Mill Rate Increase Down, BOF Cuts Millions From Fairfield Budget

FAIRFIELD, CT — The question Wednesday night wasn’t if the Board of Finance would cut the proposed Fairfield budget, but by how much.

In the end, the body reduced the 2022 spending plan by about $2.1 million, leaving a total budget of roughly $333.4 million. The board also added $185,000 in non-tax revenue. The changes resulted in a mill rate increase of 1.12 percent, down from 1.9 percent; and 5.6 percent gross tax levy growth, instead of 6.4 percent. After the board’s adjustments, the levy is set to go up about $16.7 million year-over-year.

The budget was approved along party lines, with Democrats Lori Charlton, Sheila Marmion and John Mitola dissenting.

Among the changes the board agreed upon was a $1.2 million reduction in surplus contributions, with the body adjusting the line item from $2.2 million to just above $1 million. Mitola pushed to cut the full $2.2 million.

“I think for this year, in an attempt to reduce the tax burden on the taxpayers, it’s important that we do this,” he said.

Taxes for the 2022 fiscal year will be affected by several factors, including a recent property revaluation and the town's roughly 4.5 percent grand list growth.

“I don’t want to create a cliff,” board member James Walsh said. “It’s just a tax increase next year for the taxpayers.”

Financial cliffs estimated to be as much as $10 million have dominated the ongoing budget season after officials chose last year not to raise the tax rate due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mitola’s proposed amendment was voted down by his Republican counterparts, but the board unanimously approved the $1.2 million cut.

Walsh earlier in the meeting had butted heads with Charlton during a discussion of whether to reduce contingency allocations by $280,000 or $100,000, as town staff recommended Wednesday.

“At some point we have to trust the finance department,” he said. “Sometimes when we have these discussions it doesn’t sound like we do. … We’re a AAA community, and we’re that way because we run things conservatively.”

Charlton took issue with Walsh’s comment.

“Let’s just cut it out, this is not about not trusting anyone,” she said. “Let’s just stop the grandstanding.”

Walsh replied that Charlton was the one who had been grandstanding. In the end, the board voted to cut the $100,000 along party lines.

The board also unanimously removed about $450,000 in retirement contributions and post-employment benefits in alignment with recommendations, according to Chair James Brown.

Despite months of debate and a parent rally on Town Hall Green, the $192 million Board of Education budget was approved with no changes. School board members have for weeks asked the town to restore their requested $9.5 million year-over-year increase, rather than the $7.5 million hike budgeted by First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick.

More than $2.5 million of the increase is dedicated to filling a financial hole created when the school district used excess funds generated in early 2020 by the onset of the pandemic to pay for maintenance and transportation in 2021.

Another aspect of the budget that was much-discussed leading up to Wednesday but remained unchanged was conservation staffing levels. Kupchick as part of a town reorganization plan eliminated a $123,000 conservation administrator job and terminated Annette Jacobson, who held the position. The decision sparked public outcry and a petition with more than 1,000 signatures seeking to save the job.

“All we’d be doing is effectively just raising taxes on a position that the first selectwoman doesn’t intend to fill, and that doesn’t make sense,” Charlton said, adding she would commit to funding the job if Kupchick were to restore it.

At the outset of Wednesday’s meeting, Kupchick stood by her staffing decisions.

“I want to thank everyone who has supported my reorganization efforts,” she said. “You never know if you can make a change unless you try.”

Now that the budget has been passed by the Board of Finance, it will go before the Representative Town Meeting for approval in May.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the amount by which the Board of Finance reduced the budget. The board cut expenses by about $2.1 million and added $185,000 in non-tax revenue.