Last night the Board of Finance held its public hearing on the Board of Education‘s proposed FY’18 school budget. There were approximately 120 people in attendance, and many more watching at home on the live streaming feed on WE-TV or reading our live blog.
The main facts: The BoE has asked for a 0.0% increase over last year’s budget–$80,569,905. The town is facing a tough financial situation that may get tougher, and the BoF has said that in order to make the proposed budget requests from both the schools and the selectmen, they’d have to raise taxes.
What is crucial is now for Wilton citizens to let the Board of Finance know what they want. Here’s what you can do and what you need to know.
- Educate yourself: Read news coverage of what’s going into the budgets. Watch last night’s meeting, and read our live blog about it. We’ve included the slides from both the BoF and the BoE presentations in the blog. Better yet, we’ve got the video of the meeting at the end of this article.
- Look at the numbers: Review the Board of Education budget on the Wilton Public Schools’ website.
- Email town officials: Send your feedback on the proposed budget to both the Board of Finance (boardoffinance@WILTONCT.ORG) and the Board of Education (BOE@wiltonps.org).
- Stay involved: There are several more important dates to keep in mind.
- Monday, March 27: The BoF holds a similar public hearing on the proposed Board of Selectmen FY’18 town operating budget and capital projects requests. It will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Middlebrook auditorium. GOOD Morning Wilton will live blog the meeting again. It is not yet determined if the meeting will be live streamed, the way the BoE hearing was.
- Wednesday, March 29 and Thursday, March 30: The BoF will hold deliberations on the proposed budgets, and set the mil rate. These meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall and televised on Ch. 79.
- Tuesday, May 2: The Annual Town Meeting and Vote–This begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Clune Auditorium at Wilton High School. The vote begins immediately following the close of the meeting. This meeting will be televised on Ch. 79, and live blogged on GMW.
- Saturday, May 6: The Adjourned Vote–Voting continues at the Clune Center for anyone unable to vote on May 2. Polls open at 9 a.m. and close at 6 p.m..
Who can vote:
- All registered Wilton voters are eligible to vote on the budget and any additional questions.
- All resident or nonresident owners of real property—or a motor vehicle—valued at $1000 or more on Wilton’s last completed Grand List.
- In all cases, voters must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old.
