Ready? Budget planning for FY2024 (which begins July 1, 2023) is about to start.
With a clear timeline established for both the Board of Selectmen (BOS) and Board of Education (BOE) to craft their budget proposals — and with First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice‘s recent update to residents outlining important FAQ’s about the budget process — there should be no excuse for residents to be caught by surprise when the Board of Finance (BOF) makes its budget recommendations in the spring.
BOS Budget
As discussed at its Dec. 5, 2022 meeting, the Board of Selectmen has agreed to the following schedule of key meeting dates and deadlines leading up to the budget review by the Board of Finance:
- January 24: Library Budget Request and Presentation
- February 3: Receipt of Budget Book
- February 7: BOS Member Budget Questions Due Date
- February 9: Special Meeting — Police and DPW Budget Review
- February 13: Special Meeting — Fire and All Departments Budget Review
- February 21: BOS Adopts FY2024 Budget
- March 3: Submission of Budget to Board of Finance
- March 6: BOE Presentation of Bonded Capital Requests; Presentation of Municipal Bonded Capital Requests
- March 14: Budget Discussion with BOF
- March 21: Discussion of Bonded Capital Requests
- April 3: Referral of Bonded Capital Requests to the BOF
- April 11: Discussion of Bonded Capital Requests with the BOF
Public hearings on the budget have not yet been scheduled.
The full 2023 calendar of regular BOS meetings has also been posted on the Town website.
All meetings are noticed on the Town website and are open to the public to attend or view on Zoom, although public comment is limited to specified portions of the meeting.
BOE Budget
The Board of Education budget is separate from the BOS budget, and will follow its own schedule, as posted on the BOE website. (As noted in the BOS timeline above, certain capital expenditures are managed under the BOS and are therefore included in the BOS schedule.)
In addition to the BOE’s internal budget workshops scheduled for January 24-26, the following key dates have been posted on the BOE website:
- January 12: Superintendent’s Budget Presentation to BOE
- February 2: BOE Budget Deliberations
- February 9: Joint Meeting, Budget Review with Board of Finance
- February 16: BOE Budget Approval
The BOE regular meeting calendar as well as information on how to access meeting agendas and watch meetings can be found on the BOE website.
Annual Town Meeting
The Annual Town Meeting (ATM) has been tentatively set for Tuesday, May 3, 2023, at 7 p.m. The Adjourned Vote will be Saturday, May 6, 2023, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
EDITOR’S NOTE: this article has been updated to change an incorrect date for the Superintendent’s Budget Presentation to Bd. of Education. The correct date is Jan. 12, 2023.
Once again an Annual Town Meeting on a school night, showing a shameful lack of regard for Wilton parents.
Manufacturing a scenario where, at best, 1/2 of a couple of parents can attend the ATM and participate in idiotic last-minute budget cut voice votes, while childless people are under no such limitations, makes a mockery of the idea that this is a democratic process; we’d be better off with a Representative Town Meeting at this point.
I agree, that it can be difficult for parents (esp. of younger children), to attend this meeting. My question is, when should the ATM be scheduled for, in order to give more people the opportunity to attend?
Also, as someone who attends these meetings (who is not childless), it is not just a scheduling issue for parents. You could also make the argument that there is a disappointing lack of interest from parents to participate…
I wrote a letter to the editor about this last spring — ideally we would redesign it so that people didn’t need to participate in person to have a voice in those last-minute budget votes, but if for whatever reason we can’t get rid of those requirements, a weekend afternoon would be much better than a school night. Or, failing that, at least a Friday or Saturday evening.