CORNWALL — At the April 21 public hearing at the Cornwall Consolidated School on the proposed town and education spending plans for 2023-24, the line item that carried the most weight was the $396,904 (27.37%) increase in next year’s Region One assessment for Cornwall.
This hike was due to a small graduating senior class for Cornwall this year paired with a large incoming freshman class, increasing Cornwall’s population at Housatonic Valley Regional High School by ten students.
“By itself this would be about a 6% increase in Cornwall’s town budget,” said First Selectman Gordon Ridgway on the Region One increase. He added that after hearing the news, the town began to tighten the purse strings to alleviate the overall budget.
“We did have to defer some capital projects and, with the budget we did come up with, we had to utilize some capital reserves,” said Ridgway. “Through cooperation and a bunch of meetings and sharpening pencils, we were able to come up with something that is not a 6% tax increase.”
The selectmen’s proposed operating budget and capital expenses totaled $2,942,689, a $91,164 (3%) decrease from last year’s town budget of $3,033,853.
Total proposed budget for Cornwall Consolidated School in 2023-24 is $2,633, 903. This is down $31,080 (1.17%) from 2022-23’s budget of $2,664,983.
Cornwall’s Region One assessment for 2023-24 is $1,847,118, an increase of $396,904 (27.37%) over last year’s Region One budget of $1,450,214.
This put’s Cornwall’s total proposed education spending at $4,481,021 in 2023-24, up $365,824 (8.89%) over the $4,115,197 budget in 2022-23.
After moving $350,000 from the town’s reserves toward next year’s budget, Cornwall was able to get the mill rate for 2023-24 to 14.7, a 1.47% increase over 2022-23 mill rate of 14.49.
Cornwall’s overall town expenses in 2023-24 would be set at $7,768,573, a $276,100 (3.69%) hike over the 2022-23 budget of $7,492,473.
On Tuesday, May 2, the residents of Cornwall will have the opportunity to vote on the Region One assessment at Cornwall’s Town Hall between noon and 8 p.m. The town vote for Cornwall’s overall budget will be held at Cornwall Consolidated School on May 19 at 7:30 p.m.
