BEACON FALLS — Officials crafted the town’s 2018-19 budget proposal with the mindset of keeping the spending plan as lean as possible without cutting services. Now, it’s up to the voters to decide if officials hit their mark.
The roughly $6.84 million proposal would raise municipal spending by $96,090, or about 1.4 percent, over the current budget. The town budget doesn’t include school spending for Region 16, which is comprised of Beacon Falls and Prospect.
“I think it’s a very good budget. I think it’s a very lean budget,” said First Selectman Christopher Bielik during a sparsely-attended public hearing on the budget proposal April 12. “I think a lot of sweat equity has been put into this process to make the impact on the taxpayers be as low as possible while still maintaining the level of services that we have.”
Based on current revenue projections and the projected impact of the proposed school budget, the town would need to raise an additional $141,700 in taxes to cover the budget despite spending going up $96,090, officials said. The disparity is due to a decrease in revenues. The loss in revenue, which nearly all comes from cuts in state aid, is offset some by an increase in the town’s grand list and the use of roughly $75,000 from the town’s unassigned fund balance, officials said.
A tax increase of $141,700 equates to a mill rate increase of 0.3 mills, which would increase the mill rate to 36.2 mills. A mill is $1 in taxes for every $1,000 in assessed property value.
“We try to maintain the same level of service in town that we always have,” said Board of Finance Chairman Marc Bronn, who added he felt the budget is a responsible one.
The budget will now go to a vote at a town meeting on April 23 at 7 p.m. at Woodland Regional High School. The budget could be forced to a referendum through petitions. As of Tuesday morning, no one had taken out petitions, Town Clerk Len Greene, Sr. said.
Aside from revenue cuts, officials also had to contend with fixed increases, including a 2.5 contractual salary increase for employees. More than half of town spending — about $3.5 million — is for employee salaries and benefits.
The budget proposal includes increasing the salary for the tax collector position $24,400 to $36,400.
Last year, voters approved changing the tax collector and town clerk positions from elected positions to hired jobs. Greene and Tax Collector Mary Anne Holloway will remain through their terms, then the town will go through a hiring process to fill the positions.
The budget makes the tax collector position 25 hours, which is what it will be when someone is hired, and the increase is to cover the additional salary.
Officials previously said that Greene plans to maintain the status quo. He is paid a $4,800 stipend through the budget and receives a portion of the filing fees collected by the office.
The spending plan increases funds for an economic development consultant $13,000 to $48,000 because the consultant was hired part-way through the current fiscal year.
The proposal also includes a $12,000 stipend for the fire chief position at Beacon Hose Company No. 1. The stipend is a first for the town, which has never paid the chief of the volunteer company.
On top of the budget proposal, officials also want to spend $308,600 on capital items. The capital expenditures include $49,000 for a new chief/command vehicle for Beacon Hose, $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.
The capital expenditures are paid for with money from the town’s unassigned fund balance and don’t impact the mill rate. Officials anticipate getting reimbursed $30,000 by the state for some of the expenditures.
The capital expenditures will be voted on together with the operating budget proposal.
Resident David Rybinski, a past fire chief at Beacon Hose, contended the town should buy an ambulance in the capital budget to replace one that is two years beyond its life expectancy and has needed costly repairs over recent years.
Rybinski felt the town doesn’t need to spend the $44,000 for a new police vehicle. He said the town has bought three new police vehicles over the past year and half, and the police department has seven vehicles that aren’t used all the time. He said the town responds to more than 700 EMS calls a year.
The Ford Explorer for the police department is part of a replacement program, which is in its last year, according to budget documents.
A couple residents also questioned what officials plan to do regarding repair roads. The budget proposal includes $75,000 for minor road maintenance.
In the past, voters have approved bond packages for road work. Bielik said the town is considering another bond package for next fiscal year as debt comes off the books.
Also, Bielik said, officials are looking for alterative roads to repair with state funds and bonded money designated for work on West Road. He said there’s potential for some construction of the Beacon Falls Energy Park, a fuel cell project, to start this year. If it does, he said, a natural gas line would run down West Road and the town doesn’t want to repair the road to have it ripped up. He said officials should know whether the fuel cell park is moving forward within a couple of months.
