of these basic needs for human decency throughout the day. I've worked at libraries. I've seen how beautiful of a space it is for people in need. I worked in public schools. I've seen how they're always struggling for funding especially in Connecticut especially in a bigger city with a larger population of people of color. There's no it's ridiculous that you would even consider cutting school funding in a city like that. I'm also an artist. I have taught at libraries I've taught art courses at libraries. And not only is that good for the people that get to come and enjoy those courses, it's also good for me. It's income for me, and I also need that. Also, I've experienced homelessness, and I don't ever want anyone to have to go through that. But when you do go through that, it's really great to have actual access to an institution that has money to help you because everywhere is underfunded right now. So if there's ever a time not to cut funding to that it would be right now. And that's it. Thanks Alexis. That's all the names I have on the list. Is anybody calling in from. No call ins. I'll say it now. Anybody else in the audience. Youth versus maturity. We'll go with youth first. Good evening, Council. My name is Brian Chong. I'm a resident at 407 Monroe Street here in New Britain. But I also work as a union organizer with the Teamsters Union Local 671. And I'm here on behalf of 23 school bus drivers that service the New Britain public schools working for First Student New Britain, the company. And I'll read their names very briefly, very quickly right now. It's Alba Diaz, Jajara Roman, Tina Moon, Tammy Rice, Jacob Cassiano, Jamie Dieppa, Ray Rodriguez, Yesenia Felix, Jesse W. Carlos, Talavina, Liz Barrios, Eric Downer, Jordan Bermudez, Adrian Jackson, Azura Erdhart, Esther, Gino, Christopher Vega, and five, six other names are school bus drivers here in New Britain and residents. who want to see desperately a budget that both preserves their jobs, providing essential services to the students of New Britain. Our New Britain school bus drivers have already experienced layoffs this year as a direct result of impacts to federal education funding. Those of you who follow the politics of the Teamsters Union understand that we don't engage in petty politics. We simply support the politics and policies of those who act in the interest of the American working class. What we are seeing, what our union is seeing this council face is a choice between a budget that supports both the workers, the union workers that make the city run, and here I want to express that our team shows union solidarity with our brothers and sisters at the New Britain Public Library, the New Britain Federation of Teachers. You will understand, yeah, this is a choice between a budget that supports the working people of this city and the jobs that they work, the essential services they provide, and a choice between a budget that cuts these services, that prioritizes perhaps, I would say, not the most scientifically founded principles of the free market economy. The idea that if we just let the government do what we will, let companies do what we will, then suddenly our kids will have the services they need. If you observe the history of the past few years in our state, that is clearly not true. And again, that is why we, the Teamsters Union, are here actually speaking in front of the Common Council for the very first time. Because these are unprecedented times, and unprecedented times demand unprecedented action. And we are really hoping that the party in power here in this council will make the right decision and adopt a budget, again, that supports the needs of the American working class. Thank you. Thank you, Brian. Any other speakers? Mr. Kristapik, I see your hands were raised earlier. Good evening. Thank you. John Christophek, 292 Linwood. I wasn't going to talk tonight. You probably find that hard to believe. I think New Britain better be prepared for what's coming down the pike. Not this year. Well, starting this year. Next year for the next years. With the federal governments, what they're doing, what even the state government's doing. It's not going to be a nice situation. Well, I see once again we probably saved $150,000 on not having a chief operations officer. We'll see what the new administration does with that position. That's a good savings, $300,000 in the last two years. I think what the Common Council has to do is let's not always talk about raising taxes. Let's talk about where do we spend the money. $2 million, Beehive Bridge. $2.6 million, Stanley, $5,000. Stanley Golf Course, 5,000 square foot pavilion, 1.6 million new windows here. Maybe it's not about raising taxes, it's about where you spend the money. Over the last two years, our taxes have gone up $1,755. That's, well, it wasn't. The first year was $1,595. Last year, $1,795. $1,755. In the future, at least $1,755. But wait, there's going to be a reduction this year. That's $74 for us. My wife and I, we're going to Sizzler. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Christophic. I see a hand raised in the back. Ms. Oops. That's my mom. Sorry, I wasn't planning on speaking tonight either. My name is Rona Cohen. Good evening. I live at 25 South High Street here in New Britain, right around the corner, and I just wanted to say I agree with so many things that people have been saying and speaking as a parent of a child who has some difficulties in school and relies on services here in New Britain to be a socially independent, bright, incredibly kind human being, and I don't want those services cut. And I'm speaking as, you know, not a representative of the NAACP, but I was at an NAACP meeting, and we are also all very concerned about the idea that the education system will be flatlined, the library, that our library is in danger at a time, as the gentleman just said, when we need to be doing exactly the opposite. If we are worried about what's going on in this state, in this country, we need strong, strong citizens that understand and that can read and fight and raise their voices. And the education system and the library are the places where that happens. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Cohen. Yes, sir. Kelly? I think by what you've heard, you want to say something. Yeah, I do. Seeing it's about the library. How you doing? I'm Kelly Noss. I work at St. Mark's Church. I worked for the churches for 30 years here at St. Mark's. Just say your address, Kelly. 