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04/07/2020 12:00 AMFollowing budget deliberations, Branford's Board of Finance (BOF) is recommending a 2020-21 town budget which should give Branford a slightly lower mill rate, down from 29.07 to 29.04. On March 30, the BOF recommended a budget of $118,238,443 for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2020 and ends June 30, 2021.
While the bottom line represents an annual increase in expenditures of $2,719,056 (up 2.35 percent), the amount of revenue anticipated to be raised by taxation won't increase, due in large part to the decision to infuse anticipated revenues of $14,142,457 with $3,702,000 from the town's general fund balance. The allocation from the fund balance also takes into account the possibility of a slightly lower tax collection rate in 2020-21, estimating it will go down from 98.35 percent taxes collected to 98 percent.
Branford's estimated net grand list for 2020-21 is $3,680,000,000; an increase of $115,000,000 year to year.
This year's budget process has been constrained by the governor's executive order rescinding the requirement of gathering a town meeting (or, as in Branford's case, a Representative Town Meeting) to ratify the annual budget. Due to that, the BOF has worked to be as transparent as possible in putting forth its recommendation for the 2020-21 budget, which will be finalized in May, said chair Joseph Mooney, speaking during the March 30 video-taped meeting where the BOF's budget recommendations were approved.
"That's our recommended budget," said Mooney. "We will meet sometime in May to set the mill rate and finalize any budget considerations or motions that we have to do at that time, and we will also adjust any revenues as appropriate."
The recommended changes voted in by the BOF on March 30 were made based on deliberations including a video-taped budget workshop/public hearing on March 23 and, as in the past, in meetings with Town Finance Director Jim Finch and First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove, said Mooney.
Both the March 23 and March 30 meetings were also available as live-feed meetings on Branford Cable Television (BCTV) digital platforms, including www.branfordtv.org and the BCTV Facebook page.
The proposed 2020-21 budget workshopped by the BOF was posted in advance of both meetings at the Town of Branford website, www.branford-ct.gov An updated version showing the BOF's March 30 recommended changes will appear there soon, said Cosgrove, in his remarks during the March 30 BOF meeting. The town will also post an email address where residents can provide comments, prior to the final adoption of the budget and setting of the mill rate in May, he said.
The BOF unaminously approved recommending the Board of Education's (BOE) requested operating budget of $59,542,262. The BOF also recommended removing two items from the BOE's capital request budget: an architectural study for the John B. Sliney elementary school and an air conditioning upgrade request for the town's elementary schools. Those changes equaled a reduction of $450,00 from the BOE's original capital request of $1,338,000.
For all other town government departments, the BOF recommended a 2021-22 budget of $58,954,481.