How Your Town's Budget Is Developed

The Town Budget is has six major components: the Board of Education budget (BOE), the Town budget, Debt Service, Revenue other than property taxes, the grand list (taxable property) and all other line items. At either their October or November meeting, the Board of Finance develops a projected budget and mil rate in order to provide guidance to the Boards of Education and Selectmen. 

Each board develops their own budget, which are submitted to the Board of Finance, generally in February by the BOE and in March by the Board of Selectmen (BOS). School administrators/BOE public budget meetings begin in December and include a public hearing in late January.  BOS public budget meetings are held in late January and February.

The BOF holds public hearings in late March  to hear public comment on the respective budget requests and the proposed mill rate.  After the public hearings, the BOF holds budget deliberation meetings.  The BOF may decrease, increase or leave the BOS and BOE budgets unchanged. 

Pursuant to the General Statutes, the BOF cannot make changes to individual line items in the BOE budget. It can only change the total BOE appropriation. It is then up to the BOE to designate how the total will be allocated to the individual lines. 

The BOF may reduce or increase any line item in the Board of Selectmen's budget request, however, the BOS with four affirmative votes can override the BOF's action, provided that the BOS reduce or increase other line items so that the total of their budget request shall equal the total amount of such line items as originally proposed by the BOF.

Finally, the Annual Town Meeting is held in the first week of May, traditionally on the first Tuesday, at which the BOF-recommended budget is presented and discussed. The Annual Town Meeting members can amend the BOF-recommended budget, including the BOE and BOS budgets, within constraints imposed by the Charter.  

Voting on the BOF-recommended or amended budget occurs immediately following the Town Meeting, and at an adjourned Town Meeting held on the following Saturday. Each voter has the following choices: approve the budget; reject the budget because it is too high; or reject the budget because it is too low. At least 15% of the Town’s eligible voters must cast a vote on the budget, otherwise regardless of the outcome of the vote, the budget automatically passes. 

Should the budget be rejected, the BOF, after consultation with the BOE and the BOS, recommends a reconsidered budget to a reconvened Annual Town Meeting, which must be held within twenty-five days of the date the budget was rejected.

The Reconvened Town Meeting may approve or reduce the reconsidered budget but not reject it entirely.