Greenwich RTM Approves 2020-21 Town Budget, Tax Rate To Decline

GREENWICH, CT — After months of debate and work from various town departments and committees, the Representative Town Meeting approved a $448 million budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year during their meeting Monday night.

The RTM voted 158 in favor of the budget, with 61 opposed and four abstentions, however the decision was ultimately made with no debate. The new budget takes effect July 1. (To sign up for Greenwich breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

While lower than the $459.88 million originally proposed by the Board of Estimation and Taxation's budget committee, the newly adopted budget is still up about $4 million from that of the current fiscal year.

The BET modified the original proposed budget to $448 million, and it was sent to the RTM on April 27. BET Chair Mike Mason, who spoke prior to the RTM's vote, noted the coronavirus' impact on what was ultimately sent to the RTM this spring.

See also: Greenwich Budget: Residents May See Slight Property Tax Decrease

"I would like to emphasize that we, the BET, consider this budget as a deviation from typical years and our budget guidelines," Mason said. "We made a call based on the impacts of [the coronavirus] and not having our crystal ball to rely on."

Mason also said the BET had a "great rapport" with the RTM this year, as in years past.

"This certainly is not a 'status quo' budget," Mason said. "All the leadership in town will be more challenged than ever. Our residents, business owners and inhabitants will see different impacts from the economic storm. They all need to be part of the dialogue and informed continually."

According to the Greenwich Time, the $448 million budget will result in a 0.02 reduction in Greenwich's mill rate, meaning residents will pay less in property taxes in the new fiscal year. The BET will formally set the mill rate for the new fiscal year during a meeting Friday afternoon.

While crafting a town budget is never an easy task, this year's process was unique in that much of the work on it over the past few months had to be done remotely.

According to Mason, the BET's budget committee was just finishing up work on the budget in March when everything in town began shutting down due to the virus.

"We all had to adapt to phone call [and electronic] meetings," Mason said in an interview with Patch last month, "that was a lot of work, [but] I think we're all getting really good at it."