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FAIRFIELD — The town’s finance board approved a $369.7 million town budget along party lines on Wednesday, reducing a proposed $13.5 million increase to $12.9 million and rejecting another $575,000 in suggested cuts.
The final budget is $659,167 lower than the Board of Selectmen’s decision and $419,697 below First Selectman Bill Gerber’s proposal.
By eliminating items like a $100,000 charter revision and a $65,000 car for the local fire department, the board reduced what would have been a 1.80% tax rate increase to 1.42%.
In a Thursday social media post, Democratic Chair Lori Charlton said she was proud of the revisions. Though the proposed mill rate is slightly higher than recent years, she said the new budget allows Gerber to make needed investments in Fairfield’s services, employees and infrastructure.
“It can be tempting to search for every last dime in a budget with an overriding priority to keep current taxes as low as possible. But given the challenges our town faces, is that smart? I think not,” Charlton said. “We do our taxpayers no favors by staying on the current hamster wheel.”
At the Wednesday meeting, attempts by several members to reduce funding for new or upgraded municipal jobs, schools and firefighter training were largely denied by their colleagues — a decision that former Republican First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick later condemned.
Failed motions
Despite requests for both reductions and increases, the Board of Education budget ultimately remained unchanged at approximately $220 million, a nearly 5% bump over this year.
In his January State of the Town Address, Gerber identified the education budget as one of the key drivers in the mill rate hike. Following negotiations with the local union, the district approved a $4 million contract increase for teachers, which accounted for 3.84 percent of Superintendent Michael Testani’s proposed increase.
The school board also underbudgeted pension costs by more than $230,000 in its approved budget because its benefits firm sent the estimates about three months later than usual, according to district leadership.
Given that the school board will receive most of its requested $11.3 million increase, Republican member Jack Testani suggested reducing the education budget by .1%, or $250,000, for additional savings.
Republican Jim Walsh backed the motion, arguing that the taxpayers need a break.
“Everyone has to share a little bit in the pain of this,” Walsh said. “I think this is a very de minimis and fair amount of money.”
Democratic members, however, rejected the cut in a 5-4 vote. Because the district was already constrained by the costly teacher contract, Democrat Shane Pendley said, the school board should get the full funds to maintain substitute teacher salaries and the special education program.
The finance board later voted 2-7 to reject a motion by Pendley to add about $238,000 to the schools budget to offset unplanned pension costs. The majority of board members also rejected various requests to cut funding for town positions.
Gerber’s request for a new part-time communications director was met with resistance as well. Walsh proposed eliminating the entire $93,600 allocated for the position, cutting the $190,000 salary for a new chief financial officer by $25,000, and reducing the operations director’s $138,985 salary back to its current $127,920.
Gerber and other Democratic board members contended that a communications director is long overdue, but Walsh said previous administrations have done well without the position.
“I don’t think it’s needed. I think it’s a waste, and the money can be spent better by this town someplace else,” he said.
All of Walsh’s proposed salary cuts fell short when put to a vote, with Republican Mary LeClerc voting alongside Democrats in a 3-6 decision.
Republican-backed cuts to the fire department and Fairfield Public Library budgets also failed when put to a vote.
Comparing mill rates
Kupchick, who lost to Gerber in November and now serves on the Board of Selectmen, has been critical of several staffing changes made by the new administration. She told CT Examiner on Thursday that she’s disappointed by the finance board’s final budget.
“In today’s difficult economic climate, a 1.4% tax increase by First Selectman Gerber and the BOF majority feels out of touch,” she said.
Though Gerber maintained that the mill rate increase was out of his control, largely due to the stagnant grand list, Kupchick pointed to her own hardships when she took office in 2019.
“I came into a far worse situation with a public corruption scandal, environmental catastrophe, a poorly managed town, COVID and still managed to keep taxes below 1% while providing services Fairfield expects.”
Charlton, however, argued the mill rate increase was needed mostly because many of the town’s systems are “not particularly well-run.”
According to the finance board chair, Fairfield continues to suffer from a combination of shortfalls like antiquated systems and poor long-term capital planning. In order to fix the longstanding problems, she said, Gerber needs proper funding.
“All these issues result in inefficiencies that hamper our ability to keep Fairfield affordable in the long run,” Charlton said. “They create risk, and they create financial pressures which exacerbate our urgent challenges in addressing other key priorities — notably aging buildings and infrastructure.”
The Representative Town Meeting is scheduled to review the budget this month before casting the final vote on May 6. The finance board is scheduled to set the new mill rate on May 9.
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Correction: Testani suggested reducing the education budget by .1%, or $250,000, rather than 1% as originally stated in this story