Bethel finance board approves $92.2M budget plan
Includes proposed raises for some town officials
BETHEL — A $92.2 million budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year that includes pay raises for municipal positions including the first selectman and town clerk will go to a public hearing later this month.
The Board of Finance approved a 2024-25 spending plan Tuesday that allocates nearly $37.5 million to town operations and expenses and $54.7 million to the school district, reflecting a total year-over-year spending increase of less than 4 percent.
Despite being “kind of bare bones,” First Selectman Dan Carter said the spending plan is “a solid budget in the sense that it meets our current needs.”
In addition to public safety, infrastructure and other community needs, Carter said the budget priorities included taking into account the impact of the 2022 revaluation on taxpayers — particularly Bethel’s middle class, which he said “had a pretty hard hit.”
“With that said, we still have some challenges in the coming years with respect to capital projects and infrastructure,” he said. “This budget doesn’t adequately address those, but it really is good for the taxpayer right now.”
The town side of the 2024-25 budget — which includes nearly $31.7 million for operating expenses, nearly $5.3 million in debt service and $526,017 for school building maintenance — reflects an approximately 5.4 percent increase over the 2023-24 budget approved last year and a 4.4 percent increase over the amount to which it was later adjusted.
A $319,000 special appropriation for parks and recreation was approved during a January special town meeting, which brought the total 2023-24 budget from $88.7 million to $89 million.
The $54.7 million school budget — which Superintendent Christine Carver explained earlier this year would maintain existing programs and address ongoing needs in the school district as it faces an increasing student population and changing demographics — reflects a 2.99 percent increase over current spending.
The Board of Finance made no adjustments to school district funding during its budget deliberations on Tuesday, but it did make some changes to the town side of the planned budget — including increasing the salaries of Bethel’s first selectman, registrar of voters and town clerk positions.
The proposed $2,461 increase for the town clerk and $1,000 increase for each of Bethel’s two registrar of voters passed unanimously, but there was some pushback on a $20,000 first selectman salary increase.
“I’m adamantly opposed to this increase,” said Will Duff, who wound up as the only finance board member to vote against it. “We’re a blue-collar town, and that’s a huge increase. I just cannot swallow that.”
Carter, who acknowledged that he would benefit as the town’s current first selectman, said he believes increasing the salary would help attract quality candidates for the position in the future.
“This is not a retirement job. We want energetic people who really want it,” he said, noting that the increase — which brings the salary for the position to $129,600 — would put Bethel’s first selectman earnings between those in Redding and Newtown. “I think it’s a good move.”
The increase in first selectman, registrar of voters and town clerk salaries is offset by a $22,461 reduction the finance board made to the town’s wage adjustments account, according to Carter, who described the account as “a place to hold wages until they’re approved.”
After approving the combined $92.2 million spending plan on Tuesday, the Board of Finance voted to transfer $500,000 from the fund balance into the town’s tax stabilization fund — an account designed to help protect residents from unexpected tax bill increases that the town can tap into during years of lower growth or declining revenue — and scheduled a public hearing for 7 p.m. March 19, in the Bethel High School auditorium.
Carter said Bethel’s Annual Town Meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 4, with a referendum on April 23.