Fairfield considers $356M budget
FAIRFIELD — The Representative Town Meeting is considering a nearly $356 million budget.
It comes after the finance board approved a revised $356.7 million budget. The budget includes $2 million more in expenses than the Board of Selectman’s budget, which was passed in late February, but finance officials say the changes will not impact the bottom line or tax estimates because they are expecting more income from investments.
Lower health insurance and pension costs than initially budgeted, as well as $1.4 million more in estimated investment income mean the higher expenses won’t affect the amount of taxes officials had budgeted for residents this budget.
The budget, if approved as is, would result in the mill rate increasing about 1 percent. That would result in a mill rate of 27.51, or $27.51 per $1,000 of assessed value. If the budget passed as is, a property owner with a home valued at $300,000 would pay $8,253 in taxes, while one with a home valued at $600,000 would pay $16,506.
The latest budget proposal calls for an increase of about $11.6 million over the 2022-2023 budget.
Board of Finance Chair Lori Charlton said the board made a lot of adjustments to the spending plan, including $1.2 million more set aside for reserves and an additional $80,000 in other expense adjustments.
“Some of them were changes that needed to be made,” she said. “Some of them were (because of) new information that came to light. There were a few others that were just decisions that we made.”
She said the board also moved the $690,000 for police vehicles from another place in the budget into the general fund.
“Yes, it increases expenses but it doesn’t actually change the bottom line of the budget,” she said.
Charlton said the board increased the town’s investment income by $1.4 million, as the town had not budgeted anything from it. She said the town’s money market account has an average balance of roughly $60 million, adding most of that $1.4 million money would go to the general fund.
“We budgeted for that revenue but obviously didn’t spend it,” she said. “We didn’t lower taxes with it because, obviously, that’s a judgment.”
So the only things the town is actually spending money on, Charlton said, come in the form of the $80,000 added. She said that included budgets for Penfield Pavilion and Burr Mansion, which were not in the budget originally.
The pavilion is estimated to bring the town $54,000 in rental revenue this coming summer before closing to fix issues with the grade beams there, which were the subject of a notice of violation from federal regulators. The mansion is estimated to cost the town $25,000.
Charlton said the board added $174,000 to reflect an upcoming settlement between the firefighters union and the town, which has been in arbitration. There were also small adjustments made to the budget for the town’s social security and early retirement program funds. She noted things went the other direction as well.
“Pension expenses went down. Insurance went up,” she said. “It’s just a conglomeration of a bunch of things that’s a mixture of corrections, new information that was available and just changes we made. It looks like a big number that was changed, but the large changes are just the police car gross up and the fund balance, which is setting aside reserves.” In previous budget hearings, First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said the spending plan includes a large investment in Fairfield Public Schools and funds long-term liabilities, as well as the senior and disabled tax relief program. She said the budget keeps spending low despite record high inflation and supply chain issues.
The selectmen’s budget proposal includes $210.2 million for the schools, which is $7.7 million more than the current budget but about $400,000 less than what the Board of Education requested.
The budget now goes to the RTM for consideration and a vote, after which the BOF will set the mill rate.