Difficult budget season projected

Construction of new schools, less State (and Federal) funds are among the drivers.

The budget review season begins in a couple weeks on Tuesday, March 18th. As you can see from the schedule (below), the first meeting will be devoted to the Board of Education.

This budget season will be far more difficult than recent years for several reasons:

• Based on overwhelming public support, the two new elementary schools are now in the construction phase. This translates to a significant increase in the town’s debt service.

• Building permit revenue in the coming fiscal year is likely to come down from the all-time highs we’ve had the past 2-3 years.

• A reduction and/or elimination of state sales tax and motor vehicle tax revenues.

• President Biden’s American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds have been fully expended.

• BOE budget increase of nearly 7%.

The long and short of it is that we have much higher costs this year and less revenue from operations and external sources. But we’ll have much more detail at the budget workshops and in upcoming CheshireStack posts. Be sure to subscribe to get the latest in your email.

As far as the process this year we’re adding some elements that we hope will encourage more participation from the public. One is we’ll have a public comment period at the end of each budget workshop meeting. Previously there hasn’t officially been time given for public comments. The other wrinkle is that several of our workshops will be on location, rather than in Council Chambers. For example, as you can see in the schedule listed above, we’ll have the ‘public safety’ workshop at the Cheshire Fire Department on Maple Ave. We’ll have Park & Rec and Artsplace at the new Artsplace on West Main Street (at Ball & Socket Arts.) Public Works, Engineering and Water Pollution Control will be at the Waste Water Treatment Plant on Cheshire Street. After all, the budget isn’t just a book full of numbers. It represents our priorities as a community, the services we value and the people that serve us across a dozen town departments and eight schools.

Town Manager Sean Kimball will give a preview of the town budget at our Town Council Regular Meeting next Tuesday, March 11th. The meeting starts at 7pm in Council Chambers. We hope to see you there.