Preston — The Board of Finance this week got its first in-depth looks at the proposed 2022-23 town government and school budgets, both of which show uncharacteristically high increases for the town.

Town and school officials cited inflation and rising fixed costs as driving factors for the proposed $4.3 million town budget's 8.6% spending increase, and the proposed $13.4 million school budget, with a nearly $1 million, 7.8% spending increase.

On Wednesday, First Selectwoman Sandra Allyn-Gauthier told the finance board several expenses will spike in the coming year. She budgeted for 4% raises across the board for town employees, who are not unionized, below the 5.9% projected Social Security cost-of-living increase. Health insurance costs are up 8%.

The Public Works Department budget contains 27% of the overall town budget increase, including the cost to maintain 55 miles of town roads. Public Works Manager James Corley reviewed the major costs and told the Board of Finance that a proposed additional full-time laborer and repairs to the town’s lone street sweeper would save money overall.

The budget includes a new full-time laborer, with the cost offset by dropping a part-time transfer station attendant — the town has not been able to fill the two-day-per-week position — and two snowplow contractors.

Corley said his department is understaffed to meet the road, buildings and grounds, vehicle and equipment maintenance needs. He said with additional staffing, the department could handle more projects in-house, saving on contracting out for services and maintenance.

For example, he said the town swept every mile of road this year at a cost of $14,000. The cost to contract out the work would have been $30,000. The sweeper needs about $15,000 in repairs but is worth keeping, he said. In another case, the town replaced a culvert at a material cost of $1,500, but with an additional cost of $8,000 to hire a contractor to do the work.

He estimated several maintenance and asphalt-laying projects in-house saved the town $76,000 in outside labor costs.

Corley said there is a growing need for maintenance and repair work throughout the town, and the department is looking to contract most of that work out if staffing is not increased.

“Today, more and more public works departments are functioning essentially as small construction companies, because they have to,” Corley said. “They’re increasing their staff. They’re increasing the types and amounts of equipment they have, simply because there’s drastic cost savings by doing this type of work in house as opposed to contracting this work out.”

The town is switching to a comprehensive road repaving plan, but Corley said until enough funding is available to fully implement that plan, the budget includes a $30,000 increase, to a total of $120,000, to target roads in the worst condition.

“It’s not nearly enough to be able to do what we need to do in this plan,” Corley said, “but I think it will show that we are serious about it, and we can at least make an effort to do what we’ve already said we are going to do.”

In his school budget presentation Thursday, Superintendent Roy Seitsinger cited factors contributing to the proposed $977,438, or 7.8% spending increase, including a 9% increase in salaries, 14% increase in utilities and supply costs, 6.5% increase in high school tuitions and 14% increase in special education tuition.

Seitsinger said enrollment for the preschool to eighth-grade district is expected to have “slow and steady growth” in the next decade.

Salaries, heath care and tuitions make up 98% of the overall budget increase, school officials said.

Seitsinger said the school district used federal COVID-19 recovery grants to fund 100% of the summer school program, 60% of the school social worker’s salary, 30% of preschool costs — which is tuition based on a sliding income scale — and used federal and state grants to cover technology costs.

The Board of Finance made no adjustments to either budget this week and will begin budget deliberations at a 7:30 p.m. meeting April 27 at Preston Plains Middle School.

c.bessette@theday.com