I’ve been working overtime in the comments of Facebook posts to make sure everyone has the information they need before they go to vote. This made me realize we don’t have a post with a quick easy guide to the budget. So, here it is. Here’s what you’re voting on.
At the public hearing on March 20, 2024 the Board of Education (BOE) and the First Selectmen presented their approved budgets. Let’s start with the school budget.
Board of Education Budget
BOE Chair Sara Introvigne-Kelley and Superintendent of Schools Steven Moccio presented a budget of $31,420,854.90.
This was the number unanimously approved by the BOE after it asked the Superintendent to make two rounds of cuts.
It represented an increase of 3.86%, most of which was due to contractual obligations.
The Superintendent also indicated that his team had managed to find $125,000 in savings that had not yet been removed from the budget proposal (which had to be done via BOE vote).
After the public hearing, the Board of Finance met and asked the BOE to make $210,000 in reductions in addition to the $125,000 in savings for an overall reduction of $335,000.
At the April 1, 2024, BOE meeting, the board voted to accept these changes, knowing that they would use money from a non-lapsing capital improvement fund for some eligible maintenance and improvement projects.
The new increase represents a 2.75% over last year's appropriation.
Final total: $31,085,854.90
Board of Selectmen’s Budget
First Selectman Bill Morrison presented a budget of $16,579,589.50 which was approved by the Board of Selectmen by a 2-1 vote.
The largest portion of the increase was due to an $850,000 increase in the paving budget, which brought the total allocated for road repair to $1 million.
It represented an increase of over 9%. Morrison made it clear he thought this increase was necessary because he receives daily calls about roads in need of repair.
After the public hearing, the BOF asked the Selectman to reduce the budget by $300,000.
At the April 3, 2024, Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting, the selectmen voted to reduce the budget by $300,000, taking $175,000 out of the paving budget (with the understanding that ARPA funds may be able to restore some of this funding), and $125,000 out of the capital improvements line that was allocated for a roof repair at a town garage.
Final total: $16,279,589.50
Total Budget to be Voted Upon
On April 24, 2024, the town will go to the polls to vote on a budget of $47,365,444.40.
This budget would represent a 1.83 mill increase.
Below is a selection of charts and slides that contain additional contextual information to help inform your decision. These slides and charts come from a variety of budget presentations throughout the year, so some of them may contain older numbers that do not reflect the current reductions. We still think they are valuable to your overall understanding.
