East Windsor finance board trims budget, taps reserves and sends $48.9M plan to June 9 referendum

The East Windsor Board of Finance on Tuesday approved a $48,924,961 municipal budget to send to voters on June 9 after a series of line‑item reductions and a decision to use more reserve funds.

Board members approved cuts that include a $15,000 reduction in custodial services, a $25,000 cut to communications and a $115,000 reduction in the Board of Education request. Facing limited options for recurring savings, the board also voted to increase the use of the town’s fund balance to a total of $1.5 million to lower the immediate tax impact.

Why it matters: The board must present a spending figure that stands between roughly 2% and 2.92% over last year to try to win voter approval; if the referendum fails, the town charter would default the budget to a 2% increase, a scenario board members warned would trigger deeper cuts totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars to town departments and the fire department.

Budget path and key decisions: The meeting opened with a short review of prior referendum rounds and the board’s mandate to craft a compromise figure. Members debated many small and several large options before voting on discrete motions. The board carried a motion to cut custodial services by $15,000 based on recent bids; a separate motion to remove recording secretaries for most boards failed after members raised legal and practical concerns about minute‑taking. The board also approved a $25,000 transfer from CIP and a $25,000 communications cut, both as part of the package of reductions adopted ahead of the final vote.

Board members discussed how a $226,000 state education payment (described in the meeting as state aid applied to the BOE line) affects the arithmetic for the BOE’s request. After staff explained the offset and how the charter’s 2% default interacts with state aid, the board approved a $115,000 reduction to the BOE portion of the request; the transcript indicates that board members expect that cut to reduce pressure on the referendum outcome while trying to avoid teacher layoffs, although some non‑teaching staff positions could be affected.

Public‑safety tradeoffs: The police chief told the board that current vacancies, training timelines and overtime obligations make cutting an authorized officer position expensive in practice: overtime has risen from roughly $50,000 last year to about $55,000 this year, and the chief warned that not replacing a vacancy would likely increase overtime costs, fatigue and operational risk. "Last year, I needed $50,000 overtime to make the budget. This year, I needed 55," the police chief said during the meeting, explaining that training and academy times mean staffing gaps persist for months.

Use of reserves and ballot messaging: With few remaining recurring reductions available, the board voted to increase the draw from fund balance to $1.5 million. Some members cautioned that using one‑time reserves masks recurring revenue challenges and will reduce the town’s cushion in future years; others said it was necessary to present a feasible package to voters. Board members noted that town officials’ ability to describe the full consequences of a defeat on the ballot is legally constrained; outside groups or candidates can, however, circulate explanatory material.

Outcome and next steps: The board voted to adopt the $48,924,961 budget; that figure will appear on the June 9 ballot. The board also approved the Broad Brook Fire Department’s budget submission of $1,177,290 to be included in the referendum. The board scheduled a special meeting for June 15 to set the mill rate (members noted charter timing constraints that make an earlier special meeting impractical).

What the record shows and what it does not: The transcript documents motions and carries for the items listed above, but it does not provide full roll‑call vote lists for every motion; where the transcript gives a clear tally (for example, a recorded single opposition on the custodial cut), the article notes that outcome. The board repeatedly warned against treating one‑time funds as a long‑term fix.

The referendum is June 9; the board will reconvene June 15 to set the mill rate if necessary.