Betty Branford's Budget

If you are a property owner in Branford, you will be receiving a tax bill in the mail after July 1, after the 2011-12 budget is approved and the mill rate is set. Currently the a budget of $94,040,109, which is an increase of 3.32 percent over the current fiscal year, and the proposed the mill rate is 24.44, which is an increase of 3.69 percent. So what does this mean for you?

Meet Betty Branford, our fictitious town resident who carries a tax bill of $5,500 based on the assessment of her home – $225,000, an average assessment for property in Branford. If the budget were to be approved as proposed* – the next budget meeting is May 10 (RTM) – then Betty would be paying certain amounts for the following services in town. The break down of where Betty’s tax dollars go was done through materials and information provided by the Town Finance Department and is based on department expenditures; if each department’s revenues were factored into this analysis, the amount Betty would pay for services could be slightly different.

So it’s July 2011, and Betty has paid half her tax bill as the town mandates (she will pay the other half in January). She and her two children, Bobby, 9, and Billy, 17, decide they want to head down to to watch the Fourth of July fireworks celebration. She should be happy to know that the money the town has spent in 2009 and amended for in 2010 is the same the town asked for in the 2011-12 budget for the display –  $15,000 – so the show should be exactly as she has enjoyed it in years past. And the actual ticket price for Betty and her kids gives them good bang for their buck. As a household, they pay $1.72 to enjoy this evening of Americana. This $1.72 also goes to all public celebration costs including concert set-up, seasonal and part-time and help and patriotic observance.

Though some may think that the cost of the Branford Festival is part of the tax dollars that get allocated for Public Celebration; it’s not. However, Betty’s tax dollars to support the , and are used to pay people overtime to work the Festival, which will take place June 17 to 19 this year. The sends staff members to work the festival as well, but their services are free for this event.

So what does Betty get from the Parks & Recreation Department? For $47.78 a year, Betty and her children can swim for free at pool six days a week (Mon-Fri, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.; Sat, 1 to 3:30 p.m.). They also get free use of the town’s parks. Her $47.78 also pays for her sons, Billy and Bobby, to use the and the tennis courts at . And when Betty and her kids get thirsty while walking on the Green, they can stop for a drink at a water fountain thanks to Parks & Recreation for paying that bill.

So summer is winding to a close and Betty decides to have a yard sale to make a few extra bucks. Some of her stuff sells and some she donates to charity but grandma’s old couch that has seen time in a fraternity house when her brother was in college, is beyond selling, donating or pretty much doing anything with. Though she’d like to leave it on the curb – after all, Betty pays $177.67 for – she’ll have to haul the couch off to the dump to be disposed of. Of the total 2011-12 requested funds for the department ($3,037,899), $801,800 will go toward refuse and recycling pick-up for Betty and the town, and $109,020 will be allocated toward landfill costs. Though frustrated that she has to haul her couch away, Betty’s happy to use the town facilities for just under $200 for the year.

So September has come and it’s time for Betty to send the kids off to school. Bobby will be in fourth grade at and Billy will be a senior at High School. Whether Betty has two children or five, she pays a total of $2,875.76 toward the education budget. Of that cost, Betty should know that about $44.41 is allocated for her son Bobby to have textbooks and workbooks in his school. She should also know that if her son Billy was to shell the cost for his certified, full-time academic teachers at Branford High School on his own, (not including the price of benefits) he would be paying about $6,231 for the 2011-12 school year. Though a high bill for a high school student, it’s good to remember Billy pays nothing and mom pays just under $3,000 – a lot less than college will cost for Billy next year.

The total requested budget from the was a 3.68 percent increase over current spending, but the Board of Finance recommends a 3-percent increase, totaling $49,170,365, or 52.29 percent of Branford's total proposed budget.

The kids are back in school and Bobby’s birthday is around the corner. Betty decides to bake cupcakes for Bobby but finds her dog has escaped. Betty forgets the nearly done Funfetti cupcakes and races to find Buster. When Betty rounds the corner, she finds Buster squaring off with a homeless, angry cat in the middle of the road. The dog-cat standoff has stopped traffic and officers are on site assisting. It’s a good thing that Betty paid her $7.83 for the officers to be there and save the life of Buster.

