Greenwich budget hearing highlights $40M rink, multi‑year school projects and mill‑rate caveat

Chair called the Town of Greenwich Budget Committee to order and introduced First Selectman Fred Camillo and Town Administrator Kate Bush, who provided an overview of the administration’s approach to capital and operating budgets.

Kate Bush said the town begins capital and operating budget work in October and vets requests with department heads. She described a screening form departments completed that asked whether a project supports adopted Board goals, what problem it addresses, alternate options, whether grant dollars exist, and how cost estimates were derived. "We start the process probably in October," Bush said, describing repeated document checks and updated cost estimates to address earlier RTM concerns that some figures were outdated.

Why it matters: the administration is balancing a large five‑year capital plan to avoid abrupt mill‑rate swings. Bush told the committee there are several very large projects in the plan — figures cited in the presentation included about $40,000,000 for a new rink, $55,000,000 for a pool and roughly $43,000,000 for Riverside School — and the town sought to move or stretch projects to spread tax impact. "There were some pretty big numbers in this plan," Bush said, listing those totals and noting the effort to ease the burden on the mill rate.

First Selectman Fred Camillo said school projects have recently crowded town projects in the capital schedule, and the administration is looking at 5‑ and 10‑year horizons to smooth timing. He emphasized that the mill‑rate estimate presented used the old grand list and that the town expects the mill‑rate figure to drop when the budget is applied to the new grand list. "We do fully expect that mill rate... to drop, when the budget is applied to the new grand list," Camillo said.

Committee members asked whether moving projects would delay necessary work; the administration said some projects can be delayed or phased, while others are time sensitive because costs rise with delay. Members also probed the administration’s approach to cost estimates after RTM subcommittees raised concerns earlier about old estimates; Kate Bush said departments were asked to update older estimates and justify the basis for figures.

The committee pressed for clarity about which projects are likely to proceed in the near term and which are candidates for deferment; Camillo repeated that sequencing and timely decisions are important to prevent price escalation. The hearing closed this portion by scheduling follow‑up questions for specific departments and asking for additional project‑level details to be returned before Decision Day.

Next steps: the committee will seek updated cost estimates and sequencing plans for the large projects and will review how the new grand list changes the mill‑rate projection.