First Selectman Pat Llodra and Town Finance Director Robert Tait unveiled a 2017 municipal budget proposal to the Board of Selectmen January 17 requesting an overall 1.8 percent increase, and set aside three future meeting dates for deliberation and discussions with various town department heads before turning their best version over to the Board of Finance on or before the charter-stipulated deadline of February 14.

It is the charge of the first selectman in concert with the finance director and department heads to craft each year's spending proposal, which then receives further vetting by the finance board and Legislative Council before its eventual appearance on the annual referendum ballot the last Tuesday in April.

While the Board of Education crafts its own budget for funding school district operations and projects each fiscal year, all town debt service, including borrowing costs for school capital projects, resides in the selectman's budget.

Voters are requested to endorse or reject each of the two spending requests in a split or bifurcated ballot. This year's budget referendum is Tuesday, April 25.

Selectmen agreed to meet to finalize the townside package over the next three Mondays beginning January 23. They will also hold a special budget meeting January 30, and finalize any interviews and endorse a final proposal during a regular meeting February 6.

Mrs Llodra did not offer a lot of specific details January 17, as Selectmen Will Rodgers and Herb Rosenthal were just receiving the voluminous document that evening. Instead, she outlined some of the theory and reasoning for the decisions that were made during the budget development process, while Mr Tait reviewed his methodology behind how he was presenting a number of cost and spending scenarios in the proposal.

Reading from introductory pages that began with organizational values, Mrs Llodra related that the town is dedicated to providing quality services in a cost-effective manner.

"This commitment to quality depends upon a dedicated partnership between residents, elected officials, and the employees of the town," the first selectman stated. "The Town of Newtown has expectations and values shared by all to ensure organizational excellence and quality service."

Those expectations are:

*Getting close to our residents and businesses (customers)

*Committing to the highest ideals of professionalism and integrity

*Improving relations among all employees

*Using the appropriate technology

*Committing to long range planning

Mrs Llodra also outlined public policies that form the basis of public actions. They include:

*Newtown must be a safe and secure place in which to live and do business.

*Newtown must be a community that actively supports and promotes recreational, cultural, and social opportunities for all citizens.

*Newtown's physical appearance must be the best it can be. This includes roads, sidewalks, and other parts of the rights of way in residential and commercial areas and the strict enforcement of public safety, zoning, housing, environmental, and health codes to prevent the appearance of neglect or unsafe conditions.

*Newtown schools must continue to pursue excellence while being focused on efficiencies and economies.

*Newtown must provide superior customer service. The town will commit itself to continuous improvement to achieve this.

*Newtown will incorporate the market forces of competition while being mindful of the need to maintain public accountability.

Goals And Priorities

The first selectman said she and the finance director pursued four goals in drafting next year's spending plan.

Those goals are to continue support for road improvements; increase use of capital nonrecurring savings opportunities to put aside funds over a number of years to reduce the one-time cost of purchasing things like heavy equipment for the Highway Department or fire apparatus; addressing service needs and wage gaps; as well as addressing any shortfalls in the town pension accounts.

To address the topmost priorities next year, Mrs Llodra said she is requesting that $590,751 of the total $737,614 increase over the current year be devoted to those initiatives.

Mrs Llodra said that union contracts and other benefit costs account for $357,401 in the proposal, and because fixed costs, contractual obligations, and funding priorities exceeded the 1.8 percent increase on the table, she and Mr Tait were forced to offset those increases with reductions in other budget lines - decreasing them from this year's amount.

Initial department requests added up to a 3.23 percent increase, but after reductions made by Mrs Llodra and Mr Tait, the request currently facing selectmen is $41,254,928. Of that total, $12,494,900 represents wages and salaries. Benefits add $5,953,677 to the cost of Newtown's municipal workforce. The town's fixed debt service cost next year equals $9,125,474, representing the second highest line item expenditure.

While the town's contribution to its self-funded medical insurance program is relatively low - increasing just two percent or $63,630 - the aforementioned pension contribution stands at $200,085 for police personnel, and $90,208 for the remaining town pensioners. Workers comp and general liability costs have increased 4.9 percent or $55,500, while overall operating costs have been reeled back 1.5 percent, reducing that line by $108,141 over the current year.

The town budget proposal also includes two new full-time positions - a Parks Department maintainer with wages budgeted at $52,150, and a full-time deputy director of economic development at $70,000. Three other positions were reduced, however, amending the overall cost of staff changes by just over $93,000.

More than $70,000 of those reductions were achieved by restructuring personnel and positions in the Planning Department. To help ensure retention of valued, key employees who are taking on increased responsibilities, the town is budgeting $21,500 in salary increases across five positions: executive assistants to the selectmen and police chief, human resources, the building inspector, and a Parks Department operations supervisor.