Budget Season Continues At Ridgefield Town Hall

**News Release Submitted by Town of Ridgefield**

March 1, 2024

The Board of Selectpersons (BOS) held their second round of budget discussions this week for FY24/25. The ECDC, Police Department, Board of Education, Parks & Recs and Mamanasco Lake Improvement Fund (MLIF) reviewed and answered questions about their budget requests. At the end of the final meeting, the BOS voted to approve the following…

• Operating budget for fiscal year 2025 in the amount of $43,309,290.
• Roads/drainage ADA infrastructure budget in the amount of $2,669,250.
• Non-binding recommendation to the Board of Finance for the Board of Education operating expenses in the amount of $115,041,000.
• Debt service for fiscal year 2025 in the amount of $7,288,587.
• Board of Selectpersons and Board of Education capital budget for fiscal year 2025 in the amount of $8,388,383. The approved amount of $8,388,383 is expected to be offset by grants totaling $1,470,000 for a net capital of $6,918,383.

On March 25th, The Board of Finance (BOF) will hold a Public Hearing for the review of the budget recommendations from the BOS. The BOF will follow up with meetings to discuss public comments and to hear from Board, Committee & Commission (BCC) members. The objective of the BOF is to consider the overall financial situation of the Town when considering budget requests.

The Annual Town Meeting (ATM) at which the public votes on capital items under $100,000 is scheduled for May 6th at 7:30pm. The final budget vote is at the Budget Referendum on May 14th. Information on both meetings will be posted to the Town website.

The minutes from this week’s budget meetings will be posted to the Board of Selectpersons page within 7 days of the meeting date. Looking for more info? All BOS Budget Meetings can be viewed on the town website.