Joint statement in support of a ‘yes’ vote on Tuesday in favor of approving the Easton budget

Easton First Selectman Dan Lent and Art Laske, Chair of the Easton Board of Finance, are encouraging Easton’s voters to approve the proposed budget this Tuesday, May 5th.

“We understand that this year’s budget increase is higher than anticipated due primarily to the need to increase by $1 million the allocation towards the Board of Education’s health insurance costs. That increase alone pushed the increase in spending from 3.38% to 5.28%, and we understand the concerns that this increase has caused for our residents”, Lent and Laske stated.

The Board of Finance decreased proposed spending by the Board of Education by $300,000.00 and cut an additional $428,727.00 from the Town side of the budget to decrease the proposed expenditures this year by $728,727.00. While these cuts were difficult, they were necessary to bring the budget to a level that allows the Board of Education to continue providing a strong educational experience for Easton’s kids and to provide the necessary Town services to our citizens.

“We are aware of concerns voiced by members of the community regarding the need to increase expenditures this year, and we are well aware that this proposed increase presents a hardship for many families. We are committed to the long-standing tradition in Easton of careful and responsible spending. We advocate for the prudent use of the undesignated fund balance to lower the tax burden to the greatest extent possible while still maintaining our traditionally sound fiscal principles,” they stated.

“Rejecting this budget, which was unanimously supported by members of the Board of Finance of both parties, and was proposed and is endorsed by the First Selectman, will lead to drastic and unwise cuts to our essential educational and town services, and will leave the citizens of Easton – whether students or seniors – with a far inferior budget that will adversely affect the educational and town services that are the foundation of our property values” Laske and Lent stated.

“We are not pleased to have to include in this budget an unexpected increase due to the rising costs of health insurance for the BOE, and without that unfortunate increase this budget would have been in line with the level of increases Easton residents understand as reasonable given the increase in costs for so many things today – but we are committed to working together in the coming year to identify cost savings and operational improvements in the town and educational budgets to bring spending back into a more reasonable range,” they added.

“We encourage Easton residents to get out and vote “YES” on the budget Tuesday, and we look forward to continuing to work on behalf of Easton’s taxpayers in the coming year to provide the educational and town services residents deserve in the most fiscally responsible manner possible. Easton residents deserve nothing less”, they stated.