Bethel Sup't Proposes $49.5 Million Budget, A Hike Of 3.27%

BETHEL, CT — Superintendent Christine Carver is proposing a 2021-22 schools operating budget of $49.5 million, an increase of $1.57 million, or 3.27 percent, over the current year's plan.

Salaries (66.4 percent) and benefits (19.2 percent) combined make up the lion's share of the proposed budget. The salary line increases overall by $899,090 or 2.81 percent, compared to the 2020-21 budget.

The overall increase in benefits is $628,001 or 7.06 percent, and the big budget driver overall is the increase in health insurance of 8 percent.

"The claims in our district have been very reasonable this year but the increase will depend on the total pool of participants in the CT Partnership Plan 2.0," Carver wrote in her presentation to the Board of Education last week.

The remainder of the proposed schools budget breaks as follows:

• Purchased Professional Services increase to $1.06 million, an additional $64,800, or 6.51 percent above the 2019-20 budget.
• Purchased Property Services drop by $1,000, to $247,700, or 0.40 percent.
• Other Purchased Services would also decrease, to $4.4 million, a drop of $30,261 or 0.69 percent.
• Supplies have increased by $18,455, or 0.04 percent, to $990,890.
• Equipment decreased by $14,370, or 3.98 percent, $347,062.
• Dues and fees increase by $1,886, or 2.39 percent, to: $80,645

The BOE will vote on the proposed budget at a meeting Thursday. If approved, it will go before the Finance Board, then the Board of Selectmen. A town meeting — a step eliminated last year due to the coronavirus outbreak — is scheduled for April 5.