Mayor Borer proposes FY2026 budget with 11‑mill mill-rate cut; public hearing set for April 3

Mayor Dorinda Borer presented the City of West Haven’s proposed fiscal year 2025–26 operating budget and five‑year capital plan at a special City Council meeting on March 20, 2025, proposing a city mill rate reduction from 36.57 to 25.76 and a $33 increase in the sewer fee.

The proposal also includes a $1.8 million increase for the Board of Education, targeted capital investments and service restorations, and the creation of a chief operating officer position funded by eliminating vacant posts rather than adding net new personnel. Council members set a public hearing on the budget for April 3, 2025, at 6:30 p.m.

The proposed mill-rate reduction is intended to offset a state‑mandated 2024 property revaluation. "Therefore, the new mill rate that I am proposing for this City is changing from 36.57 to 25.76," Mayor Dorinda Borer said during her presentation. She told the council the administration achieved the cut through a combination of stronger financial controls, audit completion and strategic reallocations.

Borer said the administration closed out three years of delayed audits — fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024 — in a single…