Fairfield Finance Board OKs $332K More in FY13 Spending

The Fairfield passed a $273,340,000 budget Thursday night -- a financial plan that carries a $332,000 increase over .

The most recent version of the combined town and school operating budgets represents a 3.9 percent increase over the current fiscal year spending plan.

A revised mill rate was not immediately available following the Board of Finance’s vote, but the expected tax hike will remain around the previously reported 4 percent increase until the takes its vote in May.

Additions to the Budget

The Board of Finance voted to restore the $250,000 to the that the town’s Selectmen slashed on Monday. First Selectman Michael Tetreau reported to the financiers that the private school bus transportation account should come in $100,000 under budget at the end of the current fiscal year, and the district voided $100-$150,000 in unencumbered purchase orders from years prior.

He suggested that, in light of the savings, the board restore the $250,000 to the Board of Education’s budget.

Finance board member Robert Stone agreed. “It’s a great opportunity to add the $250,000 back in.” Stone said he was impressed by the school board’s budget this year.

The Board of Finance also passed a total of $820,000 in contributions to the town, school, and WPCA pension funds. Member Kenneth Brachfeld made the motions to fund the pensions at close to the same level as the current fiscal year.

“This isn’t really spending,” he said. “This is truly investing in the town’s future.”

“It’s the prudent thing to do,” member James Brown said when Brachfeld suggested the motion at the finance board’s prior public executive session on Wednesday night.

Non-Profits, Private Organizations Saved

Finance Vice Chair Robert Bellitto made it clear when it came time to vote on the town’s charitable contributions that he was prepared to zero out the $700,000 in non-required funding.

Such a move would have affected more than a dozen agencies. Other members took issue with the timing of the proposed cuts.

“We sort of never gave these agencies warning,” Stone said. “I’m not saying we should give it to them but we’re kind of blindsiding them.”

Brachfeld agreed. “This strikes me as a little too sudden and a little too harsh.”  

Bellitto’s first amendment to cut the funding for the Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership failed 2 – 7. He withdrew further motions for the remaining agencies.

“I see the writing on the walls,” he said.

Budget Reductions

The board made several cuts in an effort to balance the aforementioned increases. One reduction was suggested by Tetreau after he told the board that the town’s surplus will be healthier than expected come the end of the current fiscal year.

He and Paul Hiller, the town’s fiscal officer, said the surplus fund should weigh in at $800,000 - $900,000 more than originally projected. Thus Tetreau proposed the board slash the current $500,000 contribution to the surplus fund by $250,000. The board complied once Hiller and Tetreau explained the cut would not affect the other steps in fortifying the town’s AAA credit rating.

Other cuts to the budget include:

• Legal Services: $63,000 – Bellitto made the motion to cut the $603,000 fees and professional services line by $63,000 to return that department’s budget to its current $540,000 allocation. He said he thinks the town can find law firms that will do work for lower rates than what was initially budgeted for the coming fiscal year.
• Land Acquisition: $1,000 – The board voted to rid the budget of this entire $1,000 line item. “I don’t think the town is in a position to buy land,” finance board member Christopher DeWitt said. Selectman James Walsh agreed and added that any nominal fees the come up should the town be donated land could come from the First Selectman’s Office budget.
• Board of Finance: $2,000 – Member Mary LeClerc made the motion to reduce the board’s $99,100 fees and professional services account by $2,000 to lower the year-to-year increase to 3 percent, rather than the initial 5.3 percent.
• Fire Department: $10,000 -  Board member Kevin Kiley moved to reduce the Fire Department’s requested $25,000 for maintenance and repairs by $10,000 to return it to the current fiscal year’s budgeted $15,000. He said the department provided no substantiation for a 66 percent increase for that line item.
• Public Works: $241,500 -  $241,500 in requested capital funds to replace equipment was cut.
• H. Smith Richardson Golf Course: $68,660 - The board cut $68,660 in requested equipment replacement and repairs from the golf course’s budget.
• Library: $27,401 – Bellitto made the motion to reduce the Library’s requested $657,501 allocation for materials by $27,401 to return the line item to its current $630,000 budget.Though the move was called “short-sighted” by DeWitt, the adjustment passed. “We need to find savings…that’s the reason,” Bellitto said.

The final vote on the budget by the RTM is scheduled for May 7. Refer to Fairfield Patch’s Budget 2012 topic page for coverage on the past two months of budget season.