Branford Budget News Keeps Getting Worse As State Announces More Planned Funding Cuts

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

BRANFORD, CT – Town officials thought the news was bad enough when they approved a 2017-18 budget a few weeks ago calling for a 5.33 percent increase in the town’s mill rate.

But that was before Gov. Dannel P. Malloy came out with his revised budget plan – a plan that took into account that the state’s spiraling deficit is even worse than previously thought.

At the May 22nd Board of Finance meeting, First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove and Finance Director Jim Finch said Malloy’s newest budget plan takes another $2.1 million away in state aid from Branford, “basically wiping out all education aid” to the town, Finch said.

That would translate, if Branford didn’t change its budget, into the increase in taxes now being at 7.64 percent next year, Finch told the finance board.

By charter, the finance board has to adopt a final budget by the end of May.
Finch laid out for the board the “municipal aid famine” that towns like Branford face because of the state’s fiscal crisis.

He and Cosgrove also tried to counsel the finance board on what its options are to try and protect Branford taxpayers from a huge tax increase.
“Our goal has always been to try and insulate as much as we can the taxpayer from this impact,” Cosgrove said.

Finch said the way to insulate taxpayers is by figuring out how much money the town should take from its fund balance to try and mitigate the tax hike.

What makes the job difficult, Finch said, is that it is clear that the state is not going to have a final budget adopted by the time the town’s budget is set. In fact, it is likely there will be a special legislative session this summer in Hartford on the budget.

“What is the appropriate tax increase” is the challenge the finance board has to decide between now and the end of May, Finch said.

Finch said there is some, not much, that the finance board can do in addition to taking money from the fund balance to lower the tax hike.

He said the town can also revise its debt plan or hold off on road improvement projects to try and save money.

Originally posted by Brian McCready

(Editor's Note: This story first ran previously but here it is again in case you missed it.)