In a special meeting on Thursday, April 20, New Fairfield’s Board of Selectmen (BOS) discussed budget reductions. Following the Board of Finance’s request to cut $300,000 from the Town budget, First Selectman Ms. Pat Del Monaco and Finance Director Ms. Olga Melnikov created a list with a range of cuts, most of which the public will not feel. Selectman Ms. Khris Hall said, “I think the big one is going to be the road paving that people might feel, but I really am surprised that you’ve been able to do it with minimal damage.” Before going through the cuts, Del Monaco walked through the proposed budget again, pointing out various pressure points and explaining increases.
The largest cut of $150,000 is in the road paving line item. Large repaving efforts will be conducted on Gillotti Road, which will be needed following the completion of school construction, but any other roads in town will need to hold for the future beyond repairs. Other cuts include $40,000 from utilities, which was already a savings not reflected in the budget, as Del Monaco explained, recently “we were able to lock in for fuel oil and diesel at a lower rate than we budgeted for.” This budget year’s catch basin clean-up, which is just beginning, will be a thorough one, allowing the BOS to feel comfortable reducing those expenses for next year by $20,000.
Del Monaco explained that $20,000 in overtime expenses for the communication center dispatchers will be cut, with the input from the lead dispatcher that “he can accommodate what he needs.” While $100,000 in State Trooper savings were already included in the budget, the BOS added another $22,000 that was part of a buffer they had retained, “we still have a healthy buffer so we feel we can do that,” Del Monaco said. Other salary savings come in the form of a library Circulation Clerk position that will come in at a lower rate, saving the Town $2,000, and an open land use position was eliminated.
The library books and materials budget will be trimmed by $6,000, though they still have $36,000 allotted for spending. They had originally requested more money due to the increase in the cost for digital materials. A request for library automation of $2,200 is “no longer needed,” Del Monaco explained. The Senior Center’s materials and supplies are being reduced by $2,000. A larger cut is being made to “general insurance” for $9,500, “because a while ago we made the decision not to purchase cybersecurity insurance because we felt that it wasn’t the right fit for us and that we are secure through other means.” There will be a $5,000 reduction in Workers Compensation, which is a savings that was recently realized in the Town’s insurance charges, $5,000 in pension, $5,000 in postage, and $3,500 in grant administration. Selectman Ms. Lori Beninson observed, “A lot of hard work went into this, and I thank our department heads for being willing to really look in those nooks and crannies to find every dime we can.”
The BOS approved a transfer of $650,000 into the Medical Reserve Fund in interest income that was generated in this fiscal year. A windfall, this is unexpected interest money that is already in the general fund. With a transfer of this size, further approval will need to go to the BOF and then to a Town Meeting.
The next regular Board of Selectmen meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 11, 7:30 p.m.
By Sarah Opdahl