FALLS VILLAGE — Following a May 8 public hearing, the Falls Village Board of Finance voted Monday, May 11 to send the proposed 2026-27 municipal and education spending plans to a town vote scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, May 22, at the Emergency Services Center.
Voters will weigh in on the Lee H. Kellogg School spending plan of $2,449,328, an increase of $59,063 or 2.47%, and the municipal spending plan of $2,503,382, an increase of $80,556 or 3.32%.
The Region One budget passed a referendum vote last week, with the town’s assessment approved at $1,752,589, an increase of $208,904, or 13.53%. Total education spending will be $4,201,917, an increase of $267,967 or 6.81%.
At the May 11 meeting, the Board of Finance trimmed about $42,000 from the selectmen’s spending plan with cuts to the Recreation Commission, the transfer station, and health insurance.
The finance board made no changes to the Board of Education’s proposal as presented at the May 8 hearing.
Prior to the May 8 public hearing, the finance board asked the selectmen for $100,000 and the Board of Education for $50,000 in cuts.
The school board came up with $41,387 in reductions, which included eliminating an early Kindergarten (EK) assistant position with a salary of $24,667, reduce the hours of a part-time physical education teacher by $5,214, cut the telecommunications/internet line by $3,696 in anticipation of a state grant, eliminate the principal’s cell phone (saving $1,069), reduce a combined $11,443 from Chromebooks and textbooks, and cut $4,774 by not purchasing EK furniture.
The selectmen made roughly $75,000 in reductions for the hearing, including reducing the garden maintenance line from $3,000 to a $1 placeholder, eliminating the special events line by $1,500, reducing the town bus line by $500, and reducing contributions to non-recurring capital accounts by $50,000.
“Painfully we decided we would not put as much in this year. I know this puts us behind,” First Selectman Dave Barger said at the hearing.
