With some spending cuts and a dip into the town’s surplus fund balance, Ridgefield’s Board of Finance got next year’s proposed tax increase down to 2.66%.
Making a $625,000 cut to the Board of Education’s request and a $40,000 reduction to the selectmen’s budget for town departments, then using $1,950,000 from the town’s $13 million surplus fund balance as non-tax revenue, the finance board wound up it’s work on the 2016-17 budget Wednesday night, April 6.
The finance board voted unanimously to send voters in the May budget referendum a $139,013,087 town and school budget that increases total spending by $4,045,371 or 3% over this year’s budget of $134,967,716.
“It all goes to the voters,” finance board chairman Dave Ulmer said. “And we all hope it’ll pass when it goes to the voters.”
With it’s $625,000 cut to the more than $90 million school budget, the finance board reduced the proposed 5.72% school spending increase sought by the Board of Education to a 4.99% increase.
“It has sort of split the town,” Ulmer said of the school board’s 5.72% increase request. “We don’t want a split town.”
“I think there needs to be some reigning in of this budget,” said finance board member Marty Heiser, who proposed the $625,000 cut.
“This is still a $4.3 million increase instead of a $4.9 million increase,” Ulmer said of $90,374,000 school budget the board finally approved.
“I respectfully disagree with the position you’re taking, but I do thank you for all your work,” school board chairwoman Fran Walton told the finance board.
The $139-million proposed operating budget the finance board approved for 2016-17 includes a $90.4 million for schools, $34.7 million for town departments, $1.875 million for road repairs, and $12 million for debt service.
The finance board also approved, with some adjustments, a $2.7 million capital budget — major projects and purchases financed with borrowing in the bond market. The capital budget does not directly affect next year’s taxes, though the bond repayments will be part of subsequent years’ spending.
“Good job. Thank you,” first Selectman Rudy Marconi said to the finance board after it had finished it’s work.
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