Because Buster is licensed – a service provided by the , which costs Betty $13.32 for the department for the year – the Animal Control Department does not issue Betty a citation. However, they will now have to take the cat to a vet hospital to be checked and vaccinated if need be, and then he gets boarded at the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter. The shelter will make a few dollars if the cat is adopted, though the revenues for the Animal Control Department are far less than the expenditures.

Ut oh! As Betty rounds the corner for home, she sees smoke billowing from her house. A neighbor grabs Buster as Betty rushes inside to find her Funfetti cupcakes in flames. By the time she opens the oven door, Branford Fire Department sirens are blaring down the street and they’ve come to save the day. Betty has shelled out $270.85 for the department’s services and she’s sure glad she did. The small kitchen fire blaze is extinguished and Betty heads down to the Big Y to buy Bobby’s cupcakes.

After a long day, Betty gets the kids off their buses from school and suggests that the family have some R&R together. She flips on to check out the latest at a price of 27 cents. The meeting spikes Betty’s interest and she decides to head down to the the following week to catch the next meeting.

Though Betty doesn’t use the senior center yet, she pays $21.21 every year for the services offered, which includes programs for seniors and transportation for participants to and from the center as well as in-town errand transportation. Aside from deriving pleasure knowing she is helping Branford seniors stay in town, Betty gets a small return on her tax money by using the building during this town meeting.

At the Board of Selectmen Meeting Betty finds herself before three elected officials whose combined salaries total $247,786 (including administrative assistant salary), a 2.3 percent increase over the current fiscal year. Betty pays $19.64 for her town to be run by this executive branch, which includes these salaries.

Betty is so excited to have been part of a town meeting for the first time and she leaves the Canoe Brook Senior Center elated. She can’t wait to get home and tell the kids all about it. What Betty doesn’t realize is that she’s driving too fast and the new purchased last year by the Police Department is hot on her tail. Betty is disappointed that she shells out $321.96 for police services on top of the cost of her speeding ticket; she is however grateful for the safety the department offers.

The meeting has gotten Betty interested in her local government so she logs onto the town Web site and finds that she can now renew her online (this gives Betty use of public parks, beaches and the town dump). She then finds that she can search town records like recent real estate transactions and property information all from the comfort of her house. To whom does Betty owe her thanks? The is largely responsible for spearheading the virtual town hall, and she pays $36.40 for these services and more.

So life carries on for Betty who is now very into her town government. She is eager to participate in the local election but must go down to the because she’s never been registered in Branford. For the services she pays $6.37.

Fall has come and gone and it’s another terrible winter in the Town of Branford. Betty and her kids wake up to find 10 feet of snow accumulated outside, but they’ve got to get out and return their library books! Though Betty puts the kids to work for free shoveling the driveway, she pays $128.48 for the Public Works Department to plow her road and provide services all year long. Library services at the , where Betty returns her nearly overdue books, cost her $66.83 a year.

Spring has finally come to Branford and Betty decides to take Buster and the kids to for a doggie play date. As Buster races through the trails around the pond, she’s happy that she shelled out 49 cents for the commission that works to keep this park open and running – this includes the free doggie bags for cleaning up after Buster.

My oh, my, it’s budget season again and Betty decides to head to a town meeting to learn more about where her tax dollars are spent. She meets the Board of Finance and the of the town and learns that she pays just $4.39 for their services. She also learns at this meeting that $310.51 of her hard earned cash goes toward the Town debt principal and another $88.48 is allocated toward debt interest. Suddenly realizing where every dollar goes and how ever dollar counts, Betty decides that she’ll be attending as many town meetings as possible to do her part as a community member to make sure she’s getting the most bang for her buck.

*As the town works to reduce the budget in anticipation of the meeting before the RTM on May 10, some numbers may change; the total budget, however, can not be higher than the BOF recommendation.