East Windsor budget hearing highlights 5.82% grand-list decline and $550,000 in selectmen cuts

Patrick, the town's budget presenter, told the Board of Finance at the public hearing that East Windsor's grand list fell 5.82% this year, a decline he said is led by a 37% drop in personal property following construction-driven spikes in recent years. "Between '22 and '23, personal property values increased by 53%.... This year, they're down by 37%," he said, noting that construction equipment and materials inflate the taxable personal property portion during projects and then disappear once projects are complete.

Patrick said the town's fiscal fundamentals are strong and that the town maintains a fund-balance policy target of 10% to 20%, with current reserves above 22%. He explained the town has used fund balance to offset the mill rate and has restored used balances in recent years because revenues often exceeded expectations or spending ran under budget.

Officials told the board that a series of fixed-cost increases are the principal drivers of the budget gap: a 10.66% health insurance renewal for the town this year, higher wages (projected increase of $155,000), a 5% water rate increase (~$25,000), an electricity increase the presenter characterized as approximately 24% (adding about $62,000), and a $67,000 increase in trash costs (roughly $50,000 of that tied to increased tonnage estimates). "It's just gonna cost us $62,000 more to keep the lights up," Patrick said when describing the electricity renewal.

To limit taxpayer impact, the Board of Selectmen made $550,000 in unanimous reductions to the proposed town-side budget, the presenter said. Those reductions included eliminating recording-secretary lines (saving a little more than $25,000), cutting $10,000 in IT equipment, eliminating a police officer vacancy (about $81,000), converting an administrative-assistant role in public works to part time (saving $12,000), and reducing public-works professional services by $100,000. Patrick warned that the latter reduction "is going to hurt" because that fund is used to get projects shovel-ready and capitalize on state and federal funding opportunities.

Education remains a large portion of the town budget: Patrick said East Windsor ranks highest among its comparator towns for education spending, and that the Board of Education had made an additional $145,000 in cuts. Presenters and public commenters urged the Board of Finance to let voters decide on full school budgets at referendum, saying cuts would have long-term effects on staffing and student progress.

The presenter walked the board through illustrative tax impacts for a $400,000 home under different budget scenarios and emphasized that the town has three mill-rate components: the town mill rate plus an additional mill for either the Warehouse Point or Broad Brook fire district depending on the homeowner's location. He cautioned that a 0% budget would be "absolutely unworkable" for town and school operations.

The hearing closed after public comment where multiple residents and Board of Education supporters urged maintaining school funding and reconsidering cuts to police staffing. The Board of Finance has not taken a final vote in this hearing; the presentations and public comments will inform upcoming budget deliberations and the budget referendum process.