Residents can comment on $119.9M proposed budget

NEW MILFORD – Residents will have the chance to comment on the town’s $119.9 million proposed total budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year at the town’s May 7 municipal and school board town meeting.

The Town Council unanimously voted April 22 to schedule the town meeting for 7 p.m. May 7 in the E. Paul Martin Room at Town Hall. In addition to hearing public comment on the proposed town and education budgets, the town will also set a date for the budget referendum.

May 21 has been suggested for the budget referendum, according to the mayor’s office.

The Board of Finance approved a planned $119.9 million total budget for New Milford at an April 9 special board meeting after cutting $170,322 in health insurance costs from the proposed municipal budget.

Mayor Pete Bass said the town originally budgeted for a 7 percent increase in health insurance costs in January, but recent documentation from the town’s actuaries showed only a 3 percent increase was needed.

The cut brought the total municipal budget plan to $46.4 million; the proposed $73 million education budget plan was approved without changes. Under the current budget plan, the mill rate would increase 2.74 percent to 29.77 mills, according to Bass.

The proposed municipal budget includes increases in health care and pension funding, contractual obligations and a fully funded new town ambulance, among other costs, Bass has said. Revenue for the 2024-25 fiscal year would increase by $5.4 million, while the town’s legal budget would decrease by $23,500 for the next fiscal year, according to the Town Council’s Feb. 20 budget workshop meeting minutes.

In New Milford’s school budget plan for the 202425 year, fixed costs would rise by just over 3 percent over this year’s budget. This would include a $1.1 million increase in contractual salaries and benefits; a $53,000 increase in utility costs; and the cost of creating three more seats for New Milford students in Shepaug Valley

High School’s Agriscience program.

Additionally, a nearly $240,000 increase was proposed for the district’s bus contract with All-Star Transportation, which was renewed last February for another five years. The plan also calls for adding a certified nursing assistant and emergency medical technician programs for $60,000; increasing the budget for athletic and field trip transportation by over $54,000; and nearly $802,000 in increases for out-of-district placement tuition, among other costs.