Guilford Budget Proposal Includes Modest Tax Hike

GUILFORD, CT - The Board of Finance has approved a $94.5 million budget for fiscal 2016-17, which will raise taxes by 2.86 percent, town officials said in a news release Friday.

Residents will vote on the proposed budget request on April 19.

Last night the Board of Finance unanimously voted to send the combined town and schools budget totaling $94,485,581, to Town Meeting April 5 and referendum Tuesday, April 19, 2016.

The Board of Finance estimates this proposed budget would result in a tax increase of .81 mills or 2.86 percent, which is lower than it has been in prior years, town officials said.

The Town operating budget reflects an increase of $692,064 over the 2015-16 budget, or a 2.5 percent increase and the Board of Education Budget reflects a $1,147,274 or 1.99 percent increase over the current year.

The Debt Service portion of the budget is $7,456,214; which is an increase of $1,942,818, or a 35.24% increase from the current budget.

This increase is mainly due to payment for the new Guilford High School.

In order to mitigate this increase, the Town is using a portion of the almost $1 million in savings acquired by refinancing $16.8 million of existing debt as well as savings from a previous refinancing, officials said in a news release.

The savings will be spread over the next few years to offset the increase from the new Guilford High School bonds.

In addition the Grand List has grown .8% and has increased $24 million in net value, which can be attributed to successful efforts in economic development, including projects such as Guilford Commons and Tractor Supply, among others.

First Selectman Joseph Mazza said in a statement the revenue budget has increased by 1.47% not only because of the increase in the Grand List, but also because of the increase in State funds from the Municipal Revenue Sharing Program.

Residents are encouraged to attend the Annual Budget meeting Tuesday, April 5, 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center and to vote at the budget referendum Tuesday, April 19, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at all five polling locations.