SEYMOUR – Police Chief John Bucherati unveiled a $4.7 million budget proposal for fiscal year 2022 – 2023 Monday (Feb. 7) that carries a nearly 5 percent increase.
Bucherati made his budget pitch to the Board of Finance during a virtual workshop held via Zoom.
The new chief, on the job since Jan. 1, said contractual increases, training, and mandates under the new state police accountability bill, in part, are the main reasons driving the increase.
“As a new chief I have a different philosophy on budgeting,” Bucherati told the board. “I don’t plan on asking for more than I need and giving back a large sum at the end of the year. This is a living document. We’re aware of the financial challenges the town faces, and understand each department is asking for a slice of the pie.”
Salaries make up the bulk of the overall police budget at $3.1 million, and take into account 2.5 percent raises for police officers across the board.
There’s also $105,000 budgeted to hire a second deputy police chief; $231,000 for training (which includes sending some officers to accident reconstruction classes, along with increased hours); $153,000 for overtime; increases for rising gas costs and some additional costs to comply with the new state police accountability act including body cameras.
The body cameras cost about $34,500, Bucherati said, but the state will reimburse the town for the one-time purchase, he said, but recurring costs will be on the town. Other costs, like psychological testing for officers, required under the new law, will be on the town’s dime, Bucherati said.
Bucherati said he didn’t have to include any new vehicles in the proposal. Thanks to an anonymous donation of $14,000, and a trade-in of several vehicles, Bucherati was able to purchase a new police cruiser without any impact to the budget.
Bucherati is also looking to consolidate cell phone and modem service carriers, for some additional savings, and eliminated some things in the previous budget that the department no longer needed, including a copier and some other outdated equipment.
Finance board Chairman Bill Sawicki asked Bucherati, as he’s asking all other department heads, to take a second look at the proposal to see if further savings could be found.
“We’ve asked all town departments for a rationale look at what realistically can be expected,” Sawicki said. “Will all the departments get everything they want? We can’t guarantee anything at this point.”
The board is also waiting to see how school officials deal with an $839,000 deficit in its current budget, which was due to miscalculated employee benefits, and helped lead the school board to request a 6.9 percent increase in its budget for 2022 – 2023.
The board will continue meeting with all town department heads via Zoom for the remainder of February to discuss their individual budget requests.
First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis is scheduled to present her budget at 7 p.m. March 7 at Town Hall.
The board will begin budget deliberations in early March, and ultimately approve a budget.
A budget estimate and mill rate are due to the Town Clerk’s office by April 1. The board will then hold a public hearing on the proposed budget no later than April 10 and the annual town meeting before May 1.
Voters get the final say on a budget when they cast ballots later this spring at a town-wide referendum.
Last year, voters approved the current $59.2 million budget (with a 1.8 percent increase) during a daylong referendum that drew a very low turnout. Only 4.6 percent of the town’s roughly11,300 registered voters cast ballots, but it was enough to approve both the town and schools budgets on one try.
In Seymour, the town side of the budget and the school side of the budget are voted upon by the public separately. Each voter gets a yes or no vote on those budgets.
More information about the annual budget process can be found on the town’s website:
Budget Process.pdf (seymourct.org)
NOTE: THE LOCATION OF THE MEETINGS CHANGED AFTER THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED:
FROM THE TOWN: Effective Monday, February 14th all Seymour town meetings will transition back to in-person, including all budget workshops.
For reference, see the dedicated FY 22 – 23 budget page here: https://www.seymourct.org/2022…
Here’s the schedule for the rest of the finance board’s virtual workshops:
Seymour Events Committee: Monday, Feb. 14 @7 p.m.
Library: Monday, Feb. 14 @7:15 p.m.
Tax Collector: Monday, Feb. 14@7:30 p.m.
Town Clerk: Monday, Feb. 14 @7:45 p.m.
Fire Department: Wednesday, Feb. 16 @7 p.m.
Fire Marshall: Wednesday, Feb. 16 @7:30 p.m.
Communications/Emergency Mgt: Wednesday, Feb. 16 @8 p.m.
Recreation: Wednesday, Feb. 16 @8:15 p.m.
Tax Assessor: Wednesday, Feb. 23 @7 p.m.
Registars: Wednesday, Feb. 23 @7:15 p.m.
Building Compliance: Wednesday, Feb. 23 @7:30 p.m.
Culture and Arts: Wednesday, Feb. 23 @7:45 p.m.
Finance Dept: Wednesday, Feb. 23@8 p.m.
