New BOS budget proposal represents a 1% decrease
- 22 hours ago
- 2 min read
After Stafford went to the polls and rejected the first budget proposal for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) had to go back to the drawing board. The Board of Finance asked the BOS and the Board of Education (BOE) each to reduce their budget requests by $227,215. (Learn about the schools’ reductions here.) The next day, at a BOS meeting, First Selectmen Bill Morrison presented his list of cuts which were ultimately approved by the other selectmen.
The original budget request for the general government was $16,859,533, which represented an increase of $130,214 for a .78% increase from the current year.
After cutting the $227,215 requested by the BOF, Morrison said the Town budget now represents a $169,259 or 1.01% decrease from this fiscal year’s budget.
Selectman Tony Armelin said he was surprised that the BOF asked the BOE and BOS to split the cuts evenly given that the BOE has a significantly bigger budget than the Town.
“It’s not sitting well with me…It doesn’t hint at fairness as far as I’m concerned,” he said. Still, the selectmen had to proceed. Morrison detailed the cuts, saying most departments made cuts. The biggest savings came from a few line items.
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The Town hoped to paint the Public Work garage this year, but had to cut that from the budget to save $75,000. The replacement for long-time Town Clerk Karen Troiano, who is retired, is choosing not to take the Town’s insurance which saves more than $34,000.
The Town will forgo the replacement of a 10 year old phone system, and after receiving a quote on liability insurance this week, they are saving $25,000 on that line item. The $20,000 stipend for a Recreation Director has been eliminated, as has $10,000 for per diem police officers. In past years, Morrison was clear that budget cuts would not impact services, but as the Town starts dipping into line items such as the per diem officer budget, he warned Stafford is now at the point of cutting services along with the budget.
Watch the full budget discussion below.
