Town officials in Chester have moved to have a vote on the proposed budget totaling $17,102,208 for the 2024 -’25 fiscal year at its annual meeting on Tuesday, May 28.

The $17.2 million proposed budget from the Board of Finance (BOF) is seeing a 6.26% increase in total town expenditures from the current year’s budget. The general town government share makes up approximately 30% of overall expenditures at a total of $5,167,677 for things such as services, employee salaries, and contracts. The other 70%, or $11,384,531, of the budget consists of monies for the Chester Board of Education (BOE) and the town’s share of the Region 4 School District budget. The BOE budget stands at a proposed $5,921,886 in expenditures.

The BOF presented its proposed budget at a public hearing at Chester Town Hall on May 14.

The major drivers behind the budget include projects in the areas of public works, along with increased payrolls for town employees in public services, parks and recreation, and for the tax collector and town assessor, among others. The BOF identified a multitude of infrastructural and building projects to be completed around Chester, including those affected by several weather events and accidents. These will build upon numerous accomplishments done by public works at various town-owned assets, public safety departments, and Cedar Lake during the previous fiscal year.

The BOF has budgeted $7,480,500 for numerous projects in these areas up to the 2028-’29 fiscal year.

“We continue to analyze infrastructural needs, looking forward 5 [to] 10 years,” the BOF outlined in its presentation.

Those infrastructural needs include “protection and maintenance of the watershed and natural resources;” replacements for vehicles and equipment for the fire department, police; and public works; and maintenance on roads, bridges, dams, town buildings, and other infrastructure.

BOF Chair John O’Hare identified the area of a money-saving energy project as paramount, saying, “The time has come in our evolution as a town and as a state to [move] more and more towards solar energy. Has to be because the grid has [been] worked over.”

The BOF also identified “major mechanical work” at Chester Elementary School as part of its capital plans.

Another driver includes an allocation of $46,000 as one-third of an inter-local agreement between Chester, Essex, and Deep River for a shared animal control officer serving all three towns. There is also an expected appropriation for a part-time officer with a possible co-signing of Westbrook onto the agreement.

The proposed mill rate is 24.45 mills, marking a 4.09% increase on the current rate of 23.49 mills. This is the result of an increase in the value of residential properties in Chester, according to the BOF, and the impact of this increase will not be universal for residents. Essex is facing a similar situation as explained to town electors before its budget was approved on May 13.

“We’re not different from our neighbors,” First Selectman Cindy Lignar told meeting attendees.