Essex Town Budget Passed Unanimously

ESSEX, CT — For the seventh year in a row, the Essex town budget passed unanimously.

"I am very proud that once again we were able to bring forth a responsible and reasonable budget to the residents of Essex," said First Selectman Norm Needleman.

There were no comments and no questions from the audience of citizens at the May 11th meeting and the unanimous vote ensued with three people voting remotely.

"This is a transparent, realistic, back-to-basics budget and I am most proud of the fact that we are able to get done what needs to be done in town," said Needleman. "We have successfully applied for grants when possible and we are very lucky to have such a great grant writing team and dedicated employees throughout town, who always work to get the job done. We have funded pay increases and benefits for town employees and they are grateful."

He added, "I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish in town, but really, everything was done based on the needs of the town."

The 2021-22 budget is $25,653,515 representing an increase of 4.06 percent over the current fiscal year's budget and is broken down into three separate areas: the town budget, the Essex Board of Education budget, and Essex’s portion of the Region 4 Board of Education budget.

A special meeting has been scheduled for June 10th at 7 p.m. to set the mill rate for the town.

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