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$130M Budget Rejected at Referendum

The Board of Finance (BOF) is heading back to the drawing board after residents narrowly rejected a proposed $130 million budget for the 2024-’25 fiscal year. Residents defeated the measure at by a 689-610 margin at a referendum on May 21.

The proposed budget totaled $130,425,151 in expenditures and saw an increase in the mill rate from 32.65 to 35.5 mills. Town officials described the proposed spending package as more complex than previous years and structured to allocate funds for increased employee benefits, education, infrastructure, and public safety expenses.

Several of the associated expenses were $1 million worth of unfunded mandates required by the state for North Haven to cover, which, according to First Selectman Mike Freda, are the reasons for the hike in the mill rate. These unfunded mandates included $850,000 for the Board of Education (BOE) for special education, the introduction of the Science of Reading program, and HVAC studies. There is an additional $150,000 for an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) assessment of city sidewalks.

The BOE budget, representing nearly 50% of the total proposal at $65 million, was impacted by the inclusion of two new staff members at two of North Haven’s elementary schools, including a school psychologist at Montowese Elementary School “to serve the growing student service hour needs within our Therapeutic Learning Service Program,” according to the BOE, and a special education teacher at Ridge Road Elementary School “to support required special education hours more effectively,” at the most highly populated K-5 school in the district, said the BOE.

Officials warned residents that numerous departments could be affected with the rejection of the budget, including the possibility of layoffs of part-time staff in the recreation, public works, and finances departments, as well as the North Haven Memorial Library. Programs and services, including summer concerts and bulky trash and leaf pick-up, may also be impacted, while pool hours at the Walter Gawrych Community Pool, which is due for a roof replacement later this year, could be affected too.

The budget garnered a mixed reception at the public hearing, with some residents voicing concerns about the mill rate increase and focusing too greatly on unfunded mandates. Others in support of the budget were understanding that North Haven, like many other municipalities across the country, is not immune to an economic climate marked by inflation. They saw that a hike in the mill rate hike is digestible in order to support services invaluable to all demographics in town, including educational and mental health needs for North Haven students.

“Fifty-three percent of the people voted against it, which tells me that 53% felt they couldn’t afford the cost of these services,” Freda said. “There’s a number in terms of a mill rate increase that the public will accept, and then there’s another number that the public will not accept, and I think that’s what we found here.”

In light of the rejection, “we go back to the drawing board,” said Freda, analyzing the expenses department to cut back on a process that will see a newly proposed mill rate lower than the initial 2.6 mill hike.

“We will be looking at every department to find out as quickly as we can what we can cut back, and then we’re looking to present a revised budget to the public,” said Freda.

Freda said he and the BOF are “tentatively” aiming to present a revised budget to the town on June 10.