Funding Reductions, Furlough Days Part of Plan to Fix Stratford Budget Deficit

Stratford Mayor John A. Harkins presented his plan, including funding reductions and furlough days, to mitigate the town’s $5.4 million budget deficit for the current fiscal year on Monday.

Faced with the deficit, which was realized when residents rejected the sale of the town’s sewer system facilities to the Greater New Haven WPCA in a referendum vote in November, Harkins’ plan to close the deficit includes:

• Reduce funding to the Medical & Worker’s Compensation Internal Service Fund. ($3 million)
• Unbudgeted revenue transfer from the WPCA enterprise fund due to not regionalizing the WPCA operation. ($580k)
• Targeted 2 percent savings from municipal departments. ($635K)
• Furlough days for non-union employees.

The Stratford Star reports the town’s 26 non-union employees, including Harkins himself, will be asked to take a maximum of two furlough days that would result in $20,000 in savings.

The remainder of the projected deficit will be mitigated via conditional freezes on hiring and discretionary spending, as well as projected savings in capital expenditures, according to a press release.

Harkins added that a review of operational and financial expenditures is on-going and could lead to additional budget savings.

To sign up for Stratford breaking news alerts and more, click here.

“This deficit mitigation package takes into account the need to continue to provide core services to residents without further burdening the taxpayers of Stratford,” Harkins said. “As we continue to work on next year’s proposed budget, it is prudent to take these steps at this time, given the size of the projected deficit for the current year.”

Finance Director Susan Collier said the town “continues to fund all current liabilities in the Internal Service Fund.”

“The proposed FY16 funding reduction will decelerate the funding of the non-current liabilities,” Collier said in a statement. “We are still moving in the right direction, while balancing the need for long-term financial health with the current deficit position.”

The Town Council is expected to consider changes to the budget at its regular meeting tonight, beginning at 8 p.m., and a public forum is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.

Read the agenda for tonight’s meeting here.