A screen shot from Tuesday’s meeting.
SEYMOUR — The Seymour Board of Finance unanimously approved a $58 million budget Tuesday that keeps the mill rate flat.
“We’re maintaining a level of service in the town without tossing in an additional tax burden through a higher mill rate on the tax payers,” Seymour Finance Board Chairman Bill Sawicki said.
The school district received $34.6 million, a 1.5 increase from the current school budget. The town side of the budget totaled about $23.4 million.
Seymour usually sends its budget to the public each year to be approved or rejected. However, that could not happen this year due to the public health threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Richard Demko, a member of the board of finance, said he would have liked to have seen a decrease in the mill rate. However, cuts to the budget could have meant layoffs.
“I don’t think now is a good time to do that,” Demko said. Sawicki agreed.
The new budget uses about $225,000 from reserves in order to keep the mill rate as is.
In terms of finances, COVID-19 looms large over Seymour, as it does over the entire U.S.
Sawicki noted town officials recently met with S&P Global Ratings, a ratings agency, and maintained its bond rating but saw the outlook changed from stable to “negative.”
Sawicki said that’s not a negative reflection on Seymour, just an acknowledgement of the overall economic uncertainty caused by the virus.
The finance board met online, using the Zoom video conferencing platform. About 20 people, including members of the board, attended the meeting.
The budget covers the fiscal year starting July 1 and ending June 30, 2021.
