Following confirmation of his 15th budget surplus in 15 years and Standard and Poor’s decision to award the Town of East Haven an historic two-tier bond rating upgrade from A- to A+, Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr., announced Jan. 24 that he intends to recommend a no-tax-increase budget for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

Maturo explained, “Despite a slight reduction in our overall Grand List during this past year’s revaluation and potential cuts in state aid in the next year, I am preparing to recommend a no-tax-increase budget for the 2017-2018 fiscal year based on the town’s five consecutive surpluses since 2011 and our success reducing debt to a modern historic low.”

Following three straight deficits between 2007 and 2011 under the prior administration that sent the town’s fund balance into a $5.1 million deficit and led to a 17 percent tax hike, the town has logged five straight surpluses that have restored the town’s rainy day fund to a healthy $4.98 million surplus—a $10.08 million swing in just six years. During the same stretch, Maturo has earned two credit rating upgrades, including a recent two-tier upgrade from A- to A+, for reducing the town’s long-term debt from $48.1 million to $26.3 million.

Maturo continued, “We are currently reviewing budget submissions from various town departments. However, based on savings generated by reducing our debt to historically low levels and assuming that state funding remains moderately on par with allocations in recent years, I am prepared to recommend a no-tax-increase budget for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.”

Maturo explained, “Since 2011, we’ve committed ourselves to getting more efficient and to doing more with less. It’s been a team effort among the administration, department heads, and town workers. However, in 2015, our fiscal responsibility allowed us to enact an historic half-mill tax reduction, which marked the largest tax cut in a non-revaluation year since 1989. My budget recommendation this year will preserve those tax savings and further expand upon them for those homeowners who saw their home values drop slightly during this year’s state-mandated statistical revaluation.”

Maturo noted, “As a result, almost 70 percent of homeowners will continue to pay an average of almost $580 less in taxes than they were paying under the prior administration.”

In December, the town’s independent auditor confirmed the town ran a $1.13 million surplus for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, prompting the town to begin revisiting capital projects, including construction of a skate park, which it had deferred due to ongoing debt concerns. Maturo indicates that the town is now positioned to both hold the line on taxes, and to move forward with an aggressive capital and infrastructure campaign in the next 12 to 18 months.