Faced with, as Board of Finance Vice-Chairman Jim Gaston dubbed it, “an almost perfect storm” of a budget year, the finance board cut $1,071,806 from the proposed town budget and $900,000 from the proposed school budget at its final budget meeting for the year on March 5.

As noted in previous coverage, the town faces a number of “major headwinds,” including motor vehicle valuation changes and total exemption for permanently disabled residents, meaning a $785,000 loss in revenue, the general fund balance reported at 9.4% in the fiscal year 2024 financials means a $1.2 million loss of fund balance revenue, other revenue reductions totaling $455,000, a $1.5 million for town and $2.4 million for school employees benefits increase, the Capital Non-Recurring Fund fully expended by the five-year CIP meaning no available capital funds, a significant town need for public safety enhancements and contractually obligated expenses not budgeted for in prior cycles.

Making cuts is never easy, especially when this year’s budget isn’t even a “same services budget,” meaning the town is carrying over everything it offered in the previous year. The school budget was calling for 28.11 full time equivalent position cuts before this newest cut; the town in First Selectman Jeff Capeci’s original budget had pared the town increase down to a 1.94% spending increase.

The Board of Selectmen in January undid some of that work, making a number of additions back to the budget including curbside recycling pickup.

The move, adding approximately $823,000 to the town’s bottom line, was in addition to an $86,475 addition to the library budget, a $40,000 addition to the Edmond Town Hall budget, a $50,000 addition to Youth and Family Services, $25,000 to restore the K9 program at the police department, and a number of other small restorations. The proposed bottom line became $50,779,171, a $1,944,665 or 3.98% spending increase. The budget prior to the additions only had a $948,123 or 1.94% spending increase.

However, the finance board removed some of those additions and cut curbside recycling in half, in addition to a large number of other cuts (see story on A1). It remains to be seen how the Board of Education is going to implement the finance board’s $900,000 cut; it’s likely they may wait and see what the Legislative Council decides to do in its upcoming budget review and deliberations.

Tough decisions had to be made and the Board of Finance should be commended for rolling up its collective sleeves and trying to blunt a little of the pain taxpayers may be feeling when the next tax bill comes due.

The town picking up curbside recycling instead of leaving it up to private haulers is a popular program and a nice perk, but the town was already reviewing its elimination prior to this budget year. Budgeting for half the year gives the Recycling Ad Hoc committee more time to plan what it needs to do and find alternatives and a possible off-ramp for those currently utilizing the service. It should be noted that if the town stops picking up recycling at curbside, private haulers can fill in the gaps.

The Newtown Bee is always supportive of our C.H. Booth Library, the Edmond Town Hall, and Newtown Youth and Family Services and often stumps for those organizations to get larger increases, but Gaston’s argument that fund balances are for rainy days and that, “Well, it’s raining. It’s raining hard,” has been compelling. The library will still see roughly half of its requested increase, and something is better than nothing.

It’s been a while since former editor John Voket wrote his “Standing O’s and Oh Noes” editorials, but in this case the Board of Finance clearly deserves a “standing O.”

It remains to be seen if the Legislative Council and, in the end, residents, feel the same.