BEACON FALLS — More than a month after voters rejected the town’s first budget proposal, officials have sent another proposal to a vote — one that spends nearly $25,000 less and keeps the tax rate flat.
“I think the budget is great,” First Selectman Christopher Bielik said. “I thought it was great the first time.”
Overall, the budget proposal is $7,128,193, which includes an operating budget of $6,822,593 for the 2018-19 fiscal year and $305,600 for a list of capital projects and items. The proposed operating budget is an increase of $74,337, or about 1.1 percent, over the town’s current operating budget.
While spending is going up, the proposal keeps the tax rate flat at 35.9 mills. A mill is $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of assessed property value. Under a 35.9 tax rate, a property assessed at $100,000 will pay $3,590 in taxes.
The budget proposal will go to a vote at a town meeting Monday at 7 p.m. at Woodland Regional High School.
The town’s budget doesn’t include education spending for Region 16, which oversees schools in Beacon Falls and Prospect. Voters approved the school budget at a referendum last week.
The budget proposal is the second one that officials put forth for a vote. In late April, voters rejected an overall $7,152,946 budget proposal by four votes.
With clearer expense and revenue figures in hand, officials adjusted the proposal that failed in April. The biggest adjustment came from the revised state budget approved in May. The revised state budget provided more funding for the town than local officials anticipated.
Board of Finance Chairman Marc Bronn said officials decided to treat the higher than expected state funding as one-time revenue. He said they expect state funding to go back down in the 2019-20 fiscal year with the state facing financial struggles.
Bronn said every proposed capital item will be funded through the operating budget using the unexpected state funds except for a $49,000 new chief/command vehicle for Beacon Hose Company No. 1. Typically, the capital items are paid for with money from the town’s unassigned fund balance. Bronn said officials didn’t want to take too much from the unassigned fund balance, especially since they have to pay to clean up following last month’s tornado.
The additional state funding also allows the town to keep the tax rate the same without using money from the unassigned fund balance. The first budget proposal would have increased the tax rate by 0.3 mills. At the time, the plan used about $75,000 from the unassigned fund balance as revenue to limit the increase in the tax rate.
What’s in the budget remains basically the same as the first proposal.
More than half of town spending — about $3.5 million — is for employee salaries and benefits. The budget proposal also includes a $12,000 stipend for the fire chief position at Beacon Hose. The stipend would be a first for the town, which has never paid the chief of the volunteer company.
The capital expenditures include $44,000 for a Ford Explorer for the police department, $35,000 to replace portable radios at Beacon Hose, $20,000 for phone system upgrades, and $20,000 to replace guardrails in town as part of a 10-year plan. Officials anticipate getting reimbursed $30,000 by the state for some of the capital expenditures.
