By Elio Gugliotti, Editor
BEACON FALLS — Town officials adopted a budget proposal for the 2020-21 fiscal year — including education costs for Region 16 — that increases spending by 1.3% while holding the tax rate steady.
The Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance approved a $22.6 million spending plan during a virtual budget workshop Tuesday. The proposal, which increases total spending by about $292,000 over this fiscal year, includes a $7.8 million municipal operating budget. The remainder is the town’s allocation for the Region 16 school budget.
Based on projections, the spending increase will be offset by additional revenue and the budget will keep the tax rate flat at 35.9 mills.
The Board of Selectmen, not the voters, will approve the budget this year. The state waived in-person voting requirements due to the coronavirus and granted municipal boards broad authority on financial decisions.
In lieu of a hearing on the budget, the town is accepting public comments and questions via email until 6 p.m. April 29. Comments and questions can be emailed to Finance Director Natasha Nau at nnau@tobfct.com. Detailed budget information is available on the town’s website, www.beaconfalls-ct.org.
Officials will post responses to the public’s comments and questions online by 8 p.m. May 6. The selectmen are set to vote on the budget May 11. The finance board is scheduled to set the mill rate May 12.
The municipal budget proposal covers contractual increases, like 2.5% raises for employees. It also includes two new positions, the return to a full-time resident state trooper in town, as well as a list of capital projects.
The budget proposal funds a full-time resident state trooper again for $200,000. Under the resident state trooper program, Connecticut State Police provide at least one trooper to oversee police operations and other services, such as dispatch and booking. Towns in the program still have their own officers that work for the municipalities.
Last year, Beacon Falls and Bethany agreed to share a trooper and split the costs from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2022. The contract allowed for the towns and state to terminate the agreement by providing 30 days written notice. Beacon Falls has opted to end the agreement starting July 1.
Sharing a resident state trooper led to an increase in police overtime to cover shifts when the resident state trooper is in Bethany. According to budget documents, the town is projected to spend $105,000 on police overtime this fiscal year, which is nearly $50,000 more than what was budgeted.
The budget proposal also includes a new part-time recreation director at a cost of $26,000 and a new shared town planner for $17,000.
The town planner would be shared through the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments. The position will work with the Planning and Zoning and Inland Wetlands commissions, First Selectman Gerard Smith said, and serve as a liaison to the town’s engineers and attorneys for the commissions. He said the town planner will cost less than having an engineer or attorney at the commissions’ meetings.
Aside from seasonal staff to run youth summer camps, the town relies on Parks and Recreation Commission members and other volunteers to oversee recreation activities. With a recreation director, Smith said the town can expand programs.
Finance board member Kyle Brennan said the recreation director is a good idea under normal circumstances. Brennan, who is a contributing sports writer for the Citizen’s News, felt it’s not appropriate to allocate the funds for it right now while it’s unclear when programs will resume.
The consensus among other officials was it’s better to have the money in place for a recreation director and not spend it, than to be in a position to hire someone and not have the money.
Smith said the town will hold off on hiring someone if the stay-at-home order continues deep into the summer. He said he has every intention of hiring a recreation director as soon as possible, considering the ongoing restrictions in place.
The spending plan transfers $376,727 from the town’s unassigned fund balance, or surplus. From that transfer, $362,702 will pay for 19 capital items and projects, and $14,025 will be used as revenue for the budget. The capital items and projects include $44,158 for a payment for a new ambulance, $50,000 to replace an EMS vehicle, $36,551 for a payment for a new plow truck, and $41,000 to install a generator for the town garage.
Smith said everything in the budget is to make the town run smoother and more efficiently, and take it to the next level.
