Councilor Ryan continued by questioning whether the additional $1,703,834
Pequot-Mohegan Funding was guaranteed for the future. Councilor Buhle responded
stating the supplemental $1,703,834 was not guaranteed, but that the $800,000 increase
for a new Pequot-Mohegan total of $2,191,000 would be in perpetuity. Finance Director
Matthew Bonin agreed that the supplemental $1,703,834 for the Pequot-Mohegan was
only for the upcoming year (fy 26/27).
Councilor Ryan stated the purpose of the Mill Rate Stabilization Fund was to smooth the
tax burden. He noted each year they have scheduled using some revenue from the Mill
Rate Stabilization Fund. However, he stated in past five-years the town did not need to
use the Mill Rate Stabilization Fund because of revenues that came during the course of
the year. Therefore, he stated because the trend has been that they have not had to use the
Mill Rate Stabilization Fund, and because the value of one mill ($1.8 million) was much
higher than in previous years that he would be open to the idea of reducing the amount of
revenue coming from the Mill Rate Stabilization Fund, with the use of the additional
supplemental funds to reduce the projected mill rate to the equalized mill rate.
Councilor Garcia-Irizarry noted that Ledyard was only going to receive the Supplemental
Funding in the total amount of $2,185,138 one-time. Therefore, she stated if they reduced
the projected Mill Rate by one-mill; and they do not receive the supplemental revenue
the following year (fy 27/28), that would mean that they would have to raise the mill rate
by more than one-mill.
Councilor Buhle explained if they reduced the projected mill rate to the
adjusted/equalized mill rate, that some residents would not see an increase in their tax
bill; some residents and every commercial property would see a decrease in their tax bill;
and some residents would see a tax increase based on their home value, and all motor
vehicle taxes would decrease. She went on to explain by reducing the projected mill rate
to the adjusted/equalized mill rate that it would set the town up to be in a better position
for the long term. She stated if the State managed to repeat the supplemental funding to
Ledyard the following budget year (27/28) that the town would be better off than if they
put all of the $2,185,138 supplemental funding toward lowering the projected mill rate
for this coming year (fy 26/27). She also noted by reducing the revenue coming from the
Mill Rate Stabilization Fund that they would not have to question whether there would
be enough funding in the Mill Rate Stabilization Fund for future years.
Councilor Garcia-Irizarry stated that she wanted to: (1) Reduce the projected Mill Rate
for Fiscal Year 2026/2027 to the equalized/adjusted mill rate; and (2) Reduce the amount
of revenue coming from the Mill Rate Stabilization Fund. However, she stated that she
did not want to reduce the projected Mill Rate by more than one mill, because she did not
want residents to receive a tax bill the following year (fy 27/28) that was thousands of
dollars more than this year. She stated when they received one-time money they should
use it for one-time capital items and not for reoccurring expenses.
Councilor Buhle stated that she was trying to be responsible with how they use the
$2,185,138 supplemental revenue. She stated by using some of the funding to reduce the
amount of revenue coming from the Mill Rate Stabilization Fund; that they would have
funding available next year (fy27/28) if needed to stabilize the mill rate increase.
