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05/17/2022 01:35 PMThe Chester Board of Selectman approved a proposed 2022-’23 $15,329,800 town budget, up $468,307 or 3.15 percent from the current year’s budget for the fiscal year at a meeting on May 10. The budget will move to a Town Meeting vote on Tuesday, May 24 for final vote.
The Town Meeting will be held in person on May 24 at 7 p.m. at the Chester Meeting House. Absentee ballots will not be accepted as part of the voting process. Voters are required to wear masks during the in-person meeting. Registered voters and taxpayers with $1,000 or more in assessed property in town are eligible to vote.
Of the $15,329,800 proposal, $10,379,403 goes to support the schools budget, and increase of $101,839 or 0.99 percent from current spending. The town side of the budget, which also carries debt service, is $4,950,297, a $366,368 or 7.99 percent increase.
The Board of Finance (BOF) wants to keep the current town mill rate of 29.5 percent for next year, and believes the budget proposal as it stands will allow for the town to keep that mill rate. Most homeowners then will not see any change in their taxes, according to BOF Chair Richard Nygard.
“Those who can expect a tax increase will be new owners and a few reappraisals, and while most houses were not reappraised last year there will be a revaluation this coming fiscal year, which may affect a number of existing homeowners,” he said.
The budget would go into effect on July 1 through June 30, 2023. The Town Meeting will also seek approval for a five year Capital Budget and the appropriation of $535,000 from the unassigned general fund balance to offset capital spending. The full call of the meeting is available at the town website chesterct.org.
Among the 16 capital expenditures called for in the budget are $8,000 for maintenance work at Cedar Lake, a biennial effort of clearing the water of obstructive objects like weeds, so that recreational activities such as boating and swimming can take place, according to Nygard.
Another regular capital item in the budget is the $13,000 to be spent on updates for the town’s computer system and equipment, which appears in the town budget each year, according to Nygard. The Fire Department will also receive its yearly expenditure, with $45,000 to be spent on equipment replacement, fireproof uniforms, and other emergency supplies.
The budget calls for the allocation of a total of $150,820 from ARPA funds on three projects. $6,000 in ARPA funds will be used for a concrete pad for a new carousel seating area at the Chester Public Library. Another $44,820 will be allocated from to allow Tri-Town Youth Services to hire three key staff positions for the next two years, providing direct clinical service, prevention education, positive social-emotional skills development, and early interventions for identified youth.
The remaining $100,000 in ARPA funds will be allocated to establish an ARPA Social Services Fund, and will be for the purposes of providing assistance to the most financially disadvantaged households in town. The proposal, which was first vetted by the town’s ARPA Committee and then sent to both the board of Selectmen and Finance, is intended to offer assistance to families that have been adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.