Key Points
- Selectmen outlined anticipated FY2028 municipal funding needs to inform the Finance Board’s budget guidance.
- Seven potential staff additions could push spending above the projected increase needed to maintain current operations.
- Unanswered financial questions and concerns about deferred needs complicate the board’s early estimates.
Why It Matters: These early projections help shape decisions about municipal services, staffing and spending before Wilton’s formal budget process begins.
After holding a second round of diligent deliberations and calculations, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Monday, Oct. 5 on submitting a preliminary estimate of FY2028 funding needs to the Board of Finance, projecting a budget increase of 4.5% to $6.5%.
The estimate covers the BOS operating and operating capital budgets. Maintaining current operations would require a projected 4.5% increase, while adding seven staff positions under consideration would bring the increase to 6.5%.
The BOS developed the range to inform the BOF’s budget guidance, outlining what selectmen anticipate needing before the Finance Board recommends spending targets.
Opportunities for Cost Savings
While the BOS arrived at unanimous consent, Selectman Matt Raimondi — the former BOF chair and a supporter of the BOF’s suggested budget guidance process — said he believed there were savings to be found in the Town’s administrative operations.
“I think there are significant questions outstanding about how money is spent and how inter-department transfers work,” Raimondi said, saying he would have a “tough time” going above a 4.5% increase to the BOS operating budget for FY2028.
Raimondi presented an updated overview of anticipated FY2028 numbers, drawing on most of the same data he had presented at the Sept. 22 BOS meeting. The baseline figures, which he gathered in cooperation with Chief Financial Officer Dawn Savo, reflect maintaining current operations, with no additional personnel or new program initiatives, and showed a baseline increase of 4.5%.
He stressed that the numbers were based on historical assumptions and did not reflect his personal views. He added, however, that because of outstanding questions on both FY26 and FY27, as well as the still-incomplete audit of FY25, he said he did not believe there was enough information to warrant a larger increase.
Instead, Raimondi told the BOS that he believed there were opportunities for cost savings in the current operating budget. First Selectman Toni Boucher challenged his concern about the available financial information.
“I take issue with, that you don’t have a handle on the numbers,” Boucher said. “The numbers are there … I think that you can make decisions based on what we know going forward.”
Raimondi disagreed, noting that neither he nor the BOF had received answers to certain questions posed to the Finance Department.
“While they’re outstanding I just have a hard time going above the baseline,” he said.
At its own Sept. 29 meeting, the BOF had limited discussion of budget guidance, but BOF Vice Chair Rudy Escalante proposed keeping tight reins on Town Hall spending in light of recent issues involving financial operations.
“I’m very concerned about the management of the town at the moment,” Escalante said.
Seven Potential Staff Changes
Following BOS input last month, Raimondi adjusted his figures to include the impact of adding seven new positions that are — or have been — under consideration.
With help from Human Resources Department Director Sarah Taffel, he calculated the positions would add $768,273 in salaries and benefits if the BOS included them in FY2028, bringing the projected increase to 6.5%.
These positions include two additional firefighters, two Department of Public Works maintenance workers, an administrative secretary for the first selectman’s office, a social worker for Social Services, and a combined tax collection and assessor clerk in the Finance Department.
The projected base pay for these positions totals $476,263, with taxes and benefits adding an additional $292,010.
Established Need
Second Selectman Ross Tartell opened the board’s discussion with a formal presentation arguing that BOS budget increases over the past five years have been well-below inflationary increases while municipal needs continued to grow, creating a funding gap.
“Our first priority is supporting municipal administration,” Tartell said. “Budget guidance should allow investment that demonstrably improve performance and productivity. Existing funding may be insufficient to address identified staffing, systems and process needs.”
He also highlighted infrastructure, noting that the town had let facilities maintenance lapse. He also pointed out that hundreds of new apartment units are expected to increase Wilton’s population, creating greater demand for services.
“Our recommendation for Fiscal ’28 is to fund dependable municipal operations, complete the rebuilding of essential administrative capabilities and prepare services for changes already underway in Wilton,” Tartell said.
He said that increased development was expected to generate additional revenue.
“The revenues for Wilton are growing significantly,” Tartell said, “partly because of property taxes with all the new development … So that gives us resources that we need to think about.”
How Firm Should Early Guidance Be?
Selectman David Tatkow said it was challenging to estimate an increase this early in the budget process. He said he was influenced, however, by several firefighters who spoke at the start of the meeting in support of hiring additional firefighters.
“It was very compelling and very persuasive,” said Tatkow, who had previously expressed reservations about the BOF recommending where the BOS should set its budget limit.
But during the discussion, he offered a more conciliatory message.
“It does make it a little uncomfortable at this early stage trying to come to these kind of conclusions,” he said, noting that the board had yet to hear from the different department heads about their needs. “But that’s the direction that the Board of Finance wants to go toward and I believe we should make our best effort to give them something they can work with.”
At the same time, Tatkow expressed concern that publicly discussing a number in October or November could constrain the BOS to some extent in the eyes of residents if significant changes or adjustments become necessary.
“The question becomes: How much does guidance become destiny?” Tatkow asked rhetorically following the presentations on anticipated needs and costs.
The Destiny Factor
Selectman Rich McCarty also expressed concern that, once presented to the BOF, preliminary numbers could become fixed expectations and begin influencing the BOS’s programmatic agenda.
He cited the Department of Social Services request for a social worker that dates back more than six years.
“If we establish a plan by which we’re going to commit to a service, then we should continue to adhere to that plan,” McCarty said, concerned about being restrained by a preliminary estimate.
“We can’t lose sight of continuing to fall behind,” he said of infrastructure needs. “I talked about that last year, where if we keep deferring, we keep falling behind and it keeps costing more.”
“We’ve got to be honest and transparent — dynamic transparency — about what this budget doesn’t include as much as what it does,” McCarty said.
Boucher said she did not anticipate needing an increase beyond the proposed range, including the seven potential positions, barring unforeseen costs such as insurance expenses or the outcome of salary negotiations currently underway.
“I think it’s fairly accurate,” Boucher said of the preliminarily discussed projected increase range of 4.5 to 6%. “I think we could pretty much say between, at the very, very minimum 4.3, to 6% if you added all those positions.”
“We can’t predict what could be out there,” she said, citing the unexpected, “but all things being equal, I think we’re looking at 4.3, 4.5 to 6 [percent] if everything was provided for,” Boucher said, indicating there was no way they needed to go over a 6.5% increase.
“I think it’s better to give a range rather than the number itself,” she added, noting that she expected to present the BOS’s position to the BOF — probably at its November meeting — to substantiate the figures.
Despite differing views about spending above the baseline, all five selectmen voted to submit the 4.5% to 6.5% range. The preliminary recommendation leaves the specific staffing and spending decisions for the budget process ahead.
