Budget Update from BOF Chairwoman Lori Charlton

Last night, with my wholehearted support, Fairfield’s Board of Finance (BOF) voted 5-4 to approve an amended Town budget, which will now go the RTM for review and a vote. I am thankful to my colleagues and proud of the result.

Here’s the bottom line of budget dollars and changes from last year:

• Education spending: $202.5 million, + 5.4%
• Town spending: $116.9 mm, +4.3%
• Shared Education/Town: $25.7mm, -(8.9%)
• Non-tax revenue: $28.9, +6.4%
• Increase in grand list: 2.1%
• Mill rate: 27.32, +1.29%

Summarized below are some of the larger changes I supported:

• Restored $2.5 million that was previously cut from the BOE-approved education budget.
• Increased paving by $800k to fund the budget at its historical level and expected long-term run rate.
• Reduced the “risk management” budget by $850k to reflect the fact that our reserves for medical, workers comp, and general liability claims were already funded millions of dollars more than our calculated liabilities.
• Reduced unallocated “contingency” funds by $350k.
• Reduced one (out of 5) new budgeted headcount positions requested by the Town.

As happy as I am with the outcome of the vote, I was disturbed by the tenor of the meeting and some of the conduct on display, which I found to be unprofessional, demeaning to our Board, and embarrassing for our Town. I understand that budget discussions can inspire passionate debates among individuals - that’s a good thing. But the histrionics and disrespectful behavior left me shaking my head. I’m quite sure this isn’t what our community wants from its elected officials.

I also want to address the particularly offensive accusations that some of the budget changes passed by the Democratic majority, notably the reduction to the risk management budget, were “reckless” and dangerous to the long-term financial stability of the Town. This is both inflammatory and utterly ludicrous. As it relates to risk management, the basic element of Budgeting 101 for long-term liabilities is that you estimate what you need, you look at what you already have, and you budget for the difference. Yet this most basic of concepts was treated as though it was some kind of new-fangled, radical proposition. Here’s the bottom line: on insurance/general liability claims payable, the Town has cushion to the tune of $6 million above and beyond what it estimates it owes (or 7x the budget cut). We also have reserves in the General Fund that are approaching $40 million - that we are unlikely to ever touch. And we’re not exactly in the wild west: we pay millions of dollars to insure ourselves, including against all manner of large claims. Nothing about this budget action was reckless. Sure, it’s great to be conservative - but not to the extent where you are simply taxing residents to inflate already-healthy reserves. That’s not responsible. And it’s wholly unnecessary.

One of the apparent insults tossed our way near the end of the meeting was along the lines of “Democrats own this budget!” I’m not sure I agree, since most of what we did was to support the good work done the Board of Ed and the Town Administration. But in the end, we passed a budget that meets the needs of our schools, supports numerous proposed Town-side initiatives (including additional resources for the senior center, police, library and more), provides adequate funds to maintain our roads, and results in a tax increase of 1.29%.

If that’s the charge, I proudly own it.

-Lori Charlton, Chairwoman, Fairfield Board of Finance