29 Cedar Street. Thank you. I work at the church there, St. Mark's. I just want to say that St. Mark's is right near the library. And me working for the library for 28 years, I know that everybody needs this so bad. All my priests, I work five churches a day. I have five priests, five bosses. And all your community service and all that, for 28 years you should come to me. And I used to have to be that guy to sign the community service, send it to your judge. you know, and my job turned 10 times harder. But now I see that the library, the library is something that this town really, really needs. You've got to realize that there are homeless people like this lady said. They go in there for shelter. They go in there for just when you're homeless, you need a place to chill and be able to look at the computer and get your mind going. And create positive energy. And if you take away stuff like that, and shelter, you know, we're going in backwards now. Everything is going in reverse. I just want to thank everybody here. I want to thank Santana. I had a stroke, so. Santiago. I remember me in Santiago. The first time I talked here, I taught them that community service wasn't able to be at your fire department. You remember that? So I'm the guy who taught you that community service is not allowed at the fire department, not allowed at Park and Rec. So you sent all your community service to me. And I'm blessed to do that. And I'm proud to run five churches. have five priests, be my boss, and be able to send people to the library to be able to get shelter, a little warmth. I honestly have to say I have homeless people living in my driveway in my cars. And I see that a lot of you are staring at me, and I got your attention. But a lot of people over in this corner, they don't stare at you and they don't get your attention. See, what happened to me is I did your community service. I did that. You sent all your bad people to me. But my head got cracked open, and I got traumatic brain injury. And not one of these people at Town Hall, they loved me back then, 28 years ago. But I'm a bad guy today. God bless you all. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Kelly. I'm going to recognize the gentlewoman in the back. Good evening Gail Connolly 2200 Stanley Street good old New Britain. Maybe I pay less taxes than others. I'm at like 683 my calculation per month with a tax cut and I feel like and that's Gail's math so. take that for what it's worth year after year I come here and I say please fund our most precious commodity our kids while the state does need to pony up additional dollars the city needs to as well adding money to a special savings account it's just not it put yourself in a prospective teacher shoes are you gonna take a position that may not be there next year probably not we've increased essential services for our PD and fire which again is My top three, but my number one is education. Take the tax cut, add an additional, making up this amount, $500,000 to the MBR, not to a savings account. Fund the library, that additional million. Our kids need to read. They need to know where to go. They get so much help at the library. Our kids are the future, and I'm just asking you guys to take a look at that budget. I know you've had for the last however many weeks. Rearrange it. The tax cut means nothing except for maybe some political gain. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Are there any other speakers who wish to speak? Nobody online? Correct, sir? Anybody? A third time? Hearing none, this concludes public participation at 6.45. As always thank you all. We will conclude as I said at 645. This special meeting will begin after a short recess. all the older persons could please take their seats think we're ready to get started here like to call to order this special meeting of the New Britain Common Council. This is the special meeting on May 28, 2025. The time is 6.55 p.m. Mr. Clerk, will you please call the roll? All the persons McNamara. Here. Smedley. Present. Sanchez. Here. Beloit-Savedra. Here. Simpson. Here. Russell. Here. Barbosa. Here. Hargraves. Here. McAdam. Here. Gibson. Here. Scott. Here. Connors. Here. Malinowski. Here. Bobone. Santiago? Present. 15 present, Your Honor. Thank you. Mr. Clerk? Alderman Santiago? I'd like to make a motion to waive the reading of the warrant. I have a second on that by Alderman Sanchez. All those in favor of waiving the reading of the warrant, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. We'll waive that. Alderman Smedley, item number one. Thank you, Your Honor. I make a motion to accept a report of the Committee on Planning, Zoning, and Housing regarding the Mayor's proposed general fund budget. For fiscal year 25-26, special revenue funds and enterprise funds budget for fiscal year 25-26, budget appropriation for capital improvement program for fiscal year 25-26, better known as LOSIP. Second. I have a second from Alderwoman Saavedra. And, Your Honor, of course, this is just a report. We'll take action at the next three items. Okay. Any questions or comments on the report for item number one? All those in favor, please say aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Alderman Smedley. Thank you, Your Honor. I make a motion to accept item number two. Second. I have a second from Alderman Santiago. And this is a report of the Committee on Administration, Finance, and Law and Public Services regarding the Mayor's proposed general fund budget for fiscal year 25-26, special revenue funds, and enterprise funds budget also for fiscal year 25-26, and budget appropriation for capital improvement program for fiscal year 25-26. Again, just a report. We'll take action in a moment. Any questions or comments on accepting the report? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Alderman Smedley, item number three. Thank you, Your Honor. I make a motion to accept and adopt item number three. Second. I have a second from Alderman Saavedra. Your Honor, this is a resolution regarding the general fund budget for fiscal year 25-26, which I'm sure there will be some discussion on. Thank you. I'll open the floor for comments. Your Honor. Alderman Santiago. Thank you, Your Honor. As we heard earlier today first of all I would like to make some amendments to the budget that again we did hear from this morning and other I mean from this evening and also other days that you know the concerns of the library the school and public safety. So we appreciate the budget that we had got received from the mayor. but it didn't fit what the people that came to the public participation asked for. And so we felt that we need to do something different. So we made some amendments that I would like to put across, and we'll discuss those amendments afterwards. First one was the education. Education was funded at $128 million. We would like to do is take the $2.6 million 646,191 dollars and minus 1.1 million to move that, that was the non-operating, to move it to the operating side of the education. We also would like to do is, for saving decrease, reduce or eliminate the two positions, revenue collector specialist, which has not been take in the last year and this year has not been fulfilled. So again, we felt that need to take it out. They're in the process, but it has not been filled. Economic development coordinator. That person just opened up. So we felt like taking the money from that one, which was $70,623 was the revenue collection, $75,000 from the economic development coordinator, and also reduce the celebration of New Britain from $100,000 to $50,000. The total would be $195,000. With the $195,000, we would like to take $20,000 of it, put it into the line item 001523004-5822, which is under the community services, unhoused prevention funds, put $20,000 into that fund, increased the library from 3,394,641 to 3,570,268, which would be an increase of 175, if I'm correct. and continue to keep the tax break as it is. And that's my, that's my amendments. Do I have a second on the amendment? I have a second from Alderwoman Sanchez. I'll now open up the floor for discussion on the amendment. Your Honor, I make a motion for a short recess. