Despite a dramatic year of issues and concerns that have circulated around Town Hall finances, the public was largely mute on the proposed Board of Selectmen budget at a public hearing on Monday, Mar. 30, held by the Board of Finance.
The only real criticism came from resident Paul Hannah, a former first selectman and former BOF member, who chastised the BOF for worrying too much about tax increases and not paying proper heed to the infrastructure and service needs he said face the community.
“I have a concern that the Board of Finance is too hung up on percentages,” he said, citing the board’s survey for focusing on its desire to keep the tax increase below 3% and the operating budget increase for the BOS within the 3.6% guidance it recommended.
“There was no mention of another very important percentage — 1.8%, the increase in the Grand List, which goes to reduce the amount of money that has to be taxed,” Hannah said.
While the numbers are not official as to what revenue the town will be receiving next year — multiple commercial property owners have appealed their assessments — there could be as much as $1.8 million in new revenue.
“There is no way this town can continue to provide services with 3% inflationary level increases [and] I urge the Board of Finance to stop getting hung up on percentages and start looking at the real drivers of these budgets,” he said, including the expected increase in the population of Wilton over the next few years and an ongoing tendency to defer maintenance in municipal buildings, including the Town Hall building.
“I believe it’s important to deal with those things,” Hannah said, accusing the BOF of trying to “scrunch down” the budget.
In presenting her budget proposal, First Selectman Toni Boucher highlighted the condition and need for more space at Town Hall with a variety of photographs showing disorder, clutter and some items in need of repair. Likewise, she stressed the imminent growth of the town in relation to various residential building projects, which she said will increase the need for services.
“We could be a town [with a population] of 18,000 [residents] going to a town of over 20,000 [residents] in just a couple years,” Boucher said, describing 1,205 potential housing units coming online in the year or two.
Boucher and the BOS are asking for a $38,821,769 operating and operating capital budget for Fiscal Year 2027. While this represents a 4.56% increase to the current year’s budget at this time, if the BOF approves a request to transfer $330,000 from the Charter Reserve account into the current FY 2026 budget, the proposed increase will then shrink slightly to 3.63% — matching the 3.6% increase guidance that the BOF had asked the BOS to follow.
Monday’s hearing also saw some comments from professional firefighters in support of the planned addition of two new firefighters positions in the budget.
Other items Boucher highlighted included a 3% increase to the Wilton Library budget and $165,000 toward funding two new positions each for one-half year — a town administrator and a new manager in the Department of Public Works, which Boucher said officials had opting for instead of two DPW maintenance workers that the department had also requested.
BOF Chair Tim Birch noted that this year’s budget season has been “a little unusual.”
“Ordinarily when discussing a budget we look to last year’s budget and actual expenses, this year’s budget, and year-to-date expenses in order to provide a foundation in our look forward,” he said. “Unfortunately we do not have final numbers for last year and it’s highly unlikely that we’ll have an audit for last year before our Annual Town Meeting.”
Birch emphasized, however, that the newly organized Finance Department at Town Hall, led by Chief Financial Officer Dawn Savo, has worked diligently to get the town back on track.
The BOF is scheduled to begin its budget deliberations on Tuesday, Mar. 31.