#MiddleburyCT #Budget #CapitalExpenses
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
Middlebury voters will cast their ballots on the revised general fund (municipal) and capital expenses budgets Wednesday, May 22, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Shepardson Community Center at 1172 Whittemore Road in Middlebury. The original budgets were voted down on May 8 with the general fund budget losing by 69 votes (577 against, 508 for) and the capital expenses budget losing by 43 votes (563 against, 520 for)
The questions on the ballot will be:
- Shall the 2024-2025 proposed Town of Middlebury Municipal Budget in the amount of $13,035,511 be approved?
- Shall the Town of Middlebury appropriate $2,388,000 for 2024-2025 Pay As You Go Infrastructure / Capital / Reserves from State Grants, Revenue and Undesignated Fund Balance?
The revised general fund (municipal) budget of $13.04 million is $65,500.60 less than the $13.10 million budget that was on the May 8 ballot. The first budget was an increase of $432,509.60 (3.41%) over the current budget while the revised budget is a $367,009 (2.9%) increase over the current budget.
The revised capital expenses budget is $2.39 million, which is $100,000 less than the $2.49 million capital expenses budget that was on the May 8 ballot.
At the request of the Board of Finance and Board of Selectmen, First Selectman Edward B. St. John adjusted the general fund and capital expenses budgets as follows:
General Fund Cuts
General fund budget revenues were decreased by $65,500.60. That amount was taken from the property taxes line item, lowering it to $38.45 million from $38.52 million.
General fund budget expenditures were decreased in five accounts. Under “Legal,” litigation fees were decreased by $10,000, to $10,000 from $20,000; and labor grievances/arbitration fees were decreased by $15,000, to $50,000 from $65,000. This removed the proposed increases in each line item that were in the budget voted down May 8.
Under “Insurance,” the Workers Compensation/Reserve account was cut by $5,000, to $200,000 from $205,000. As with the previous two cuts, the $5,000 was the increase in the first proposed 2024-2025 budget.
Under “Police Department,” the IT/Computer/Technology/Rekor Cameras line item was cut by $3,000, to $79,867 from $82,867.
Under “Public Works,” the Snow & Ice Removal/Emergency Response Reserve line item was cut by $6,500, lowering it to $208,779 from $215,279.
The Contingency Fund account, which had already been cut $25,000, making it $20,000 compared to $45,000 in the current budget, was cut an additional $10,000, lowering it to $10,000 or a total cut of $35,000 in the proposed budget.
Lastly, in the Extraordinary Items account, $16,000 was cut from the Reserve for Contract/Salary Negotiations line item, lowering it to $0 from $16,000.
Capital Expenses cuts
The $100,000 cut to the Capital Expenditures budget was made by reducing the $1.63 million revenue from the Undesignated Fund Balance to $1.53 million.
Expenditures were cut by taking $25,000 from Roads and Bridges, making it $925,000; $10,000 from Buildings/Town Properties, making it $290,000; $25,000 from Fire Apparatus & Equipment Reserve, making it $100,000; $25,000 from Public Works Equipment Reserve, making it $100,000; $10,000 from MRA Upgrades, making it $70,000; and $5,000 from the Fire Dept. Training Facility Feasibility Study, making it $5,000.