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? We're in recess at 7 p.m. Good luck. Thank you. Madam Mayor? Alderman Smedley? Make a motion that we return to normal council business. I have a second from Alderman Santiago. All those in favor of returning, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. We're returned at 7.14 p.m. Right now, the amendment is on the floor. It was seconded by Alderwoman Sanchez, and I believe Alderman Smedley had the floor when we went to recess. Thank you, Your Honor. So our caucus discussed the amendment from the other caucus, and we just have a few concerns that we wanted to talk about out loud. So first, the revenue collection specialist that is in the amendment to be eliminated, that is a union position that comes with supervisory requirements of our water department. and obviously in the tax department. So we're concerned about where those duties would be shifted to with the elimination of that position and how that would affect the union contract and if that had been thought of by the other side. The second concern was with the economic development business position elimination. That person's position is responsible for citywide business development, and obviously our grand list has continued to grow citywide So we're concerned that elimination of that position will result in a slowdown of business development, which we all know results in more burden on our constituents. The third statement from me is more just of a correct the record from the public speaking related to the bus contract. The gentleman came up and mentioned that there was going to be an elimination of bus drivers. That is not actually the case. The bus contract was recently renewed by the Board of Ed. for a three-year term for $34 million, where extra services, the scope of work was expanded for first student, in fact. So the notion that there's an elimination of bus drivers, I'm not quite sure where that came from, but the Board of Ed meeting minutes and the video of their meeting will reflect differently if you take a look at that information. Thank you, Your Honor. Thank you. Any other comments or questions on the amendment? Alderman Simpson? Yeah, I just, I have... Maybe an answer if I remember correctly, but the gentleman who spoke about the bus drivers indicated they've lost positions due to cuts at the federal level. So the fact that the BOE reinstated the contract, like it's a very good thing, but it just wasn't at the municipal level where those changes occurred. So I hope that gets to the bottom of it. Yeah, I don't want to be blamed for it. It's the federal government, not the municipal. Any other questions on the amendment? Alderwoman Barbosa. Yes, regarding the revenue collection specialist, you said that's a position that needs to be filled and where would those responsibilities be shifted to? Where are they currently being shifted to right now since the position is not filled and it hasn't been filled in close to two years? Alderman Smedley. Thank you Madam Mayor, through you. I do believe that there's a revenue collection aid currently filling the duties of that position because there's responsibilities that need to be fulfilled day to day. within that position. So an aide has been currently subbing in that position. Alderman McNamara. Thank you. Within the last three years the city government has changed slightly with the charter changes. We had a tax collector elected every two years prior to 2022 and now we have a revenue collector I think is the position. at a $40,000 increase and I think that to me says that the duties could increase of the revenue collector and apparently aides have been doing that job so it's always hard to eliminate positions but I think there is adequate staffing along with the now appointed revenue collector uh, to get that job done. In addition, uh, a COO has been added and an interim appointed last week to, uh, perform many of the duties of the executive, of the mayor. If you read the charter, that's exactly what the job description is. As I recall, the rationale for that was to allow the mayor to develop policies and to be out there as kind of our chief economic development officer, uh, The job is, this is a compliment, of the mayor is also to be a cheerleader and to fill that role too. So I think in terms of what I perceive to be what the community needs, it is to give the library a bit more funding. The users increased, I believe, 17%. in their last annual report. The library is doing much more than me going down to get books for my wife to take out mysteries. It's an interactive library doing many things, references even a shelter. So I think we can make that investment with a little sacrifice at City Hall. And I earnestly urge the colleagues around the table to consider those needs. Thank you. Thank you. Other woman just a point of information just very quickly the budget that you have in front of you right now already eliminates one revenue collector position from the tax office so this addition would be eliminating two jobs from that office now so what you're voting on there already was that one one removal of the revenue collection aid from that office and then this would be the second piece of that. The job also has not been vacant for two years. There was an individual that was in here. He wasn't here for very long, but it's been vacant for six months, maybe five months. If you wouldn't mind just clarifying that. There's a couple points on this one. We had two individuals. One, we had a girl by the name of Bridget. She was here, and she was amazing, but then got another job offer, so she left. Then we got another individual by the name of David. He came and it was too much. He's specialized in tax. And so the part I wanted to bring up in addition to what the mayor said is we're cutting a revenue collection aid because we've gone external with this job and we found out the best candidates are the internal ones. So we're giving acting. And we used to have two specialists downstairs in the office. One was water specialist and then there was a tax specialist. This position we