BREAKING NEWS, April 7, 7:45 PM⎯After a tense and long discussion at Wednesday night’s Board of Finance mill rate deliberation meeting, and a much shorter Thursday night meeting, the Board of Finance set the town’s mill rate at 27.3371 mils on the grand list, increasing the tax rate to 1.89%.
The vote was not unanimous; the vote was 5-1, with Peter Balderston, the newest member of the board, as the only vote against. Balderston had argued for a zero-percent increase from the Board of Education.
The Board of Education’s operating budget was set at $80,576,640 by a 5-1 vote. The Board of Selectmen’s operating budget was set at $31,015,101 by a vote of 6-0.
In addition, the BOF voted to recommend the two projects brought by the selectmen for capital bonding. The first is the continuation of Wilton’s road restoration paving project for $1.8 M; it was recommended by a vote of 6-0. The second is replacing the artificial turf field at the Wilton High School stadium, with a coconut husk field and concussion padding, for $650,000; it was also recommended by a vote of 6-0.
The budget and capital projects will be presented to the town for consideration at the Town Meeting and vote on Tuesday, May 3, (with adjourned voting on Saturday, May 7).
We’ll have more detail on this Friday morning.