Opinion

Op-Ed: Town of New Canaan FY 2026 Budget Update

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[Note: Todd Lavieri is chair of the Board of Finance.]
Last week, the New Canaan Board of Finance passed the FY 2025-2026 budget. This budget now goes to the Town Council for their review, and approval. When the Board of Finance received the budget from the Selectman’s office in January, we set three goals to accomplish with our review: one, to reduce the amount paid in taxation by $3 million; two, to reduce the total amount of capital expense by at least $3 million; and three, to reduce the amount of taxpayer supported capital expense by $1 million. Working collaboratively with each department, we accomplished all three goals. We reduced the amount raised by taxation by $4.1 million, we cut the capital expense by $4.8 million, and we reduced the taxpayer supported capital (not bonded), by $1.2 million.

Government

Op-Ed: Budget Update and New Mill Rate

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[Todd Lavieri is chair of the Board of Finance.]
In our effort to continue to provide up to date information, here are some background facts and context to get everyone up to speed with where we are as we set the mill rate for next year’s budget which begins on July 1st. Right now, we are projected to finish the year with a $3.9 million surplus. Expenses will be about $1.8 million less than budgeted, and our revenue will be $2.1 million more than budgeted. While that is very good, it is a little below our earlier expectations driven by slightly less revenue in some areas. Our goal every year is to give our surplus back to the taxpayers and we will do it again this year.

Government

Op-Ed: Property Taxes And The Budget Process

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As part of our goal to keep the town informed and provide meaningful updates from time to time, this is a follow up to my summary last month regarding property revaluations. The purpose of this letter is to continue to communicate our process and to set a range of expectations given the large swings in valuations that we have seen. We don’t have all the budget facts at this point and assumptions continue to move around since my note last month. We are just starting the budget process, and just completing the revaluation assessments. As a reminder, new assessments were mailed out to property owners in December.

Government

Board of Finance Chair: Understanding the Recent Revaluation

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The Town of New Canaan has completed our latest property revaluations. New assessments have been mailed out to property owners. Mandated every 10 years, this most recent revaluation saw an estimated 25% surge in the total value of properties in New Canaan, known as the Grand List, from $8 billion to $10 billion. This level of increase is unprecedented. Property taxes are calculated through the use of a mill rate.

Andrew Brooks

Board of Finance Chair: Budget Planning Amid Economic Headwinds

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The purpose of this letter is to update you on the plan for the 2023/24 budget, and our overall financial picture. In summary, our town is in great financial shape, but there are economic uncertainties and challenges that we will need to work through this year. Let me share some highlights. On February 7th, the New Canaan Board of Finance will begin analyzing the Town’s budget for the fiscal year 2023/2024 that begins on July 1st. The town departments have been working on their needs and requests over the past few months.