School board offers $44.4M budget
Town seeks 2 percent hike
BROOKFIELD — The first selectman aims to keep next year’s spending increase at 2 percent or less on the town side, while the education board has proposed a 3.9 percent hike to the school budget.
The school board last week unanimously approved its $44.4 million version of the 2019-20 budget. The proposal is $65,000 less than the superintendent’s original plan.
First Selectman Steve Dunn said he has seen the proposal, although the Board of Selectmen have not yet reviewed it.
“They've (the Board of Education) worked very, very hard on achieving a budget they think will pass with the voters,” Dunn said.
Last year’s budget process was long and, at times painful, with voters rejecting two proposals. It took until midJune for voters to approve a $66.6 million budget, with $42.7 million for the schools and $23.9 million for the town.
Dunn said he does not expect the same problem this year. The town last year faced reductions in state grants and additional expenses, including a hike in special education costs, that it could not control, he said.
“We absolutely want to get a budget that’s passed the first time,” Dunn said. “Last year, we had a perfect storm of problems.”
He said he hopes to keep next year’s town spending increase at 2 percent or less, asking town departments to request budgets within that limit.
“For the most part, they've done that,” Dunn said.
It is more challenging to keep the education budget within that limit, he said.
If the district did not invest in anything new, spending would still need to increase by 2.9 percent because of contractual salary and benefit increases for employees, as well as the rising cost of supplies and services.
The board proposed investments, including four new full-time teachers, that raised the proposal another 1 percent.
“Most of those investments are must-haves,” Vice Chairman Bob Belden said at last week’s meeting.
Board members eliminated $30,000 from the superintendent’s budget by holding off on hiring a consultant to help the district study school start times and how to be more time efficient. The district can still explore changing school start times without hiring a consultant right away, board members have said.
The board also saved money by waiting to implement a math enrichment program for third through fifth grade. The program will be rolled out to kindergarten through second grade this year.
A mobile world language lab at Whisconier Middle School and reading modules for fourth and fifth grade will be paid for through money left over from last year’s budget. These items were originally part of the superintendent’s proposal.
The boards of selectmen, finance and education will meet Feb. 5 to discuss the school budget.
The first selectman must approve his version of the town and school budgets by Feb. 15.
The Board of Selectmen’s proposal is due to the finance board by March 1. The finance board must submit its version to the town clerk by March 22. A referendum will be held in the spring.
“Brookfield is a very parsimonious town and that’s a good thing,” Dunn said. “We have to make sure every dollar we spend is the right amount.”