Brookfield Acting Superintendent Ralph Iassogna (Carol Kaliff)
The Brookfield Board of Finance approved the Board of Selectmen’s budget proposal last Friday, making only minor changes. The proposal, which will not raise taxes for the townspeople, calls for the same 2.4 increase in the school budget the Board of Selectmen put forth and less than a 1 percent increase in the municipal budget.
The Board of Education asked the Board of Finance at a special meeting two weeks ago to consider a nearly 6 percent increase, which Board of Finance Chairman Phil Kurtz said was not in line with his committee’s thinking.
“Our board felt the budget sent to us from the Board of Selectmen was pretty much how we interpreted it,” he said. “We feel the proposal is absolutely adequate and sufficient for their operations.”
Acting Superintendent Ralph Iassogna said the current proposal will cause the district to have to rework its thinking on areas it believes need funding.
“The district is certainly appreciative of the 2.44 percent increase in the budget,” he said. “However, it does represent a reduction in our request. There’s no question that is substantial and it’s going to have a significant impact on proposed requests, like restorations, and it’ll have some impact on current costs.”
The Board of Finance will present its proposal at a public hearing on April 7 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.