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Falls Village seeks budget cuts ahead of May 22 vote

Falls Village seeks budget cuts ahead of May 22 vote
Falls Village Town Hall
File photo

FALLS VILLAGE — Falls Village officials are seeking spending cuts to avoid a potential double-digit property tax increase as budget planning for fiscal year 2027 continues, with a public hearing set for May 8 and a town meeting vote scheduled for May 22.

At a special meeting April 27, the Board of Finance voted to ask the Board of Education to reduce its proposed budget by $50,000 and the Board of Selectmen to cut $100,000.

Board of Finance Chair Ginger Betti said that, based on current proposals for municipal spending, the Lee H. Kellogg School and the town’s Region One assessment, Falls Village would face a $656,000 shortfall. That gap would translate to an estimated 2.68-mill increase, pushing the current mill rate of 22.44 higher and resulting in an approximate 11.27% increase in property taxes.

Finance board member Amy Wynn said the path forward could include revenue from the sale of the former firehouse at 35 Railroad St., use of the town’s general fund, and reductions to proposed spending.

The Board of Education’s proposed budget for Lee H. Kellogg School totals $2.49 million, an increase of $100,451, or 4.2%.

Falls Village’s assessment for Region One is $1,752,589, an increase of $208,904, or 13.54%. Combined education spending would total $4,243,305, up $309,355, or 7.86%.

First Selectman Dave Barger presented the proposed municipal budget of $2,600,436, an increase of $177,610, or 7.33%, at a March 30 meeting.

The plan does not include a pay increase for the selectmen. Most town employees would receive a 2.5% increase, while highway department employees, who are on a step-based pay scale, would see an average increase of 3.73%.

Combined municipal and education spending, including the Region One assessment, totals $6,843,741, an increase of $486,965, or 7.66%. With the proposed $150,000 in cuts, that total would drop to $6,693,741, an increase of $336,965, or 5.3%.

Public Hearing
May 8, 7 p.m.
EMS Center
188 Route 7 S
Town Meeting

May 22, 7 p.m.

EMS Center

188 Route 7 S

Patrick L. Sullivan
Senior Reporter
Patrick Sullivan has been a reporter for The Lakeville Journal since 2004, covering everything from town meetings to local characters and the outdoors. He grew up in Northern Virginia but spent summers on Mount Riga in Salisbury, giving him a lifelong connection to the Northwest Corner. A graduate of Denison University, Patrick is also the author of Tangled Lines, the newspapers’ popular fly-fishing column—making The Lakeville Journal, as far as anyone knows, the only newspaper in Connecticut with a regular fly-fishing columnist. He once received a fan letter from England, which he considers sufficient evidence that his work has achieved international acclaim.
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