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Canterbury selectmen approve reduced municipal and CIP budgets after finance board recommendations
Summary
After a referendum rejected earlier budget proposals, Canterbury selectmen approved reduced municipal and CIP budgets as recommended by the board of finance; officials estimated the changes would result in roughly a 0.9 mill increase and scheduled a town meeting and referendum on the revised figure.
Canterbury selectmen voted to approve reduced municipal and capital improvement (CIP) budgets at their June 3 meeting after the town’s board of finance returned recommendations following a failed referendum.
The First Selectman told the board the board of finance asked the selectmen to reduce the town budget to $3,754,695 and the CIP to $505,203. He said the board of finance also recommended reductions to the education ask (the board reported an education figure of roughly $13,683,614). The selectmen carried out about $17,000 in line-item reductions, including cuts to the transfer station, copier rental and maintenance, municipal building expenses, election costs, library operating lines and the garbage line; the fire department budget was left whole.
The First Selectman said revenue offsets — including an increase in ECS funding and Mashantucket Pequot funds — helped reduce the property-tax ask. He estimated the net effect would be about a 0.9 mill increase in the town’s mill rate (he read 0.97–0.99 in discussion).
During line-item review he said he reduced a proposed transfer-station increase, trimmed copier rental to $1,000, held capital equipment/municipal building spending steady rather than increasing it, reduced election expenses from $9,000 to $8,000, and cut a proposed library increase after consulting the library director.
A motion to approve the municipal and CIP budgets as presented was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote. Board members voiced concerns that the initial budget should have passed but acknowledged many of the increases were contractual or beyond local control, citing a notable health insurance increase.
The board will put the revised budgets before voters at a town meeting and referendum (dates set separately at the same meeting). The selectmen did not provide a roll-call tally in the transcript; approval was recorded by voice vote ('Aye').
The meeting record shows the board took steps to reduce the ask while preserving core services; the minutes capture the line-item changes and the board’s stated estimate of the mill-rate impact.
