Budget

Balancing the budget is arguably the single most important responsibility of the mayor’s office. Fully funding all components of public services so that they can function efficiently and effectively while also keeping the tax burden on our residents as low as possible is the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, the current administration has failed to responsibly carry out this duty in recent decades, with 2022 marking the 17th consecutive year of Mayor Dickinson proposing a tax increase. Based on the current median price of a house in Wallingford, this amounts to an average tax increase of over $1,500 per year over that period of time.

Riley O’Connell vows to make freezing the tax rate his number one priority should he be elected, because that is the most equitable way to help all Wallingford residents as we continue to face the challenges of inflation in an uncertain world economy. O’Connell publicly supported an alternative town budget in 2022, one in which the majority of the Town Council agreed on (three Democrats and three Republicans) and that would have prevented another tax increase. Unfortunately it did not reach the seven vote requirement to override the mayor’s veto, and the mayor’s tax increase ultimately passed.

The good news is that there are so many common sense improvements that Wallingford can make under the leadership of a new mayor that would streamline spending and increase property values in the long-run, as well as improve the overall quality of life of our residents. This would allow our town to move forward without raising taxes. These proposals are discussed in more detail in other sections of the “Issues” tab, but they range from technological improvements to investments in essential infrastructure, and include improvements to hiring practices, low-interest bonding, the budget process as a whole, and so much more. Not to mention that there are millions of dollars available through federal and state grant programs that the current administration chooses to ignore.

The current administration adheres to an entirely inflexible version of fiscal conservatism that fails to respond to situations in which spending one dollar today would save five dollars down the road. We have seen examples of this when it comes to the delayed maintenance of Community Pool, our schools, and our utilities. Rather than actively keep up with repairs and renovations, the current administration time and time again lets these things fall into complete disrepair until entire rebuilds are necessary. In the context of these past couple years under the pandemic, rather than pull from the “rainy day” fund that has barely been touched in the last thirty-eight years, Mayor Dickinson raised taxes yet again as countless businesses were already on the verge of closing their doors for good. If the current administration wants to make the argument that the “rainy day” fund should never be drawn from, then that money should at the very least be properly invested rather than left to stagnate in savings accounts. Riley O’Connell can certainly appreciate fiscal responsibility, but what we’ve seen occur over the past few years is the very definition of irresponsible.

Additionally, when it comes to the budget writing process the current administration has consistently overestimated expenditures while underestimating revenues. While an annual surplus is better than an annual deficit, there is a real cost to purposefully inaccurate estimations. These excess funds become stuck in untouchable budget items, often for years, where they can neither accumulate interest nor be invested elsewhere. That equates to completely avoidable losses that are ultimately levied on the taxpayer. Competent budgeting would minimize these frozen funds. This issue is further highlighted by the mismanagement of our pension funds. We consistently experience returns on these funds that are a fraction of what corresponding average market returns are, and once again the burden of that difference falls squarely on the Wallingford taxpayer.

Lastly, we cannot talk about the town budget without at least mentioning what makes up about two-thirds of it, the Board of Education budget. To be perfectly clear, the mayor does not oversee our public education system, that authority lies solely with the Board, however decisions on how much funding the Board will receive each fiscal year (and loosely how that money can be spent) is determined by the mayor and Town Council. This is crucial, because there is no getting around the fact that Wallingford’s public school system, once one of our town’s greatest assets, has declined significantly in recent years.

Following a similar trend line as our tax rate, Wallingford had one of the top public education systems in the state when Mayor Dickinson first took office thirty-eight years ago; today, we don’t even meet state standards and are ranked nearly last in our district. Our past achievements were only made possible by generations of investment into our children’s futures, but we must never forget that these commitments must be ongoing and we must continue to innovate to maintain such promises. The physical buildings of our schools are far beyond their lifespan and crumbling, many kids are prohibited from playing sports because we are one of the few districts that still uses a pay-to-play program, and educators jobs have perhaps never been more challenging nor more important. This is not sustainable for our children’s future.

The distinction is clear: a vote for O’Connell is a vote for lower taxes and investing in our future, while a vote for his opponent is a vote for higher taxes and the continued deterioration of our once beautiful town.