were able to merge them because of the movement on it. So instead of seeing two you only see one on it. And then the other part was yes we had a revenue collection aid because we're giving them a chance to act that if we select one we wouldn't remove we wouldn't budget the revenue collection aid. Thank you. Alderwoman Pedro. Thank you Your Honor. So many points I'd like to make so I'm going to try and. make them in order and make them clear. First on the library, somebody came up here and said the library had a million dollar cut. That is just simply not true. The library over the last five years has received an increase every single year. Not an increase at what they have requested, but an increase in their budget no less. The library's doors are not going to close. People are going to still be able to enjoy the library fully. gentleman spoke about homeless people who sometimes like to go into the library to warm up or for entertainment are still going to be able to do that the library is not in jeopardy of closing its doors so I just want to make that point clear I also want to say that the budget in front of us proposed by the mayor cuts nothing except taxes and I want to say that again there is not a single service cut in the budget the mayor has proposed except for taxes now Let's talk about the Board of Education because that's the biggest single factor in the room. And it always is the biggest single factor. I served on the Board of Ed for 12 years. I fully appreciate and understand the need to advocate for education. The Board of Education has not been flat funded over the years. People love to say flat funding. THERE'S NOT ONLY ONE WAY THE BOARD GETS FUNDED. IT GETS FUNDED THROUGH ECS AND THE NBR, YES. IT GETS FUNDED THROUGH CITY BONDS. IT GETS FUNDED THROUGH CDBG FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS. IT GETS FUNDED THROUGH LOSIP THIS YEAR WITH DIFFERENT PROGRAMS. SO THE BOARD OF ED HAS NOT BEEN FLAT FUNDED. THE SPECIAL GRANT FUND THAT WAS CREATED ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO WAS CREATED SO THAT WHEN THERE WAS SURPLUS MONEY FROM A PREVIOUS YEAR, IT COULD BE PUT INTO THIS PROGRAM FOR THE BOARD OF EDUCATION to enhance what the ECS and MBR had already provided to them. So we have seen a growth in the MBR, about $5 million over the past six or seven years, and $7 million has flowed through the non-operating grant program. People are getting confused by the word non-operating. That does not mean that the Board of Ed cannot spend that. operating expenses it doesn't mean just bricks and mortars it is a grant program that's just the name of it and the superintendent and the board of ed could come and ask for release of that money and use it they've used it for PEARS they've used it for special education out placement they've used the money for a weight room at new britain high school they use the money to put instruments at the elementary school they've used the money for a variety of purposes over the last five years but this council in creating this line item for them this grant program does not limit how the money is spent my council colleagues talked about vacancies on the city side and how long something's been vacant and whether the position was really needed let's talk about board of education vacancies and then we'll talk about how important vacancies are and whether those positions are really needed as of today TWENTY TWO PARA VACANCIES EXIST IN THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND THE SUPERINTENDENT'S BUDGET IS ASKING FOR ANOTHER TWENTY PARAS. TWENTY TWO PARAS ARE VACANT CURRENTLY IN THIS SCHOOL YEAR. I WONDER HOW THAT IMPACTS OUR STUDENTS' LEARNING. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MONEY BECAUSE THESE ARE FULLY FUNDED VACANCIES. THESE ARE NOT A WISH LIST. THESE ARE PEOPLE THAT ARE FUNDED IN THE BUDGET THAT HAVE NOT BEEN HIRED. THERE ARE 32 CERTIFIED POSITIONS FULLY FUNDED IN THE BOARD OF EDUCATION'S BUDGET THAT HAVE NOT BEEN HIRED. I WONDER HOW STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT WOULD IMPROVE. FORGET ABOUT ADDING NEW MONEY, BUT ACTUALLY FILLING THESE 32 VACANT POSITIONS. OF THOSE 32 POSITIONS, 11 OF THEM ARE SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS. WE TALK A LOT ABOUT SPECIAL EDUCATION AND WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE LIVES OF OUR CHILDREN THAT HAVE SIGNIFICANT NEEDS. I'VE LIVED THAT LIFE WITH TWO OF MY CHILDREN. I FULLY UNDERSTAND IT. SO I HAVE GREAT CONCERN THAT THERE ARE 11 VACANCIES IN SPECIAL EDUCATION AND 22 VACANCIES IN PARA EDUCATORS. AGAIN, FULLY FUNDED. HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHETHER THE BOARD GETS MORE MONEY OR NOT. THESE ARE CURRENTLY FUNDED IN VACANT POSITIONS. THREE WORLD LANGUAGE TEACHERS, VACANT. EIGHT MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHERS, VACANT. WE TALK ABOUT OUR MATH SCORES IN THE CITY OF NEW BRITAIN. WE TALK ABOUT THE STRUGGLING. WE'RE MAKING STRIDES IN OTHER AREAS, BUT WE'RE STRUGGLING IN MATH. HOW DO YOU THINK A LONG-TERM SUB WORKS with our kids in math versus a certified math teacher we need to fill those vacancies they're fully funded three speech pathologists somebody asked a question on the council i think it was alderwoman barbosa back when the superintendent was here presenting are we meeting the IEPs are we meeting the 504s are the kids getting the services they're supposed to be getting three speech pathologists down the district needs to hire those speech pathologists I KNOW SEVERAL PEOPLE WHOSE IEPs ARE NOT BEING MET BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THOSE SPEECH PATHOLOGISTS HIRED. BY THE WAY, AGAIN, I WANT TO STATE, FULLY FUNDED POSITIONS, NOT NEW POSITIONS, FULLY FUNDED VACANT POSITIONS IN THE BOARD OF ED'S BUDGET. SO MY QUESTION IS, IS THERE A SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS IN THIS AREA? ARE THERE A SHORTAGE OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO WORK AS PARAS? ARE THERE A SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS WHO WANT TO BE MATH TEACHERS OR SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS? OR IS IT A PROBLEM OF ONBOARDING? IS OUR PROCESS OF HIRING PEOPLE AND THE TIMELINE TO ON BOARD THEM TAKING SO LONG THAT WE LOSE PEOPLE TO OTHER DISTRICTS? I'M JUST POSING THAT AS A QUESTION BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW. ALSO, AND I JUST ASKED THE SUPERINTENDENT IN THE BACK, AND I BROUGHT THIS UP AT THE MEETING TOO, EXCESS COST GRANT. IT IS NOT SHOWN IN THE BOARD OF ED'S BUDGET AS A REVENUE ITEM. IT'S NETTED AGAINST EXPENDITURES. YOU CAN'T REALLY FOLLOW THE MONEY WHEN IT'S NETTED AGAINST EXPENDITURES. It's historically been somewhere between $6 and $8 million. The Board of Ed just got their last check either today or yesterday that was about $1.7 million. So they're up to a little over $8 million in excess cost grant for this year. So I don't know what happens because there's less than a month left to