Willington Board of Finance trims FY27 requests, approves line‑item appropriations; working tax estimate near 3.8–3.9%

The Willington Board of Finance advanced the town’s FY27 appropriation package on March 26, approving a long list of department budgets and transfers after factoring updated insurance estimates and projected payroll savings.

Board members and staff said the combination of targeted cuts, use of closed‑project transfers and a forecasted $93,112 payroll savings brought the board to a working scenario that reduced earlier proposals near 6% down to roughly 3.8–3.9% overall. The board and finance staff said final numbers will be refined when this week’s insurance revisions are fully applied.

Finance director Mike (identified in the meeting by first name) told the board that line‑item presentation should show gross expense and list offsets separately so the public can see the true cost of each program. He also confirmed the salt budget was increased by $35,000 ahead of deliberations. On insurance, staff described a series of updates: an initial 32.4% increase in medical premiums was adjusted to 25% in early calculations and to roughly a 20% increase in late‑day pricing; staff said the full effect must be broken down by plan tier before finalizing the appropriation math.

Chief Moore, representing emergency services, told the board that certain proposed reductions to ambulance staffing (placeholders at $50,000 and $25,000) would reduce coverage and revenue and raise safety concerns; he also reported a current‑year payroll savings estimate of $93,112 that the board could apply to reduce the tax impact. Finance staff said applying that projected savings and other closed‑project transfers could lower the mill‑rate impact shown in the board’s planning spreadsheets.

The board approved dozens of motions on individual department budgets and transfer‑out items during the meeting, including motions to fund library operations at the modified request the board adopted, to restore certain transfers for the fire departments and to appropriate the ambulance transfer amount considered by the board. Several votes required roll call and multiple items recorded nays; board members said those recorded votes would be included in the formal packet for the public hearing.

Why it matters: The board’s actions set the appropriation package that goes to the next public hearing and then to the town meeting. Final insurance pricing and the board’s decision about whether to apply forecasted payroll savings to the fund balance or to this year’s tax calculation will determine the final mill rate presented to taxpayers this spring.

During the meeting several residents and department leaders urged caution about cuts that would reduce school staff or library hours, while other speakers urged restraint on capital transfers so the town maintains reserves to avoid larger future bonding. The board said it planned to publish updated figures once the insurance math is complete and to use the upcoming public hearing to present the final recommended appropriation.