Board of Finance approves town budget
TRUMBULL — The Trumbull Board of Finance voted Thursday night to approve a town budget of nearly $202.9 million — an increase of $636,707 over First Selectman Vicki Tesoro’s original budget. The budget now heads to the Town Council.
The changes made during Thursday’s meeting included adding a $250,000 to the education line item. As presented to the board, the education line item was just over $123 million.
“I think this was some pretty good discussion,” said Board of Finance Chair Lainie McHugh at the conclusion of the roughly three-hour meeting.
During that time, the board made some adjustments to Tesoro’s original budget, which was submitted March 7. At that time, the operating budget was about $189.5 million and the total budget (including enterprise expenses) was nearly $202.3 million.
Originally, the school board approved and submitted a budget proposal of $117.2 million to the town. Tesoro cut that number down to $115.6 million, but the line item for education includes not just that, but a variety of other education expenses that the town pays for, such as debt services and worker’s compensation.
At Thursday’s meeting, Board of Finance member Marty Isaac proposed adding the $250,000 to the education line, in response to some concerns that had been brought to the board by education officials about, among other things, learning loss during the pandemic. Isaac said it made sense to “err on the side of giving them a little bit more money.”
Fellow board member Scott Zimov proposed increasing the education budget even further, by $659,000, but that motion failed.
Other changes made to the budget included adding $35,000 to the economic development budget for the addition of a grants contractor. Board of finance member Michael Barker proposed the change, which Isaac supported.
“This is an investment,” Isaac said. “The department has proved itself good at getting grants. I think we’re making a mistake by underfunding their ability to get grants.”
The addition was eventually approved.
This latest version of the budget must be submitted to the Town Council by the second Monday in April. The council will hold a public hearing on the budget, and must adopt a budget by the second Monday in May.