The Town Council on April 4th approved a Total Expenditure Budget of $150.94 million
for fiscal year 2019-20, representing a decrease of 0.43% over the current fiscal year’s amended
budget expenditure of $151.58 million. This is the first decline in more than a decade. The
funds to be raised by taxation declined to $139.23 million from the current year’s $140.02
million, a decrease of 0.56% — the first decline in more than 10 years.
The Town Council budget will be filed in the office of the Town Clerk and will become
effective eight days after publication unless a notice of intent to file a petition for a referendum
has been filed in the office of the Town Clerk within seven days after publication (Town Charter
Sections C4-13 and C4-14).
The Total Expenditure Budget includes Board of Education operating expenses of $91.43
(up 1.86 %) , Town department operating expenses of $39.92 million (up 0.56 %), debt service
of $16.84 million (down 9.29 %), and tax-funded capital projects of $1.73 million (down 40.32
%). To fund this budget, the amount to be raised from taxation is $139,230,687 (down 0.56%).
“We have much to be thankful for. Town leadership really came together to deliver the
tightest budget in over a decade, one which accurately reflects our priorities as a town: the #1
school system and among the lowest taxes in what most experts agree is still the best place to
live in Connecticut,” said Town Council Chairman John Engel.
The Town Council’s budget takes into account the 2018 Revaluation as of October 1,
2018 where the town’s 2018 Grand List declined 7.64% to $7.71 billion from the 2017 Grand
List of $8.34 billion. The decline in the grand list was primarily due to lower valuations of homes
valued at more than $2 million. The overall average decrease in residential property values was
7.2%. Commercial properties increased on average 10.8 %.
The reduction in the Grand List will result in an increase in the mill rate from the current
16.960 to an estimated 18.259. The final mill rate to be set by the Board of Finance on April 9.
Attached is Board of Finance FY 2019-2020 Budget Summary showing further details of
Town Department and Board of Education (BOE) year-over-year budget changes.
For further information, contact: Lunda Asmani, Budget Director, 203-594-3026.