The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved a spending plan of about $176.8 million for next fiscal year.
The figure represents a 6.09% over the current budget.
First Selectman Dionna Carlson said in a press release that the fiscal year 2025 budget, which now moves to the Board of Finance for the appointed body’s review, “reflects a commitment to hold the line on spending while maintaining services to town residents and continually striving for improvements and efficiencies.”
“Continued pressure from inflation, increased expenses for information technology, early voting election expenses, additional School Resource Officers, additional staffing in the school district along with a large increase in the school health insurance reserve are the primary drivers of the proposed budget increase,” she said in a statement. “This is a challenging budget year, and as we gain more insight into the current year expenses during the coming months, I remain optimistic that we will find additional opportunities to reduce the FY 2024‐ 2025 budget before it becomes final in April.”
As it stands, the budget includes a Board of Education spending plan of $109.8 million and town department operations expenses of $33.8 million, as well as debt service of $18.45 million and tax-supported capital projects of $1.92 million, according to the release.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the selectmen made several reductions to proposed departmental budgets, including to the Departments of Emergency Management and Human Services.
The Board of Finance is expected to pass the budget to New Canaan’s legislative body, the Town Council, by March 12. The Town Council is expected to finalize the budget April 2.
The town assessor has reported that the town’s Grand List—the total value of taxable property in New Canaan, including homes, commercial properties and motor vehicles—has increased 23.6% year-over-year, to $9.909 billion, the press release said.