Groton Town Council Cuts City Budget Request 13 Percent

The Groton Town Council cut the City of Groton’s budget request for highways and police more than $575,000 Tuesday, a cut of 13 percent.

“I could not believe it. I could not believe that they would be so punitive,” Mayor Marian Galbraith said.

“They targeted the city,” she said.

Town Mayor Heather Bond Somers said the city was not targeted; quite the contrary. She said the council is trying to do what’s best for all residents of Groton.

“We don’t have any ax to grind,” she said. “We are trying to do what the whole town can afford. But with revenues the way they are we cannot afford to fund things the way we have in the past.”

She added that three councilors live in the city.

The Town Council provided zero funding for Groton Long Point police and cut that subdivisions roads budget as well. The city had asked for $4.39 million from the town, and was cut $575,549. 

Galbraith said the city had already cut its highway budget 6.4 percent from the previous year and reduced its police budget 1.2 percent from the amount the city requested last year.

The budget proposed by the city would have kept the city’s tax rate stable at 4.595 mills, a zero percent increase. Town Councilors cut the city’s highway request 16 percent and the city’s police request 10 percent.

“These two cuts add up to more than the tax impact when Pfizer building 118 comes down,” Galbraith said, referring to Pfizer, Inc.’s recent announcement that it plans to raise its former research headquarters on Eastern Point Road. Galbraith said she listened to a discussion in which councilors considered cutting costs for city snow plowing, post employment benefits and the emergency dispatch center.

Galbraith said she plans to attend the Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee’s special meeting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Groton Senior Center and ask that the police cuts be restored. She said town meeting doesn’t deal with the city highway budget, but under the city charter, she can recommend mediation.

The charter allows for a three-member committee, including a representative appointed by the town, a representative appointed by the city and a representative of the Connecticut Department of Transportation to hear the dispute. Galbraith said she would “strongly recommend” mediation to the town council.

Somers said she would support arbitration, because it would provide clarity on what the town is responsible for.

“No one is taking any of this lightly,” she said.

Galbraith said if the funding is not restored, the City Council would have to revisit the budget.

“We would either have to cut services tremendously, lay people off, (or) raise taxes, and the citizens ought to be able to weigh in on that, because it’s their services,” Galbraith said.

The City Council holds a public hearing on the proposed budget at 6:30 p.m. on Monday in the Council Chambers in the Groton Municipal Building.