Groton — The Town Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a fiscal year 2021 town budget of $130,453,984, about a 1.1% increase over this year's adopted budget, and sent it to the Representative Town Meeting.

The council voted 7-2 to set a tentative tax rate of 24.46 mills, an increase of 0.29 mill, for next year, with Councilors Portia Bordelon and Aundré Bumgardner opposing.

The proposal, as it currently stands, uses $1.5 million from the town’s unassigned fund balance. Town Manager John Burt said that number is not final, and the council will decide on fund balance use and set the official tax rate for next year after the RTM reviews the budget and makes any changes.

The RTM’s virtual budget meeting is set for Saturday, April 11, with the option to continue on Wednesday, April 15, if needed, he said.

The Town Council, which held an all-day budget session on Saturday, cut $4,383,157 from the town manager’s proposed budget of $134,837,141, which would have represented a 4.5% increase.

Burt said he and the Town Council wanted to keep the budget as low as possible, due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic and the public’s ability to pay taxes.

“We focused on cutting nonessential items by eliminating them or putting them off for consideration until next year,” he said. Town services and programs will continue with the current changes, he said.

Burt said the largest reductions included $2,127,000 from capital improvement projects, $804,448 from contributions to other post-employment benefits and $566,000 from contributions to other funds by removing any vehicle purchases or money put away for later purchases.

The council reduced the proposed schools budget by $496,460, lowering it to the minimum budget requirement.

Superintendent Michael Graner said the Board of Education can absorb the cut while still maintaining all programs and services next year.

He said it looks like there will be about $495,000 in cost avoidance this spring, including anticipated savings in the accounts for substitute teachers, electricity and gas, and snow removal, as well as field trips and equipment, as the district anticipates the spring sports season will be greatly curtailed. The district is negotiating what will happen with the bus contract for the end of the year. He said the district has to fulfill the contract, but believes there will be some potential savings, including in diesel fuel.

The district could then offset some expenses anticipated for next year by using those savings to make purchases this year, such as for supplies and maintenance and custodial needs, he said. The district also planned to pay retirement severance payments next year to 15 teachers retiring this year, but would pay for the severance allowance this year.

Among capital projects, the Town Council cut $293,000 in its share of funding for the replacement of the long-closed North Stonington Road Bridge in Old Mystic. The council is including $25,000 to remove beams and put up nice fencing to make it safe and more attractive, Burt said.

Stonington said this year that it is not funding its share for the replacement project and is proposing $15,000 to permanently close the bridge.

“The intent is to ask for a joint meeting with Stonington to discuss how we could move forward in the future with replacing the bridge,” Burt said.

k.drelich@theday.com