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05/20/2015 02:00 PMChester voters will be asked to approve or deny a proposed $12,907,355 town and schools spending plan at a town meeting held on Thursday, May 28. The proposed budget for fiscal year 2015-’16 is up about three percent relative to current spending and would result in a tax rate increase of 0.50 mills.
The main drivers for this increase include payroll increases, additional money for winter storm maintenance, and an increase in electricity costs. Payroll is up approximately 2.75 percent or $80,000 and winter storm maintenance (which was calculated using numbers based on the past five years) is up approximately $17,000.
In addition to these numbers, the budget includes a contingency for the cost of resident state troopers. Typically this cost is shared with the state, with the state paying 70 percent of the cost and the towns picking up the remaining 30 percent, however, there are current talks about the towns having to foot the full bill for their own resident troopers so Chester, like the other Valley towns, has included a $40,000 contingency in its budget for this line item.
“In an effort to keep our mill rate low, we have taken $200,000 from our fund balance for this budget,” explained First Selectman Ed Meehan. “This money comes from the prior years’ surplus. Essentially, the Board of Finance made the decision for the town to borrow $200,000 from itself.”
Meehan added, “We still have a healthy fund balance going into next year.”
For more information, visit www.chesterct.org.