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05/19/2023 07:51 AM

Deep River Voters Approve $19.9M Budget at Annual Town Meeting


DEEP RIVER

Town electors approved the $19.9 million budget for the 2023-’24 fiscal year at the annual Town Meeting in Deep River on May 15.

The approved budget calls for a total of $19,954,305 in spending, which includes expenditures for all town services and the Deep River Board of Education (BOE) for Deep River Elementary School. The budget saw an increase of 3.45% in expenditures from the current year’s budget, under which the town is still operating, totaling $19,286,574 in spending.

The current year’s budget will expire on June 30, after which the newly approved budget will go into effect on July 1.

Spending under the Board of Selectmen includes a 20.31% increase in expenses, with a significant driver being a $40,000 increase for salary adjustments. According to First Selectman Angus McDonald, this increase acts as a placeholder in anticipation of potential salary increases for personnel within the department after the results of a “salary study.”

The Parks and Recreation Department will see a 5.5% increase in spending for $232,010 in the upcoming fiscal year. Included in that increase is a 46.34% increase, or $9,500 increase, in costs for maintenance at all town facilities.

“We’ve noticed that was underfunded that last few years, just because the costs of these things has gone up,” said McDonald.

Increases in maintenance and seasonal programs, the latter seeing a 21.34% increase in spending, will go partly to support work and activity at Plattwood Park for its fields and the pond. McDonald said maintenance for the pond refers to protecting it from invasive plant species.

Fire Department spending features a 13.92% increase in expenditures. McDonald said the three main drivers for that department include training, equipment and supplies, and the Fireman’s Incentive Program. They are seeing increases of 50%, 18%, and 31%, respectively.

“That’s actually a real positive. We need to send more people to training because we’ve had some good recruitment in the past couple of years, and we have more members that need to go to training,” said McDonald.

The incentive program, essentially a pension fund, is a major driver of the department’s increase in expenditures, according to McDonald.

Inflationary costs were also contributors to each of those increases as well, said McDonald.

The Planning and Zoning Department will see a 16% decrease in expenditures. This is mainly determined by cutting equipment and engineering costs and professional services, said McDonald. Those cuts are responsible for a $13,365 reduction in spending for the coming fiscal year.

The town’s visiting nurses program is seeing a 55% decrease in spending, or a $24,500 cut, primarily driven by the availability of other similar healthcare programs in the community.

The BOE’s budget for the elementary school was approved for a 2.19% increase in expenditures, totaling $5,814,07 in spending for the next academic calendar year. This represents a $124,535 increase in spending. The BOE’s stake in the Region 4 School district will increase by 8.51%, or by $632,256, partly the result of the town’s average daily membership decreasing in the region. McDonald said while the increase in the town’s stake had an effect on the town’s infrastructure operations, including additional expenditures for road paving, it does not hinder the overall ability “to still continue to provide the public services that we are. None of those got hurt with that increase.”

The town’s mill rate is currently set at 29.88 mills. McDonald said the Board of Finance is expecting to raise the rate by .9.