As part of our exclusive regular video chat series with Wilton’s first selectman, Lynne Vanderslice, GOOD Morning Wilton will be meeting regularly with Vanderslice to ask questions, review events and discuss news coming from Town Hall, to bring residents a closer video look at the workings of the town’s government.
We sat down this week to get a preview of the 2016-2017 budget from Vanderslice. The Board of Selectmen are currently working on finalizing the selectmen budget, and are wrapping up meetings with heads of each town department, hearing presentations on budget requests from each department.
The Board of Selectmen will have to finalize all those requests and put its proposed budget together to present to the Board of Finance on Friday, March 4. The Board of Finance will hold a public hearing on the total budget (selectmen and Board of Education budget) on Tuesday, March 29. The Town Meeting to vote on the proposed budget is Tuesday, May 3.
Vanderslice says that the selectmen budget will be flat, with no increase over the budget from the prior year. However, that doesn’t mean that taxes still won’t increase. She discusses that in our video below:
Many in Town expect a zero percent tax increase. It is disappointing to hear there is any other discussion. Surely the 600k funds diverted from paving expense and the 500-600k previously buried in the ill conceived fiber optic expense budget can be removed!
Raising mill rates to cover a loss in housing value will only serve to keep more potential residents to look someplace else for a home. The ratio of staff in all areas of the budget to the the need for same is getting top heavy. We can’t keep going on this down home value with an increasing mill rate.