PROSPECT — Officials will ask voters to approve the town’s 2018-19 proposed municipal budget and borrowing money for road work at a town meeting next week.
The proposed budget is nearly $8.64 million, which would increase town spending by $185,984, or about 2.2 percent, over the current budget. The town budget doesn’t include spending for the Region 16 school district, which oversees schools in Beacon Falls and Prospect.
Fixed costs are driving the increase. The increases for salaries, Social Security and insurance total $212,478, according to officials. Other areas of the budget combined decreased.
“I think it was very well put together,” said Mayor Robert Chatfield about the budget proposal.
A town meeting to vote on the budget is set for May 2 at 7 p.m. at the Community Center, 12 Center St. The budget could be forced to a referendum through petitions. As of Tuesday, no one had started a petition, according to officials.
It’s possible that the proposed increase in the budget could be reduced before or at the town meeting.
The town is waiting to hear exactly how much the cost of health insurance is going to go up. The town gets healthcare coverage through the Connecticut Partnership Plan, which covers state employees and dozens of municipal entities.
The budget proposal includes a 5 percent increase for medical benefits, which would bring the cost to $531,085. Officials believe the increase will come in under 5 percent. If the town knows the final cost prior to the town meeting, and it’s less than 5 percent, the budget increase can be reduced at the meeting.
Town Council Chairman Jeffrey Slapikas said if the figure comes in less after the town meeting, assuming the budget is adopted at the meeting, the council will transfer the additional money budgeted for medical benefits into the capital non-recurring account and save it to use for insurance costs in the 2019-20 budget.
The largest departmental increase in the budget proposal comes for the police budget, which is going up $61,960, or about 6.6 percent, to $991,891. The increase is driven by the cost of the state resident trooper program.
Over recent years, the state has increased the cost of the resident state trooper program for participating towns. Under the budget proposal, the town’s cost for the program is going up $47,578 to $221,060.
Voters will also be asked at the town meeting to approve borrowing up to $900,000 for road repairs. The money is planned for work on numerous roads, including Bronson Road, Roaring Brook Road, Pinecrest Drive and Summit Road.
Chatfield said the money will also be used to make parking lot improvements at the Community Center, fire department and town garage.
Chatfield said he expects to know the projected mill rate at the town meeting.
The town and school budgets aren’t anticipated to have a significant impact on the mill rate.
Prospect’s net education cost is going down $808, based on current projections, under the proposed school budget. The town also has an additional $240,000 in tax revenue to use toward the budget, based on the current mill rate, due to an increase in the grand list.
