At last night’s (Feb. 20) meeting, Wilton’s Board of Selectmen continued to discuss their work in progress on the FY 2025 budget.
Following two previous special meetings (Feb. 8 and Feb. 12) on the budget requests from each of the various municipal departments, the selectmen are now faced with decisions about the final budget numbers that will be submitted to the Board of Finance (BOF) for review.
The latest discussion, which strayed from the agenda at times, reveals the factors coming into play in the FY’25 budget and the big challenges facing the Town’s leadership.
As First Selectman Toni Boucher said in her Feb. 19 newsletter to residents, “the challenge is how to realize these excellent ideas with the urgent needs the town faces, and stay within the confines of our budget.”
But what are those confines? Before budget planning was underway, the BOF issued guidance to the BOS (and the Board of Education) to develop a FY’25 budget that would keep Wilton’s mill rate increase at or under 4%.
The initial BOS budget draft represented a 7.12% year-over-year increase. Town Administrator Matt Knickerbocker, to whom most departments heads report, called it “a work in progress.”
Knickerbocker said he was “very aware there were some gasps” when the initial numbers were first shared — a reaction he said he understood given “the magnitude compared to where we’ve been in previous years.”
“I’m going to be pretty transparent with this and say it’s been pretty difficult,” Knickerbocker said. “There’s a lot of moving parts, a lot of things are in flux and not settled” such as plans for the school and municipal building repairs.”
“We’re working very hard to produce a budget that is responsible and responsive to the needs of the public.” Knickerbocker said. “We’re still struggling to get to the [4%] advice that was offered by the Board of Finance [but] we’re doing our best to try and get there.”
He reminded the board of the goals underlying the budget, which emphasized cost reductions, greater efficiency, service improvements and a continued emphasis on securing grants, among other goals.
Knickerbocker said a key driver of the 7% increase was operating capital for the most urgent building repairs which, for the most part, are not bondable items.
He presented an overview which included two alternative budget scenarios that would bring the 7% increase down significantly. Those scenarios reflected unspecified reductions in expenses and operating capital, but were intended to illustrate “options” for the selectmen to achieve a more desirable overall budget target.
One scenario showed roughly $260,000 in reduced expenses plus roughly $544,000 in reduced operating capital. Even with those significant reductions, that would bring the budget to a 4.79% increase — closer to, but still above the BOF’s 4% guidance.
The selectmen noted that those scenarios — reflecting hundreds of thousands of dollars — would represent real tradeoffs and might simply be “kicking the can” further down the road. The fact that the reductions Knickerbocker outlined were not specifically itemized also seemed to add to the selectmen’s discomfort.
Boucher worried trying to meet the 4% guidance might cut “too deep” and risk impacting essential Town services.
“We have to be realistic,” Boucher said. “You can get to any number if you want to zero out all your accounts. The Town’s services — that’s where the bulk of our resources go.”
When Selectman Ross Tartell referred to Wilton’s “lean budgets” over many years, Boucher responded, “Those lean budget years have come to roost.”
“There’s no question the Town is stretched… so many things that have been left undone,” Boucher continued, referring to much-needed building repairs. “That’s the challenge — how do we address the most urgent needs as soon as possible, and phase in the other repairs so it’s not such a dramatic impact on the taxpayer.”
As the selectmen’s discussion delved further into the budget details, Selectmen Bas Nabulsi raised a question about Trackside. Town funding for Trackside had largely dissipated in recent years, but $20,000 in new funding appeared in the FY’25 budget. Boucher called it “a meager return to a previous practice” and said it would support a new mentor program.
Selectman Kim Healy questioned about whether the BOS should be funding a non-profit’s programs. The selectmen agreed to invite Trackside representatives to the next BOS meeting for more information.
With the exception of the Trackside discussion and a few other specific line items, the selectmen were focused on broader issues.
Boucher seems wary of potential reductions that could come from the Board of Finance. She alluded to BOF action last year which reduced both the BOE and BOS budgets, which she felt was “disproportional” for the selectmen’s budget.
“I will be speaking up about the fact that we [BOS] should not be disadvantaged in this [budget] process. If there are cuts to be made it should be done equitably,” Boucher stated.
Healy expressed a similar view.
“The BOS has been the group expected to cut our budget the most, [compared to] the Board of Education. It should be equitable for sure, and it has not been in the past,” she said.
Still, Healy acknowledged the selectmen have to do more work on their own budget.
“From what I’m hearing, and my belief is, we have to do a lot better than this [7%],” she said. “The [BOF] guidance is a good thing, and we should at least make every attempt to fulfill that request.”
Next Steps
Reflecting some recent changes, the BOS meeting schedule will unfold as follows:
- Feb. 26: BOS special meeting on the budget
- March 5: selectmen vote to adopt the BOS budget
- March 13: joint BOS/BOF meeting to review the BOS budget
- March 19: capital budget discussions
More BOS News
- The board voted to approve a naming policy, outlining the criteria it would use when presented with requests to commemorate individuals on Town-owned property.
- The selectmen also approved a policy for replacing mailboxes damaged by snowplows. GMW is reporting on that in a separate story.