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05/23/2019 12:00 AMAlthough there were two “No” votes, the majority, which was approximately 75 votes, were “Yes” and the Deep River 2019-’20, $18,139,700 budget, which represents a $1,146,345 or 6.75 percent increase over last fiscal year’s budget, passed at the May 21 public hearing.
“I want to thank all the people who showed up to vote,” said First Selectman Angus McDonald. “And I want to thank all the people who showed up, not just to this meeting, but all the meetings. They paid attention and they made sure they understood the budget and that’s important.”
He added, “The Board of Finance, Board of Selectman, and Board of Education have all worked very hard over the past five months, to bring a responsible budget to the town and I am glad it passed.”
As previously discussed, although the budget does increase spending, the mill rate will remain unchanged at 29.42. The town will draw from its unappropriated town surplus general fund to balance the budget.
The approved budget includes $12,396,053 for education, an increase of $516,682 or 4.35 percent, with Deep River’s share of the 2019-’20 Region 4 budget accounting for $7,131,407, an increase of $447,829 or 6.70 percent.
Town spending, including debt payments, is $5,743,647, an increase of $629,663 or 12.31 percent. McDonald said the biggest drivers to the increases in the town spending this year are employee benefits, which are up 14.5 percent.
“Thankfully, there is not a lot of increase this year, every part of the town government has done a great job and worked very hard and we were able to keep the mill rate flat,” said McDonald.