Brookfield First Selectman Bill Tinsley
No raise in property taxes while increasing the town budget seems like a paradox.
But First Selectman Bill Tinsley believes it is possible in Brookfield based on the proposal he and the Board of Selectmen sent to the Board of Finance earlier this month that included a 2.4 percent, or $920,000, increase in the education budget from last year, and a 0.8 percent, or $165,000, increase to the municipal budget.
The BOF’s proposal to the town is due March 27, with a public hearing slated for April 7. The BOF will then present to a town meeting on May 5, when a referendum date will be decided, which Tinsley anticipates will be two weeks later.
As was mandated last year, the education and municipal budgets will be voted on separately, but both must pass in order to avoid a second referendum.
Said Tinsley about the budget: “All of us have limited resources. You have it in your household, I have it in mine.”