school and this revenue came in. I'm pretty sure that there's going to be at least $8 million in next year for excess cost grant. there's a point eight million dollars new dollars from the state coming for ecs i believe in the way of the alliance district grant and the mayor has proposed two point six million dollars from the city so i just think we need to all be on the same page when we're talking about true vacancies in the process of hiring vacancies that the detriment of certain vacancies some vacancies are more significant than other vacancies and i would suggest For everybody in the audience that came here to advocate on behalf of education, looking at 22 paras vacant and 32 certified personnel vacant and have been vacant for over a year would be a greater cause of concern than taking a whack at this council in terms of add more money because more money isn't going to get these people hired because they're already funded and they're not hired. That's a problem for me. and the superintendent's budget also adds, requests another 20 paras. While we're carrying 22 vacancies, we're adding 20. What is the capacity of the school district to hire 40 new paras? And hire them for the start of the school system. Vet them, train them, and hire them. I have questions about that and concerns about that. Beyond the MBR, the New Britain taxpayer, carries a $3 million debt service in our budget that has grown. Five years ago it was $1 million, today it's $3 million in debt service. I support that. It's school construction, it's HVAC, it's boilers, it's things that come up in our buildings. I support that. I just want to say that's not flat funding. That's growing financial responsibility by the city to take care of our schools. I'm not sure if people understand we pay for the crossing guards, the people responsible to help our children cross the street and get to school safely. We pay for that, $605,000. The two resource officers, whether you like the school district having resource officers or not, the school asks for them. We do not thrust them upon the school. It is a request from the Board of Ed. We fully fund it at $180,000. It's not in our budget to the Board of Education, but it's something the city pays for. We pay for that. We pay for, at the high school, there's a safety academy. Police, fire, and EMS safety academy. School doesn't reimburse the district, the city for those. We send certified police officers, firemen and EMTs there to teach that course. It's a gesture that we do to get kids interested in those fields and possibly go out, become that professional and come back to work in the city of New Britain. The Be Responsible program initiated by our police department, they go into all fifth and sixth grade classrooms around the district and they offer that program and they interact with the kids. There's so many things that this budget does in terms of servicing our community from our outstanding parks and recs department. Every neighborhood, every ward in the city has a fantastic, either a school with a school playground, a New Britain park that's in there, huge investments. People, if I hear about the bridge one more time, I just can't believe it. That was a transportation grant. I'm sorry, folks, you may not say we don't need a bridge, let it fall and disconnect the city, but that money was never, ever going to be allowed to be used for education. The money came from the state. It was a transportation grant. It was used for the purpose. It was used for art. And once upon a time, Democrats loved the idea of public art. But somehow when this mayor designs public art and we're able to get a bridge that's a functional safety bridge and a piece of art, it's a terrible thing. Terrible, terrible, public art is an awful thing. I know Democrats now don't like that anymore, public art, no. New revenues, cannabis, $250,000. Medical savings from changing to our medical care, $400,000. Increased revenues from conveyance tax, interest income, a slight increase in our tax collection rate, the use of tax stabilization fund, building permit, and tier pilot. All things help maintain the budget that's before you tonight. Again, I'm going to say that the amendment in front of us does not change the amount of money going to the Board of Ed. It changes the mechanism, which goes into the MBR instead of the grant, but it doesn't give the Board of Ed any more money to spend. It's the exact same amount of money. Thank you, Your Honor. Your Honor. Alderman McNamara. Thank you, Your Honor. I am sure the Board of Education appreciates funding that has fluctuated over the last five years in the non-operating. But if you consider the word non-operating that's exactly what it means. Our school officials have to come to the mayor and request it. And if you want to look at the appropriation from the city over the last few years 23 the appropriation was one hundred twenty five million seven hundred thousand. In 2024 one hundred twenty seven million five hundred thousand. And in 2025 it was increased to $128 million. But that tells you that funds that I believe the school system could use at the beginning of the year may give them the ability to hire a needed position. For a minute, Alderman Saavedra, I thought you were back on the Board of Education with your impressive report on vacancies. But I think the point I'm hearing is the school system needs to be given fair consideration. It's the biggest part of the budget, I get it. But in terms, it cannot stay static in the appropriations side, which is what it's been. And just to point out, and we know I agree, the ECS system is not perfect. In our general fund budget, the ECS, education cost sharing, is at 72 million in this budget, and it was that last year. Already, Governor Lamont has added $8.83 million to that without discussing or completing talks with the legislature. And over the last five years, state aid has been We got a windfall with ARPA and the remainder of that money last year. It's been over 25 million more from the state of Connecticut, which I believe the Board of Ed report, the last report, the ECS is about 52%. I think it's going to be more than that, I'm confident, when the governor legislation gets done. But the point is local aid to education and being 165th or thereabouts in local aid. And I think that has to be one of my priorities and the other priority is property tax relief. So I'm pleased to join the mayor in a cut however modest it is in doing that. However, I think flat funded has a real meaning and if you look over 12 years flat funding fits the definition over a dozen years. So I just think we can make a in this uncertain time with the I can't think of the appropriate word what's going on in Washington. I think we I think as a community we have to make a statement and that is the impetus for what Alderman Santiago has proposed in this amendment. So again we have to balance. It's a tough choice