At this time of year, “budget” becomes the buzzword around Town Hall and across all municipal buildings. Each of our department heads—together with our board and commission members—has been working diligently to develop a town budget that meets the needs of our community and remains mindful of avoiding a significant increase to taxpayers.
Although the budget may be stealing the spotlight, there is still plenty of other work being done and many important initiatives underway throughout town.
The Board of Selectmen last month chose to opt-in to the Connecticut Municipal Development Authority (CMDA) in hopes to further assist in our pursuit to meet the State mandated affordable housing requirements. The area we are looking to exclusively zone would include the former Bridge Street School property and available lot behind the Community Services building in order to expand upon the Housing Authority located next door. It will take approximately six months for the CMDA to review our zoning regulations, make suggestions, work with the Planning and Zoning Commission and then come back to us for final approvals. Ultimately, our desire to join would provide significant financial assistance from the CMDA for future expansion of the Housing Authority.
The Permanent Building Commission is continuing its work to evaluate what the Town should consider—if anything—for a potential building project that could include renovations or a new construction option for the middle school and fire house headquarters.
Residents can stay informed and follow the discussion as updates and findings are presented at meetings of the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, Permanent Building Commission, Board of Education and Fire Commission. Meeting agendas, materials and schedules are available on the Town’s website, and community input and engagement are encouraged as this process moves forward.
The Selectmen’s budget was submitted to the Board of Selectmen at our last meeting in February. The proposal was for a $680,094, or 3.62% increase to the budget. Most of the increase comes from wages that include contractually obligated increases for our unionized employees. Initial proposals include:
Police: $231,271
The majority of this is two years of wage increases. At the time the budget was developed and approved last year, we were still in contract negotiations. A contingency was appropriated with an estimate in last year’s budget but fell short of the actual negotiated amount.
Public Works: $83,029
This includes wage increases, higher permitting fees for required testing at the Landfill and inflationary costs to operating expenditures.
Community Services: $63,853
(Senior Center, Mini-Bus, Youth Services, and Parks and Recreation)
Library: $65,143
Public Utilities: $94,702
This includes trash, fire hydrant and electric costs.
These five line items make up $540, 998, or 80% of the requested increase.
Other additions include:
- 1 P/T firefighter. Last year, the Town added two new part-time positions with the goal of eventually ensuring that no shift is covered by only one firefighter. Adding this new position should mean that only 2 or 3 shifts remain uncovered, unless time off (PTO) is taken.
- Increase to the Associate Library Director’s salary to better align with the current pay structure of other employees
- Increase to Elections line item due to early voting costs
- $30,000 increase due to the new radio system and required software
The Board of Finance will be reviewing these budgets during the entire month of March if you’d like to follow along.
I would like to extend a big thank you to our DPW department and staff for their long hours and hard work during the month of February plowing the roads and keeping them clear of any snow and ice.
The Summer Fair is officially scheduled for the weekend of June 26 and 27. This year, the Fair will be merged with America’s 250th celebration for the entire weekend.
Don’t forget to check out the calendar of events for the Library, Community Services, Trees for Suffield and the Sustainability Task Force for the month of March.
For those who of you live in West Suffield and use our food scrap dumpster behind Town Hall, there will now be one available for use at the Fire House by Ebb’s Corner.
As always, my door at Town Hall is always open.