On February 3, 2025, First Selectman Bill Morrison went before the Board of Finance (BOF) to present his proposed 2025-2026 budget. The budget increase of $77,749 for a total request of $16,357,338.50 represents just a .48% increase.
It’s a minimal increase request, but there are two main reasons why it’s so tiny. First and foremost, the Emergency Services line item is dropping by more than $400,000. This is not because the department suddenly costs less to run. In the past, the town budgeted for ambulance services based on Stafford Ambulance’s total expenses without taking into account the revenue it brought in. This year, the line item reflects what the town thinks the actual cost to taxpayers will be.
Secondly, the town has offloaded roughly $100,000 of its budget to the school district by asking them to pay for half of the yearly audit, expenses related to a shared pension plan, and the school resource officer’s entire salary.
BOF member Matt McKenney pointed out that without the removal of the $400,761 from the ambulance budget, the increase would have been more like 5% – which is roughly on par with the increase the schools will likely be seeking. In other words, don’t expect another tiny increase in the town’s side of the budget next year. As salaries, benefits, and the general cost of doing business go up, so will the budget.
Dave Walsh, another board member, asked Morrison if he felt confident in these numbers given the “gamesmanship” happening in Washington D.C. Walsh was referring to potential tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports, which were threatened earlier in the week and then pushed out for a month. One of the many potential impacts of tariffs in the state and Stafford could be increased energy prices. “There’s no question in my mind that our wholesale prices in New England will go up with these tariffs, assuming [the tariffs are] actually implemented and continued and kept on for a while. It’ll have to be passed on to customers at some point,” said Ken Gillingham, an environmental economist at Yale, to CTMirror.
Earlier in the meeting, Morrison reported that the fuel and oil line item was down about $1,000 because DPW Director Devin Cowperthwaite had locked in prices at a lower rate. However, Morrison also said that he regularly meets with the selectmen from surrounding towns, and they all agree some unknowns could impact town budgets but can only proceed based on the current reality.
There is also an increase in the General Highways budget, which includes a bump to the paving budget. Last year, the town put $825,000 toward paving while ARPA contributed another $175,000 to get the budget to $1 million. Cowperthwaite says the rest of this year's paving money will be used up on Old Springfield Road. To continue the commitment to repairing and maintaining Stafford's roads without help from ARPA, the town is seeking that extra $175,000 in the 2025-2026 budget.
At the January 22, 2025, meeting – which this reporter could not attend – the ambulance, police, WPCA, fire departments, and library presented their budgets. Luckily, some meetings are now being recorded, and we can all watch that meeting here. The rest of this article was written with the help of the meeting minutes and the recording.
West Stafford Fire Department Chief Joseph Lorenzetti said that despite a 38% increase in activity, his department requested $243,802, the third year without an increase. He warned, however, that the equipment is aging, and the town will need to think about replacing some of it in the future. Stafford Fire Department requested $205,000 but was reduced by Morrison to $184,000. There was some discussion about the insurance line items and whether or not the numbers were realistic. Ultimately, Morrison said that if the quotes came back higher, the departments would need to find the money to cover the discrepancy in another line item.
“I get the same feeling talking about this issue that I get about some of the others. Nobody really looks ahead and admits the fact that we’re gonna need a lot more money than we have now,” said Walsh. He wondered if it was in the town’s interest to look at the impact of developments like Woodland Springs at the planning and development stage to ask for payments to help cover the costs of the increasing services as the town changes and the population ages. Morrison said that Woodland Springs does make payments in lieu of taxes to contribute to the town.
Ambulance Chief Alex Moore requested $365,000. Despite the significant reduction in that budget, he says the cost for towns to run ambulance services has skyrocketed due to rising labor costs. The ambulance now covers about 96% or more of the calls in town, but that is possible mainly due to higher wages, which allows them to retain staff. Additionally, reimbursement rates from Medicare and Medicaid (learn more about that here) impact the bottom line. Moore said that in December 2024, the ambulance had 86 billable transports, representing more than $95,000, and they project they will collect about $47,000. Moore also noted that he worked with Morrison and other town officials to get the state to allow Stafford to increase mileage fees and won a 3% increase.
Sargeant Kyle Cormier presented the Police Department budget request of $871,527, with anticipated revenues from motor vehicle fines of $6,500 and reimbursement for the school resource officer of $115,353.
Library Director Christopher Frank requested a total of $602,441, saying that health insurance and retirement costs went up drastically. He said he reduced his discretionary lines, such as overtime, postage, and printing, to make up for the roughly $10,000 increase but it barely made a dent. Frank also said that the town asked him to keep his electricity budget at $24,000 despite his actual costs being $12,000, with the rest going toward helping to pay for the solar and geothermal loans. He wanted to reduce that line item to make up for the increase in fixed costs but could not. He ended up reducing the book budget from $35,000 to $30,000. Both Walsh and Tony Pellegrino spoke in favor of the library and funding its book budget.
WPCF Superintendent Rick Hartenstein presented his budget request and told the BOF about ongoing efforts to maintain and upgrade sewer lines little by little. Over about a year and a half, he says the WPCF has spent about $234,000 on the water collection system, including relining old sewer lines. The rates for the WPCF will go up $20 to $420 this year, and Hartenstein says those rates fall right in the middle of rates charged by 47 other towns. That amounts to a budget of $2,239,346.
