Council debates separating school and city budget caps, would require mid‑March 'cap‑compliant' budgets

NORWALK, Conn. — The Norwalk Common Council discussed a proposed charter amendment at a July 2025 special meeting that would split the annual operating cap into two separate votes — one for the Board of Education and one for the rest of city government — and require both the Board of Education and the city to produce ‘‘cap‑compliant’’ line‑item budgets by mid‑March.

Council member Miss Nijalski Eichner, who presented the proposal, said the change would require the council to “vote twice. And the and the effect of that would then be that we would have a cap for the board of ed and a cap for the rest of city.” She said the move is intended to make the budget consequences clearer to the public and to allow the council to make targeted decisions about where increases or decreases should fall.

The proposal would add a new provision (proposed 10‑6 in the draft language) requiring the Board of Education and city departments overseen by the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) to submit budgets that comply with the caps the…