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04/09/2023 06:26 AMAt a meeting on April 4, the Board of Finance (BOF) voted to forward a proposed budget of $50,276,744 to referendum on May 9.
The proposed budget combines spending requests for both the town and the Board of Education (BOE) and represents a $1,899,041 or 3.90% increase over the current year’s budget. The proposed education budget is $28,829,506, a $1,356,165 or a 4.90% increase. The proposed town budget is $21,447,238, a $542,876 or a 2.60% increase.
Under the current proposed budget, the mill rate would increase by .38 mills to 20.46 mills.
“We are targeting a mill rate increase of .38, and this rate will be finalized following the referendum on May 9. For Old Saybrook, this mill rate increase is considered average to below average when compared to historic increases and provides a budget that allows the town to continue to provide all services,” Finance Director Lee Ann Palladino said.
Proposed capital projects—spending on items that last longer than a budget cycle, like vehicles or roof repairs— include “... (p)olice vehicle lease, continued work on town roads, building maintenance, and investment in technology infrastructure,” according to a budget summary document prepared earlier this year by First Selectman Carl Fortuna.
“The town set aside funds to update the town’s natural hazard mitigation plan, update Trask Park by resurfacing the basketball court, repairing the tennis court, and adding wind screens. The largest project will be replacement of the HVAC system at Town Hall,” Palladino added.
Palladino attributed the spending increase to inflation and staff turnover.
“There are two driving factors that have led to the increase in the FY24 budget. The first is inflation where we have experienced higher prices associated with the purchase of goods and other contracted services,” Palladino said.
“Secondly, the town’s budget has not been immune from the ‘great resignation/retirement.’ As a result, we have hired new people and taken advantage of the opportunity to restructure our staff,” Palladino continued. “This has had a positive effect at keeping salary and benefit expense lower on the town side and offsetting to some degree the effect of inflation. The town’s budget was up 2.6%. The Board of Education budget was up 4.90% for a town-wide increase of 3.90.”
When it came time to vote on forwarding the proposed budget to referendum, only BOF member Rick Swan voted against the motion. In the lead-up to the meeting, BOF member Bruce Carlson had sent questions to Old Saybrook police chief Michael Spera about the police department budget that he wanted to be answered in writing. As of the meeting on April 4, Spera had declined to answer the questions in writing, but offered to meet in person with Carlson.
Swan said that while he has nothing against Spera, he felt the police budget should have been held until Spera answered the questions of an elected member of the BOF.
“In order for us to do our job, we need the information from them,” Swan said at one point during the meeting.
The proposed police budget did undergo review by the Police Commission.
With a referendum a month away, the budget process is nearly complete. As part of that process, a public hearing on the budget was held on March 7, during which Fortuna and Superintendent of Schools Jan Perruccio made presentations about the town and education budgets. The meeting was lightly attended by members of the public.
Last year, voters in Old Saybrook overwhelmingly approved both budgets. The town budget was approved with 179 votes in favor and 17 against. The education budget passed by a margin of 183 in favor to 13 opposed.
Palladino said that more in-depth information on the budget can be found on the town website.