‘Holding the line on spending’

Proposed budget comes in at $17.9M

CROMWELL — The town proposed $17.9 million general government budget for fiscal year 2021-22, with increases resulting from contractual agreements and operating expense, officials said.

Town Manager Anthony J. Salvatore and Director of Finance Marianne Sylvester presented the proposed $17.902 million spending total to the council. The requested increase is lower than the one enacted last year, when the budget rose by 1.65 percent.

The council is expected to complete its review and adopt the general government budget Wednesday, March 3.

General government is the non-education portion of the overall budget; it includes funding for police and public safety, the public works department, and other departments.

The current year’s general government budget is $17.814 million; if the new plan were approved as presented, it would increase by $88,202 to $17.902 million.

“Most on the increases in this budget are the result of contractual agreements or the normal operating increases,” Salvatore said as he reviewed his proposal.

Among major items in the budget, funding for police increased by $17,500 from $3.646 million to $3.664 million, an increase of 0.48 percent.

Public works, the highest non-education items in the overall budget, would increase by 1.43 percent or $64,358, from $4.513 million to $4.577 million.

Employee benefits rose by 2.98 percent, from $3.882 million to $4.008 million.

The other two components of the budget are the education budget and debt service, which the amount the town owes on previously approved bonded projects.

“As a result of the continuing pandemic we have been holding the line on spending with the full cooperation of department heads and directors – and doing so without jeopardizing the services residents of the town have come to expect and to appreciate,” Salvatore said Tuesday.

During their review of the individual departmental budgets, Salvatore and Sylvester were able to make additional reductions due to retirements of two longtime employees.

In the past year, Police Captain Kevin A. VanderSloot and Building Official David E. Jolley retired.

In addition, Salvatore said he and Sylvester were able to make further reductions in the proposed budget by reducing the capital recurring fund .

The fund is used to cover major projects and heavy equipment purchases.

The two officials were able to whittle down the total “as a result of looking at other, alternative sources of funding,” Salvatore said.

The town also benefited from a mix of grants and special COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government, Salvatore said.

In particular, he commended Salvatore Nesci, the town’s public health coordinator, for his rigorous efforts to secure grants to help offset costs associated with initially combating the coronavirus and more recently in organizing multi-town vaccination clinics.

After receiving the budget, Mayor Enzo Faienza said, “The budget presented to the town Council was a great budget.”

“I want to thank Town Manager Salvatore, Finance Director Sylvester and all of the department heads for sending a budget forward that was lean while still providing great services for our community,” Faienza said.