Guest Essay: The Board of Finance Budget

Weston Today photo

The Board of Finance has revised and approved the Fiscal 2027 Budget which will be presented at the Annual Town Budget Meeting for public consideration on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. at the Weston High School Auditorium.

Last night [April 14], the Board of Finance cut approximately $1.4 million from the budget submitted to us by the Board of Selectmen, yielding a net budget of $79.7 million. This represents a 3.71% increase over the FY2026 budget. The BOF’s proposed budget increase is on the low end of the scale compared to other Fairfield County communities for next fiscal year:

The mill rate necessary to support this budget is 24.57, a 2.8% increase over the prior year. If we include this proposed rate, Weston’s mill rate has grown at a compounded annual rate of 2.32% over the past three fiscal years.

During our diligence meeting on March 4, the BOF asked Weston Public Schools to find an additional $600,000 cut to the requested budget. We are grateful that the Board of Education was able to deliver approximately $839,000 in operating and capital budget reductions, far more than our request.

In addition, the BOF approved full funding of a new HVAC system for Hurlbutt’s North House that will be financed through a combination of grant reimbursement, unassigned fund balance, and incremental bond debt that is conditioned upon Board of Selectmen approval as well as a Special Town Meeting. This $2.4 million appropriation will have no impact on the FY2027 tax levy and the related debt service will not commence until FY2028.

The BOF cut $352,500 from the town’s capital budget slated for architectural and engineering design work for an as-yet unspecified infrastructure project related to relocating town employees out of the Annex. We will be happy to revisit the request when the Board of Selectman recommend their solution.

We have heard comments from citizens about the robust size of our $18.7 million unassigned fund balance which is 24.7% of the FY2026 budget. The unassigned fund balance is our “rainy day” fund that protects us against unexpected financial burden, and it is BOF policy to maintain a level of at least 20% of the current budget.

We voted to utilize about $1.2 million of this fund to support the North House HVAC project and to purchase groundskeeping equipment rather than add to next year’s tax levy. The remaining balance of $17.5 million would afford us a 21.9% fund balance ratio before we receive a prospective grant reimbursement.

While I am proud that the BOF was able to make a meaningful mark on this year’s budget in holding down increases, we recognize that the challenges of accelerating health insurance premiums, rising energy costs, and the potential for major infrastructure spending in the next few years are a concern for Weston’s taxpayers.

During last night’s meeting, I announced that the BOF will be organizing “bend the cost curve” subcommittees to take up analysis this summer that we hope will benefit next year’s budget planning. Moreover, the Debt Service Capacity Subcommittee is already looking at long-term implications of infrastructure spending and the “bend the cost curve” subcommittees will help improve that analysis.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge and thank all the Town and Weston Public School professionals that labored mightily to put together this year’s budget proposal. Thousands of hours go into this effort and the budgets developed are based on a deep set of facts and experiences.

See you at the ATBM next week!

Michael Imber
Chairman, Weston Board of Finance

In the photo at the top of the page, Board of Finance members at the March 31 budget public hearing. At the table from left to right, Annalise Ferrara, Chris Bryant, Alex Staehely, Jeff Goldstein, Mr. Imber, Jim Aselta, Daniel Gershburg.