BUDGET BOX
2018-19 town budget: $8,637,659
2019-20 proposed town budget: $9,121,014
Proposed increase: $483,355 or 5.5 percent
Next: The Town Council will hold a hearing on the proposed town budget Thursday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 36 Center St.
PROSPECT — The Town Council is moving forward with a roughly $9.1 million proposed budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year, but some large questions remain unanswered.
The proposed budget increases town spending by $483,355 over this fiscal year’s budget. Among the drivers behind the increase are a 2.75 percent wage increase for town employees and a projected spike in the cost of employee benefits.
The proposal assumes an 8 percent increase in the cost of benefits, which would increase $61,686 to $824,971.
Mayor Robert Chatfield said officials haven’t received the final figures for benefits yet, but were told to prepare for an 8 percent increase.
“We don’t know when it’s going to be settled yet,” Chatfield said.
If the final figures come in lower before the town meeting to vote on the budget in May, Chatfield said the increase can be reduced.
One of the largest increases in the spending plan is for the Prospect Police Department.
The department’s budget increases $134,673, or 13.5 percent, to $1.12 million, under the proposal. The increase includes an additional $11,000 for the resident state trooper program — the cost of which is set by the state — and nearly $125,000 more for officer salaries.
Chatfield said officials are looking to increase the police presence in town and add one more patrol officer on duty.
The Prospect Volunteer Fire Department’s proposed budget is going up $19,303. The proposal includes $5,000 to make improvements at the firehouse and funds to buy six new self-contained breathing apparatus masks with built-in thermal imaging cameras. The new masks would allow firefighters to use thermal imaging to see in a room that is filled with smoke.
A new expense this year is an estimated $70,000 to pay for disposing recyclables.
Municipalities don’t have a disposal fee or receive a reimbursement now for recyclables, but that is expected to change because China, which was the destination for much of the recyclables, has largely stopped accepting American recyclable material.
The town’s budget doesn’t include educating spending for Region 16, which oversees public schools in Beacon Falls and Prospect.
Aside from the expenses increases, the town must also deal with projected losses in state revenue of more than $500,000.
“We’re taking a hit this year,” Chatfield said.
The cut in state funding is based on estimates in Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposed two-year state budget, which is likely to change as it works its way through the legislature.
Chatfield said the town is selling some older vehicles it no longer needs, which will provide additional revenue for the budget. With the state budget and other costs still in flux, he said officials aren’t ready yet to project what the town’s tax rate in mills will be for 2019-20.
“The state puts mandates on us and they have cut some funding, so please be patient as we work out the mill rate,” Chatfield said.
