On May 20, right on schedule, the Waterford Board of Finance completed the 2020-21 fiscal year budget season when it set the mill rate at 27.87, a decrease of 0.11 from the 2019-20 fiscal year mill rate of 27.98.

That was certainly not the mill rate expected when the Board of Selectman commenced their budget review on Feb. 4, or when the Board of Finance commenced its budget hearings on March 2.

This was one of the most unusual budget seasons in modern Waterford history. The in-person BOF budget hearings came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the cancellation of the March 16 meeting due to the stay-at-home executive order by the governor. Numerous executive orders and hours of advice from the town attorney finally restarted the budget review process on April 7, with a remote conference finance board meeting via Zoom.

With the increasing business closings and unemployment claims, it was obvious that the proposed budget of $97,721,523 would have to be reduced. Since the department operating budgets were already, in most cases, bareboned, it appeared that the reductions would have to come from the Current Year Capital and the Transfer to Capital Non-Recurring Expenditure (CNR) Funds.

At the April 9 meeting, on the recommendation of First Selectman Rob Brule, the finance board reduced the Current Year Capital from $2,529,920 to $2,216,680 and CNR from $2,048,480 to $1,401,280. This left a $300,000 reduction necessary to get a zero increase in the mill rate based on the revenue estimate other than taxes and a grand list before Board of Assessment Appeals actions.

At the final public hearing and budget approval, the finance board reduced the Transfer to Other Post Employment Benefits fund line by the necessary $300,000, reducing the Retirement Commission Budget from $6,282,978 to $5,982,978. The total proposed budget sent to the Representative Town Meeting was $96,460,253.

The RTM moved its budget review from the week of May 4 to the week of May 11 due to the late approval by the finance board. In a series of Zoom meetings, the RTM reduced the Board of Education budget by $470,000, the RTM budget by $500, the Recreation and Parks Department budget by $7,993, and the library budget by $3,530. This reduced the total budget to $95,978,230, an increase of $1,192,750 or 1.25%.

The grand list after the Board of Assessment Appeals hearings was reduced to $3,330,956,957, and the revenue from sources other than taxes was reduced to $3,970,159. The finnace board elected to assume a collection rate of 99.1% even with the tax submission extensions granted by the governor’s executive orders.

In summary, although the budget increased by 1.25%, the mill rate decreased by 0.38%. This will lead to a reduction in taxes for the average assessed home of $184,050 of $20.25 and a reduction in taxes by the median assessed home of $160,100 of $17.61. It is not much, but it is better than a tax increase.

John W. “Bill” Sheehan is a member of the Waterford Board of Finance.