Ridgefield Board of Selectmen Approve $39.5M Town Budget

RIDGEFIELD, CT — The Board of Selectmen has approved a $39.5 million town operating budget for its 2021-22 fiscal year, a 1.97 percent increase over the current year's fiscal plan.

The selectmen have also approved the $103 million budget drafted by the Board of Education. The combined plans, along with the $4.7 million capital budget, will be submitted to the Board of Finance later this month.

Debt service dropped 9.5 percent, and Ridgefield Finance Director Kevin Redmond told the selectmen that he expects it to continue to "come down the next couple of years, and then it flattens out."

Salaries and benefits were the big budget drivers, along with a combined police and fire dispatch center that tipped the scales at $625, 016.

Overall town revenues are projected to be $152.7 million, up 2.13 percent. That includes a 5.33 percent increase in property tax revenues.

The Board of Finance will hold a public hearing on the town and school budget for 2021-22 on March 15.

The annual town meeting to discuss both budgets is scheduled for Apr. 24, with the town referendum set for May 11.