Westbrook Budget Hearing and Meeting Set; Proposed Increase is 1.8%
The Westbrook Board of Finance has approved the town and education fiscal year 2019-’20 proposed budgets and a town hearing has been set for Monday, April 22 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Multipurpose Room, 866 Boston Post Road.
The proposed town operating and debt budget is $12,484,325, up $339,141 or 3.0 percent from the current year, and the proposed school operating budget is $18,176,037, up $194,218 or 1.1 percent. Combined, the proposal is for a total of $30,660,362, up $533,359 or 1.8 percent from the previous fiscal year.
For the fourth consecutive year, the public vote on the budget will be held at a town meeting—rather than via referendum—to be held on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 p.m. in the Westbrook High School auditorium at 156 McVeigh Road. Last year’s budget was passed at a town meeting attended by 67 voters.
According to the First Selectman’s Office, if the budget is approved, for a Westbrook home valued at $250,000, the increase in taxes would be roughly $7 per month.
First Selectman Noel Bishop said he was pleased with the proposed budget.
“Overall, the Board of Selectmen, our department heads, and our school board did a great job,” he said. “We went into this process starting back in December. Most of our municipal budgets for non-personnel costs were flat.”