but I think we strongly believe that we have to make a stand for education give the library a little bit more money, figure out a way to get the job done at City Hall, and there are ways to do that, as we know, particularly with the sort of reorganization of a revenue collector, a COO, that can, I'm sure, figure things out as we go along. So I stand by this amendment, and I also urge adoption. And thank you. DIRECTOR RIVERA- Thank you Alderman I just want to make a point of clarification if you go to page 267 of the budget it'll show you all of the different line items that go into 267 in your budget book. It'll show you all the different line items that go directly to the school district and there's multiple. It not only if you're talking about the. you know, BOE appropriation roll-up, which is the MBR that we fund. You have to look at all of the other grants and services, too. If you look at the ECS light item, it's been $72 million, give or take a few thousand. the last five years you have to look at all the grants and contributions and all of the the other line items there too and add them all together so it's really not as simple as just looking at one one line item then you also have to consider to the money that goes directly to the school district as a pass-through that the city doesn't get to see and that's where you see the fluctuation so the eight million increase in ECS this year is actually in the alliance funding which goes directly to the school district it doesn't come through the city so you won't see that reflected in this general fund budget but you will see it reflected in and obviously the school district's operating budget just as a point of clarification. I saw Alderman Scott with her hand up. Thank you Your Honor. I am standing in support of this amendment as it will provide services to our community and also give that little small tax break that you know maybe some people will fix incomes that will help them but switching over the non from non-operational to operational I think is very important so that the schools can just have immediate access to funds. I heard our Alderwoman say, make some statements about the shortage of pairs and yes, I'm friends with and I work with a lot of people who work in the school systems. It is extremely hard to work in schools, especially after COVID. And the amount of money that we're offering our pairs is absolutely ridiculous. You can't even live in the city of New Britain off of that salary. I have had calls from crossing guards telling me that they are not able to afford to live and they are protecting our kids with crossing the streets. So maybe if we could get this money to our board of that they could increase some benefits so we could place hire those positions. those are necessary positions and they need to be filled. So our youth comes first, they're our future and I support the education and we just recently filled the CEO position and we could have used some of that fund to go towards education or our library but we need to, we're proposing cutting these other positions that are not filled right now because they're not essential right now. Our kids are more essential. Our library is essential. So the library, I am a huge supporter of the library. The education in the library, our schools in the library, it goes hand in hand. They're not two separate things. The library teaches our kids to read. They provide free books. They provide reading programs, literacy programs. I literally raised my daughter in the New Britain Library. She was three months old, I think, at her first reading group. And today she loves books. And she can go back to the New Britain Library and still see staff that are still there from when she was three months old. So the library is crucial to our kids as they're growing up. The computers that they have. They're providing jobs and opportunities for people to learn. Some people don't have computers. I can remember when I didn't have any money and I went to the library and I was able to print out things and look for jobs and are unhomed, get to stay there when it's cold outside. I heard someone say that because they like to. It's not because they like to. It's because it is a place where they can go to keep warm in the winter. It is a place where they can stay cool when it is hot outside and they're thirsty. And not only that, but it's really a lot of fun to be at the library. You get to learn a lot while you're having fun. We had a beautiful fashion show for Black History Month. Kids are getting to make things in the Makerspace room. You can go and use the audio and record music All of these things there's just I could go on and on and on about the things that we can do at the library for free and our kids have a safe place to go and do them. I love the celebrating New Britain that I love that that day is so much fun for me. However I can't I have a hard time really difficult time celebrating New Britain when there are people that are unhomed when there are when our schools are not funded. It is very difficult. So cutting the cost on that celebration, we don't need to spend as much money as we're spending on it to celebrate. We can still celebrate and have a good time at a lower cost so that we can put some money into some of the services that everybody needs because everybody gets to enjoy the celebration. You can't celebrate if you don't have a place to live. You can't celebrate if you don't have food to eat and your kid doesn't have a book at school. your kid doesn't get services because they need there's no there's no payers because we can't hire them because we're not giving the right things to be able to hire them. It's really hard to keep those jobs filled. So we need to reduce that cost. And we could I have a lot of ideas about ways that we can still have that and still reduce the cost. So I'm here for the New Britain people in our community. And I'm looking at both of the budgets and I can't approve this budget without the amendments because it is not servicing the community and our services that everybody needs here in this community. So thank you. Alderman Santiago. Thank you Your Honor. I didn't get a chance to express why I put these we asked for these amendments. First, again, what's the people? When I got chose to sit in this position, it was because of the people. I knocked on those doors. I had those one-on-ones. I had those one-on-ones even to this moment that I'm here, as Kelly says. I don't have an issue working both sides. Like, I don't mind talking. I don't have that issue with it. I looked at the budget that we have, and yes, it does give a tax break. Is it a significant amount? No, it isn't. But that was one thing I was not, I refused. And I'm sorry, I'm not saying it to pull. He did have great ideas. There were wonderful ideas. It was just a point of that the people need a tax break. It could be 10 cents, it could be 20 cents, it could