By Sarah Opdahl

In a collaborative effort, members of New Fairfield’s Board of Finance (BOF) met on Wednesday, June 28 to revamp the Town and Education proposed spending following a second failure in the Town and Education budgets. Led by members Ms. Cheryl Reedy, Mr. Kim Hanson, and BOF Chair Mr. Wes Marsh, the group agreed to restore the Town’s proposed spending to the amount tha t was originally approved in the first round of voting. They slashed education budget cuts in half. As she has several times, Reedy was prepared with a proposed plan and, as he has in the past, Hanson gave the parameters slight n udges, resulting in an agreement.

There was a synergy among the three members that led to several residents expressing appreciation at the meeting’s end. Marsh reflecte d, “tonight is a good example of what this board does…working together, collaborating, compromising. We are the Board of Finance, which means nobody is going to go away totally happy, but at least we can all go away with some agreement. Nobody totally wins. So, I’m very, very pleased with how it came out tonight and hopefully that will be reflected when we have the budget vote.” Reedy stated, “it may not be your ideal budget, but I think it is a fair budget for the current situation.” A Town Meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 11, 7:00 p.m. at the Senior Center Community Room to set the budget vote date to consider and act upon the appropriation of:

Town government expenditures totaling $13,675,500 from the general fund and $797,070 from the capital and non-recurring fund and $2,691,605 from other governmental funds as recommended by the Board of Finance for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024.

And, to consider an act upon the appropriation of Education expenditures totaling $52,785,168 from the general fund and $155,675 from the capital and non-recurring fund, as recommended by the Board of Finance for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024.

BOF members attempted to maintain the mill rate to match the temporary rate that was set by the BOS earlier in the week. There were some happy surpri ses to factor in, such as more-than-expected state education funding and a continued expectation for a healthy surplus in the Town’s budget. With a back-and-forth to nuance the numbers, Marsh noted the efforts felt as though they were “smoothing,” the budget, a term he refers to when the BOF is working at their best.

Not all BOF members were effusive in praise of the new plan. Alternate Mr. Dave Coleman expressed frustration over what he considered to be a lack of concern for residents who cannot afford the tax increases. It was pointed out by a fellow member, however, that those members of the community did not come out to vote. Reedy noted that there are programs to help the elderly with taxes and encouraged residents to volunteer for groups, such as the fire department which has needs for people of all abilities and which offers tax abatement incentives.

The next regular Board of Finance meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 19, 7:30 p.m.