Lyme — Without needing to have a town meeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board of Finance on Tuesday evening approved the town’s proposed 2020-21 budget that calls for no increase to the current 19.95 mill rate while also putting aside savings and addressing potential spending related to the health crisis.

It is the third time over the last four years the town has achieved a zero-percent mill rate increase, Board of Finance Chairman Dan Hagan said by phone this week.

“I think the selectmen and the Board of Finance did a very good job putting together a budget that reflects the values of the town of Lyme: strong support for education; open space; savings; and fiscal responsibility,” Hagan said. “It’s awesome that we were able to do that and the stars aligned correctly this year to make that happen, too.”

The finance board was able to quickly approve and finalize the budget Tuesday by virtual meeting due to an executive order by Gov. Ned Lamont allowing the Board of Selectmen to authorize the Board of Finance to adopt the $10.6 million budget and set the tax rate.

The budget, which includes general government, education, debt service and capital spending, shows a 3%, or $326,155, decrease compared to this year’s $11 million spending plan. The decrease is largely due to a $161,755 drop in debt payments owed next year, as well as a decrease in what the town is expected to contribute toward the $35 million Region 18 2020-21 education budget.

Both Lyme and Old Lyme pay separate shares into the school budget based on the percentage of students living in each town. This year, Lyme paid 19.3% of the $35 million school budget, but next year will pay 18.8% of the school’s budget — about $203,000 less.

The town’s overall operating expenses also are expected decrease by about $151,000, or 1.5%, while tax revenue is expected to increase by 1.5%, or $143,741. That increase is partly due to a significant rise in Eversource’s property value by about $6 million this past year due to the utility's investments in its infrastructure throughout town, Hagan said, increasing its property taxes by about another $130,000.

The reason the tax rate is not decreasing next year, Hagan said, is because town officials decided that by keeping the mill rate the same, the town could save the additional money collected to help offset potential significant tax rate increases next year or the year after, as the town readies itself to pay for two upcoming bridge projects estimated to cost $4 million.

First Selectman Steve Mattson has said the projects, to repair the bridges at Birch Mill Road and Macintosh Road, will be paid for upfront by the town over the next few years, but much of those costs will be reimbursed through state and federal grant programs. The town has allocated $275,000 toward the projects in next year’s budget.

The Birch Mill Road bridge has been closed since last year because of its poor condition, and the Macintosh Road bridge recently was downgraded, prohibiting large vehicles, such as firetrucks and school buses, from crossing.

A total of $80,000 in potential coronavirus-related expenses has been set aside — $30,000 into a contingency account and $50,000 into a new capital expense account — in the 2020-21 budget, in the event the town needs to cover personal protective equipment purchases or hotel accommodations, should one of the town’s first responders be exposed to COVID-19 while on the job and need to be quarantined from family members, among other possible pandemic-related expenses.

m.biekert@theday.com