On first pass, the proposed 2020-21 municipal spending plan that was unveiled to local selectmen January 21 by First Selectman Dan Rosenthal and Town Finance Director Robert Tait does conclude with just under a 2.5 percent increase.

But as officials explained during the initial budget presentation, there is virtually no way to substantially reduce it further without compromising contractual labor agreements, a successful but ongoing road improvement program, and the staff and resources required to operate new town facilities, including the Senior Center and the new police headquarters, which is scheduled to open at about the midpoint of the next fiscal cycle.

That is not to say that municipal department heads made it easy to get to even that elevated spending proposal, which is around one percent higher than in recent years.

“Department requests represented a 3.99 budget increase,” Mr Tait told Mr Rosenthal and Selectmen Jeff Capeci and Maureen Crick Owen this week.

Ahead of drafting that final proposal, the first selectman warned department heads that any unanticipated requests would be flagged for intense scrutiny — and they were, reducing those budget line items by $651,266.

The finance director then explained that if another $250,000 in operational budget increases to offset the same amount of capital road bonding was eliminated, the proposed increase could be reduced to 1.86 percent. And there was no avoiding the increased expenses for operating the new senior center, and the soon-to-be opened police facility, which bumps up the bottom line by 0.4 percent overall.

Once the new police headquarters is occupied in October 2020, the eventual reduction in operating costs for Town Hall South will be reduced measurably, he added.

Reviewing proposed budget goals and priorities, Mr Tait went on to affirm that he and the first selectman endeavored to keep the overall proposed increase as low as possible, while preserving “same services,” and keeping a program on track that will eventually shift what was $2 million in annual bonding for road repairs, to an annually replenished revenue line in the Highway Department’s operating budget.

Another factor weighing on that 2.45 percent proposed increase is an expense related to reducing the municipal pension discount rate from 7.5 to 7 percent — a move that puts Newtown in line with best practices that officials believe will help protect the municipality’s stellar AAA (S&P) bond rating. That significant budget expense was mitigated somewhat by breaking the allocation out over three years — 2020-21 being the third and final year of incurring that added but necessary expense.

While capital acquisitions are often a requirement, Newtown has successfully carried through on a commitment Mr Rosenthal made ahead of his first elected term to shift municipal departments away from bonding for those capital projects, in favor of a “pay as you go” program of allocations being drawn from a capital recurring savings-type account.

Some planned capital expenses were deferred in 2019 and 2020 after the town needed to shift almost $2 million to clean-up and recover from a devastating macroburst storm that hit on May 15, 2018. Fortunately a confirmed FEMA reimbursement is in its final stage of processing.

Once received, Mr Tait told selectmen a number of those capital investments would be reactivated, including:

• Move IT equipment for networking — $10,000

• Upgrade IT firewall and HP main switch — $90,000

• Fire turnout gear and other safety equipment — $99,000

• Transfer station cardboard mechanical compactor — $40,000

• Public Building overhead doors and installation of security cameras — $21,000

During the presentation, the finance official also detailed several recent staffing changes in the Senior Services, Police, and Public Works Departments that generated a combined $56,000 in annual savings. At the same time, the municipality initiated two pay increases to keep positions in line with those in other similar sized communities, and to be sure the town was retaining the most talented staff.

To that end, the IT Department’s IT Operations Supervisor pay scale was increased by $2,000, in addition to a 2.5 percent general wage increase that was negotiated for all qualified IT Department staff. Similarly, the Town Human Resources Director position salary was increased by $5,000.

Despite maintaining strict controls on capital spending, necessary allocations in the upcoming budget proposal for purchases along with a planned transfer to the capital nonrecurring still topped the list of increases bumping that line up by $133,944 or 4.34 percent.

With the police and Parks and Rec contracts poised to be negotiated later this year, current and anticipated wage and salary increases constituted a 2.0 percent or $253,823 increase; and a 2.57 percent, or $155,049 increase in fringe benefits.

One bright spot on the budget roster was an anticipated $2,000 reduction in the costs related to the town employee health plan.

Proposed operating expenses are increased by $197,959 or 2.68 percent; contingency is flat at $140,000; outside agency requests are up $57,002 or 1.09 percent; and debt service is up $1,032,456 or 2.56 percent.

Mr Rosenthal said he “tried to hold the bottom line as close as I could to inflation.”

“There’s not much largesse in there,” he added, “debt service is what it is. If we bond less in the long run it will have impact on the budget.”

The first selectman said he and Mr Tait started the process already facing a required increase of about two percent, even before department requests.

“We allowed for some items,” he said, “but there really wasn’t room for much.”

In closing, Mr Tait told selectmen that spending and revenue were both stable, and officials are about two weeks away from receiving preliminary Grand List estimates.

In regard to Grand List revenues, the finance director said, “we expect an increase.”