With Healy Urging More Restraint, Selectmen Reach Consensus on FY’25 Budget Request, up 4% from Last Year

In a special meeting that began on Tuesday, March 5, and was extended to a second session on Friday, March 8, Wilton’s Board of Selectmen (BOS) reached consensus on its FY 2025 budget proposal — the culmination of many weeks of work under challenging circumstances.

After leaving Tuesday’s session hopeful to whittle down to a 4.5% year-over-year increase, the board was ultimately able to find ways to bring the budget increase down even further — to 4.07%.

The proposed budget, including expenses and operating capital, will be $35,876,501. (The final budget document reflecting all the latest line-item modifications was not immediately available, but is expected to be posted shortly.)

First Selectman Toni Boucher was pleased with that number.

“[That’s] coming as near as you possibly can to the 4% guidance that was issued,” she said, referring to the Board of Finance budget guidance last fall for both the BOS and Board of Education that was intended to keep a potential mill rate increase from exceeding 4%.

While all of the selectmen helped to identify cost savings, it was Selectman Kim Healy who nudged the board to reach the lowest possible increase.

Getting To This Point

The initial BOS budget draft — which was first previewed back in February, showing a hefty 7.12% increase — required substantial scrubbing before it was acceptable to the board.

Over the course of several weeks, the selectmen scrutinized the budget line by line, submitting questions in writing which were then researched and addressed by CFO Dawn Norton or Town Administrator Matt Knickerbocker (and various Town department heads).

Through several iterations, the budget numbers steadily came down, but this year’s process appeared more fraught than preceding years, requiring the addition of special meetings for the selectmen to reach precision on many key budget details. The complications were due to a variety of factors:

• The overall budget climate was particularly challenging, with significant pressure from rising labor costs and late-breaking information on the high costs of municipal facility needs, both immediate and longterm.
• It’s a year of transition at the leadership level, with Toni Boucher taking the BOS budget reigns for the first time. Knickerbocker and Norton took a more visible role in this year’s process in the absence of former First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice, who was widely known for her financial adroitness and hands-on involvement with budget matters.
• As noted by officials during the budget talks, the much-anticipated conversion of the Town’s budget software (which Boucher called “antiquated”) to the more user-friendly, interactive Munis platform isn’t operational yet.

Healy alluded to the bumpy process at Tuesday’s BOS meeting, noting that the selectmen themselves had to take a more active role this year.

“I would argue the first few drafts really were not ready for prime-time,” she said. “I mean, we historically have been given a budget that didn’t need any scrubbing… We just made overall opinions on the amounts and maybe made a few adjustments.”

Prior to Friday’s unanimous vote, Healy continued to push the selectmen for a leaner budget, even as others appeared comfortable when a 5% increase looked achievable in late February.

When a scenario for a 4.5% increase came into view at Tuesday’s meeting, Healy signaled that she still had reservations and might not vote in favor.

“I’m very, very concerned about the size of our budget,” Healy said. “I want to be mindful of the taxpayers, always… I think we could do better, and I would like to see us at least try to do that.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, Healy lobbied to keep a FY’24 budget requirement for the Parks & Rec department to reimburse $220,000 to the Town’s general fund. With the so-called “self-sustaining” budget measure, Parks & Rec reimburses the Town to cover Rec program costs with the program fees it collects. The requirement was raised from $120,000 in FY’23 to $220,000 in FY’24 to compensate for other BOS budget pressures. Boucher (and Parks & Rec Director Steve Pierce) sought to lower the requirement for FY’25 to avoid further increases in program fees, which they felt unfairly hit Rec program participants. Healy argued there was no evidence that participation in Rec programs was negatively impacted by the fees in FY’24, and simply maintaining the $220,000 requirement in the FY’25 budget would help minimize the budget increase. In the end, the board agreed to $170,000 for FY’25.

With some other final adjustments between the Tuesday and Friday sessions resulting in the 4.07% increase, Healy joined her fellow selectmen in the unanimous vote.

Consensus Reached (For Now)

Following the unanimous vote, Boucher thanked each BOS member along with Knickerbocker, Norton and other staff members for their work on the budget.

“I’m very proud of the work you all have done,” she told them. “We did our best thinking and now we’ll depend on the Board of Finance to take a look at it and help us reach a conclusion that we can take to the [Annual] Town Meeting on May 7.”

GOOD Morning Wilton reached out to Healy after the vote, to ask if she was satisfied with the consensus budget.

“I’m very happy that we, as a board, got to a place that we could all vote to support the budget,” she said. “I was the hold-out, but with the few extra days we were able to review our accounts again and get to the budget we passed.”

Healy noted that there are still big issues to resolve before a budget is finalized.

“If we are asked to reduce further by the Board of Finance, it will not be easy,” Healy said. “As I’m sure you saw with our questions from all the selectmen, we had the finance team go back to every department and look for savings.”

“[And] we still have the bonded capital to review and agree on,” she added.

Now that the selectmen have agreed upon the operating budget, they are expected to begin discussions about bonded capital spending projects it will present to voters for approval at the May 7 Annual Town Meeting.

Boucher’s Pitch

Boucher quickly updated residents about the proposed budget in a statement released the next day.

“I’m happy to report that the Board of Selectmen has passed their budget, as of Friday, March 8, coming in at the Board of Finance guidance of 4%,” she wrote.

“The budget that stands now is below the national rate of inflation that has risen to 8% in the last two years,” Boucher wrote. [Editor’s note: the national rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), averaged roughly 8% in 2022. After peaking in June 2022, the inflation rate has been below 4% since June 2023, and as of January 2024 is at 3.1%.]

Boucher defended the 4% BOS budget increase as necessary to ensure Town services and in response to “extraordinary times.”

While she says it is “understandable” that “any increase can feel shocking after nearly a decade of almost no increases at all,” Boucher says the proposed budget marks a “necessary transition beyond the constraints of crisis into a new period of growth.”

“We are living through a time of new expansion,” Boucher wrote. “But this is just the beginning… These budgets will now go to the Board of Finance for a final determination before they will be put before the Town Voters in May. I would never minimize the economic discomfort families may be experiencing, but there is something to be said for the optimism inherent in how our town is growing.” 

Next Steps

• The Board of Finance will have a joint meeting with the selectmen on Wednesday, March 13 to discuss the BOS budget request.
• A public hearing on the BOS budget is scheduled for Monday, March 18.
• The next regular BOS meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 19.

All meeting details, agendas and Zoom links are posted on the Town website.

Note On Tax Relief Program

The selectmen noted that under the latest budget proposal, the budget for tax relief for the elderly and disabled would remain flat at roughly $1.1 million. They agreed that the program is critical to maintain.

“It’s really important we have that, both symbolically and operationally. It’s an important part of the Town,” said Selectman Ross Tartell.

Healy inquired whether more outreach was needed, to ensure those eligible are informed about the benefits — especially, as Second Selectman Josh Cole pointed out, some residents may face greater needs if their property taxes increase.

Boucher agreed and indicated she would undertake outreach efforts through her office.