A Trying Year For Budgeting

To the Editor:

The Newtown Board of Selectmen have now completed and agreed to their development of the fiscal 2009-10 municipal budget. The proposed budget is now to be submitted to the Board of Finance and then on to the Legislative Council for review and approval. Then it will be combined with the Board of Education’s proposed budget to be submitted to the electorate.

As a member of the Board of Selectmen, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those department heads, representatives of various organizations, and the general public who attended our meetings to offer opinions, guidance, information, and assistance in this annual task which this year was handled in a much more deliberative manner. This year, we have had perhaps the most detailed and careful sifting of the multitude of requests for funds than we have ever had. After reviewing in depth 64 expense centers comprising hundreds of specific line items we completed our task after six separate budget meetings spanning about 24 hours of deliberations. The task this year was notably difficult because of the severe and widespread economic malaise we are facing. All of us, whether we are government, private enterprise, individuals, or nonprofit, have been impacted by these trying financial times. It is because of these needs that our budget deliberations have been as detailed and in-depth as they have been. Clearly, we all have learned much from this exercise and in my personal judgment we will be much better stewards of the trust we hold of the public treasury. Our ability to discern between what we truly need and what we would like has been sharpened considerably and this will auger well for our future.

The result of our deliberations this year, when they are published soon, will clearly show a change for the better wherein we are truly getting more value from fewer dollars spent.

All those individuals who came before us or addressed us during these deliberations deserve and receive our gratitude for their part in this endeavor.

Sincerely,

Paul J. Mangiafico

15 Kent Road, Newtown                                             February 7, 2009