Simsbury Board of Finance Meeting October 17, 2023

Board of Finance Meeting October 17, 2023

With an inflationary economy and a possibility of a recession it is time to think out of the box.

The Board of Finance should require discipline in the budgeting process.

It is time we look at a Zero-based budget, with all line items reviewed for services needed and expenses reduced.

The Grand List will not increase enough to increase expenditures.

Revaluation has increased the taxes on individuals and businesses in a climate of inflation.

There are many monetary pressurs on individuals and businesses with discretionary expenditures greatly reduced.

The budget should reflect the ability of people to pay for services provided.

Businesses have started to reduce employees causing a ripple affect on the economy.

All items that are submitted in the budget should have a cost analysis to justify the need.

All items included in the Capital projects should require future overhead expenses and continued maintenance costs for the project.

When additional services are added to the budget, another item should be eliminated to balance the budget.

Money that was used for the ARPA distribution with additional services should be eliminated.

All special-interest organizations should not be serviced by the town with staff support and should be eliminated.

The Simsbury Volunteer Ambulance Association should either manage their business effectively or turn over the Ambulance delivery service to AMR that is private and used by Avon and Farmington with good reviews.

Simsbury’s high mill rate will eventually reduce property values making Simsbury non-competitive.

The Board of Education should redistrict the schools and place the 6th grade at Henry James Junior High School. This will alleviate some of pressures on the remaining schools with approximately 300 students transferred to the Junior High.

The budget for the 23/24 years should reflect a zero increase in taxes.