be a dollar. At this point in time where the way the economy is, something needs to be given. Something has to give to the people of this city to say, all right, I still want to stay here, right? The kids, I said it. Before, many times, we need to support our kids. Our kids, if you want them to come back here and take these seats, or the police department, or the para that we're talking about, or the teachers, we have to invest in them. They're not going to come back here, because I've seen it and I hear it. My son, for one, says it all the time, I'm moving to Texas. And I'm telling him, what is Texas going to do that Connecticut can't do? But that's his way of saying that He's not getting supported here. And don't get me wrong, that's my son. But you know, I have to support what he feels like, right? So that was it in the library. My niece today is just no lie today. She loves Stitch. She went yesterday to go pick up a little 3D printer figurine of Stitch. And she said, look what I got from the library. Those are the things that the library does. The library gives experiences. community gives everything that the community itself don't give, right? You got a safe space. And I didn't know until Lori, Ms. Adam, Alderman McAdam, that they use that library for heating and cooling for the individuals unhoused, a word that I've been correctly saying instead of saying homelessness. But that being said, that library needs, it's not going to close down, we're right, it's not going to close down, but the services are going to reduce. The staff is going to reduce. Those are the things that's going to happen just the same thing as a school. If we don't have that we don't support those services people are not going to want to be here. They're not going to want to work here. The schools are not going to want to work. The teachers are not working and I've seen that I've seen and I hear it from schools that I go to and I you can't I do voluntary all the schools. So there's one thing you can say I do listen to when the teachers talk. And and don't get me wrong some of them might not be here for the right reasons. But there's a lot of them that are here for the reasons that they want for the kids. And we have to support them. Non-operating means that the Board of Ed has to beg. And I know I might be little by when I say beg. But still, you have to ask and just put a description of why you're going to use that money before it is even being used. And again, like someone said, teachers are not going to come here on a grant. They'd rather go to Farmington, Avon. They know they're going to get paid and it's a secure job than having a job that maybe this year is funded and next year is not going to be funded. We're not going to do that. So this was just a way of saying, hey, we don't have much, but this is what we got, and I'm willing to give it up. On the house, again, I've seen it, and I've seen it from my friend. She lost the house. One of the individuals that came in, that the fire that they lost, that was one of them. Actually, that's my niece that lived on the third floor and the other ones that lived on the second floor. She suffered that. And I saw how hard it was for her to scrounge up money and things because she just lost it all in one minute. One second, everything was gone. And there's a lot of individuals that are doing that right now that have lost a lot. And don't get me wrong. The city has been tremendous to help. Mary Floyd, we said, and she ran her money that she had ran out. So this is the reason why we said, you know what? We could go to the district that want to give someone $140,000 for a position. Why don't they give some money to the Celebration of the New Brand? Why don't some of the district itself give money to the, if we're investing to the district, why don't they invest too, right? So this is the reason why we said, you know what, we'll cut the $100,000 to $50,000 and start looking at the district and say, hey, you need to start helping too. If we invested in you guys to grow, then you need to start putting some money into the to the pot to help make revitalize the city itself also. So that's what was our thoughts on that part. And then again the the two two positions that we said I didn't I did make some calls I did look and again I've been here four years prior two years off two years in and I was here when the mayor did this created the position I mean created the non-operating and I was I still was skeptical about that but at the point in time we were broke. We didn't have no money, so I knew and understood that time we need to do something like that. And I'm not saying that we're making money, we're bringing in the dough, we're bringing in, no. But at one point, what we're going to say is enough is enough. At this point, we got the federal government coming on our backs. We're still going iffy-iffy on the state side. And even though that we have the majority there, it's still iffy-iffy about that, right? All we have here is home. And we got to take care of our home. And this is what we felt like this amendment was for. Thank you. Any other Alder person wish to comment? We'll go on the amendment. May I raise a point of order? Just as a court counsel, this is a transfer, a decrease, and adding funds to other accounts. That can be accomplished in one motion. Mr. Counsel? I'm sorry, can you repeat that Alderman? I didn't hear that. The amendment made is a transfer within the budget. It is decreases, or savings, as well as increasing two accounts. Can that be done in one motion? Is that acceptable? Yes, it is. Thank you, sir. Any other questions or comments, Alderman Simpson, on the amendment? Thank you, Your Honor. I rise in support of this amendment. Originally, I was prepared to entirely do away with the tax decrease. My one criticism of this budget is that I feel like Number one, I'm going to acknowledge it is an election year for many folks in this room. Number two, it's celebrating the fact that we are cutting taxes. It's not celebrating the impact that it's going to have for residents. And I feel like as a council, we need to focus on the impact we're having on people, especially when every single person, well, I shouldn't say every, but every person here spoke in favor of either keeping taxes level where they didn't oppose it. In terms of our crossing guards, I've spoken with the crossing guard who was responsible for all of the scheduling for all of them. They haven't gotten a raise in five years. Imagine that. You haven't gotten a penny more since pre-COVID. That's not true. They got a raise two years ago. This is what they came back to me with. I'm sorry. I'm just telling you the facts. They got erased two years ago. And I'm telling you what they shared, what they were shared. Should do your homework. In terms of the no cuts narrative in this budget, we did just hear the finance director say that they can, correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Perugini, you guys consolidated positions over the, no? Were you talking about the revenue collection specialist? Yes, there was a lot of movements going on. Were any positions consolidated prior to this budget being presented? So it's like a seven-year story. Yeah, it's a seven-year story on that where we had two revenue specialists. One was tax only and the other was water and sewer. And then after all the movement of people coming and going, we were able to combine it and that was really the final missing piece so that we could have a revenue collection office instead of part tax, part water sewer. Okay, thank you. That clears up my sort of concern there. Okay. Because I hear, oh, consolidation and then cuts. I'm like, oh. Alrighty. Are we allowed to call up Dr. Tony Gasper for the Board of Ed? Or is that on a... Sure, if you have questions for him pertaining to the amendment, which is still on the floor right now. Sure. Good evening. So there does seem to be either confusion or contention or just a non-consensus as to what non-operating funds actually indicate. Are these funds that come to the Board of Ed year over year or do you have to go and apply for them? Essentially, how do these grants and contributions work on your end? So I want to be very careful and give a caveat. My experience is I'm finishing my third year here as superintendent of schools. Well, be gentle. No, that's just to say that I'm not going to venture to give any history past that. And during my time, my relationship with Mayor Stewart has been a positive one. It is true that it does require an extra request. However, in my time, those requests have been granted. And these funds are not guaranteed year over year, correct? In the same way as MBR, no. So MBR, for those who are not familiar with the acronym, stands for Minimum Budget Requirement, and that basically is a state law that says budget cannot go down. Gotcha. So essentially, if we take these funds and we move them over to the operating fund, this guarantees education funding year over year, so we won't have to come, well, I mean, I don't want to speak for future councils, but in terms of this million dollars, or 1.1, whatever was proposed, we wouldn't have to go back year after year after year and have you apply for them. Technically. In the budget you could put that towards the paraeducators. Sure technically speaking that's true it basically is simply a guarantee that the overall budget would not go down I believe the state law makes an exception when student enrollment substantially declines but we are not seeing that now or it's not predicted in the near future for us. I agree we have a lot of diverse housing coming into the city so I anticipate the number of students would grow there. Let's see, let's see, let's see. I think that's all I had on this one. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you, Dr. Gasper. Any other questions or comments on the amendment? We'll take a vote on the amendment then. All those in favor of the amendment, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? No. Party in line. Party in line. Motion carries. We'll go back to the budget as amended once for discussion. Any discussion on the item as amended once? Seeing and hearing none, we'll take a vote. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. Party line, but motion carries as amended once. Item three, or I'm sorry, item four, Alderman Smedley. Thank you, Your Honor. I make a motion to accept and adopt item number four. I have a second from Alderman Saavedra. Thank you. This is to act on a resolution regarding the special revenue funds and enterprise funds budget for fiscal year 25-26. Do we have any questions or comments regarding the special revenue funds budget? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Are we supposed to take a roll call? Right? We're supposed to roll call. Roll call. I mean, you delayed it. Yes, Mayor, roll call. Yeah. Technically, it's supposed to be a roll. I mean, we know how the vote is breaking out. Technically it's supposed to be a roll call, sorry. Okay. We'll finish four and then we'll go back to three. This will be on the, this is a roll call vote on the special revenue funds and the enterprise funds budget. So we are on item number four. We'll go back and fix the other one afterwards. Mr. Clerk. Okay, number four, okay. Alderpersons McNamara. Yes. Smedley. Yes. Sanchez. Yes. Belen Saavedra. Yes. Simpson. Yes. Russell. Yes. Barbosa. Yes. Hargraves. Yes. McAdam. Yes. Gibson. Yes. Scott. Yes. Connors. Yes. Malinowski. Yes. Pabon. Yes. Santiago. Yes. 15-0, Your Honor. Motion carries. So I'm going to make the, we're going to go back to item number three, which is regarding the general fund budget as amended once, and I'm going to have Mr. Clerk take an official roll call vote. WE KNOW IT WAS DOWN PARTY LINE, BUT WE'LL TAKE A ROLL CALL VOTE ON ITEM THREE JUST TO GET THAT ON THE RECORD AS IT IS STATED THAT WE NEED TO HAVE A ROLL CALL FOR A BUDGET. ALL THE PERSONS, MCNAMARA. YES, AS AMENDED. SMEDLEY. NO. SANCHEZ. YES. BELOIN-SEVADRA. NO. SIMPSON. YES. RUSSELL. NO. BARBOSA. YES. HARGRAVES. NO. MCADAM. YES. GIBSON. NO. SCOTT. YES. CONNORS. Malinowski? No. Pabon? No. Santiago? Yes. 8-7. Thank you. Motion carries. Now we're going to go to item 5, Alderman Smedley. Thank you, Your Honor. I make a motion to accept and adopt item number 5. Second. I have a second from Alderwoman Saavedra. Thank you. And this is a resolution regarding the budget appropriation for capital improvement projects for 2025-2026, better known as LOSIP, and the list is on everyone's desk. Any questions or comments? Alderwoman Saavedra. I just want to point out there are three BOE projects on there. At your request you asked the school department to send you a list of capital improvements and this is the first time they're making it on the low SIP so I just want to do a shout out because the mayor could have used this money for other projects that aren't related to the Board of Education but instead she chose to Lincoln School LED lighting upgrades that will bring down energy costs there. DeLauretto School flooring replacement and Slade School locker replacements and upgrades. Those three items are on the LOSIP for the Board of Education. Thank you, Mayor. Any other questions or comments on this item? Mr. Clerk? All the persons McNamara. Yes. Smedley. Yes. Sanchez. Yes. Bologna-Savedra. Yes. Simpson. Yes. Russell. Yes. Barbosa. Yes. Hargraves. Yes. McAdam. Yes. Gibson. Yes. Scott? Yes. Connors? Yes. Malinowski? Yes. Pabon? Yes. Santiago? Yes. 15-0, Your Honor. Motion carries. Motion for adjournment. Made by Alderman Santiago, seconded by Alderman Gibson. All those in favor of adjournment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? We are adjourned from the special meeting. The time is 7.58 p.m. Public participation for the regular meeting will start momentarily.