The Mayor's office must approve all town department expenditures over $25.

East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr. has put a spending freeze in place, effective Nov. 30.

As a result, the Mayor's office must approve town department expenditures over $25, according to a statement released by Maturo's office.

"After speaking with several department heads who expressed concerns about the state of their department spending, I decided that it was necessary to halt all discretionary spending until our exact financial position can be determined," Maturo said.

Maturo added that Town Attorney Joseph Zullo reported "excessive over-spending from the Town's town two main legal accounts."

According to finance department records, the town expended about $376,891.89 from the self insurance fund, which leaves only $23,108.11 to pay legal fees for the remainder of the year.

East Haven could also face a deficit in the self insurance rainy day fund of more than $200,000. "That fund, which the Town utilizes if and when it must pay out large settlements, should always be maintained at our around $1 million," said Maturo.