Taxes Would Rise 3.86% in Finance Board Budget

The Board of Finance on Tuesday night approved a town budget of $125.7 million that would raise taxes 3.87 percent.

The increase would only take effect if the Representative Town Meeting approves the Board of Finance's suggested budget.

The total town budget would be $125,691,553, including an education operating budget of $83,224,929 and $42,466,624 for the selectman's operating budget. The Board of Finance also approved $2,343,720 for the capital budget.

No major cuts were made in the education budget because the town doesn't seem to want them, even if it means taxes will go up a bit, Finance Board Chair Liz Mao said during the meeting.

Mao said several taxpayers had written to her, objecting to town taxes going up more than inflation in the past several years. Mao said the reason for that is a school population that is increasing at a fast clip and some projects that had to be paid for.

"I have said publicly that I wouldn't go above 4 percent," Mao said. "I'm not happy with 3.87 percent. [...] I think sometimes the operating requests are a little rich."

For a Darien home with an assessed value of $1 million (70 percent of estimated total value), property taxes would be $13,170. That's up $490 from $12,680 last year, based on the current $12.78 mill rate.

Board member Joseph Duwan suggested cutting a small bit of the budget—a line item for $20,000 down to $10,000 to remove poison ivy from about 300 feet of fence at a school playing field. The rest of the board approved the cut, except for Gwen Mogenson.

Board member Jon Zagrodsky suggested cutting some money from funds to pay for new carpeting at some of the schools, but another board member said that cut seemed like nit-picking, and the board decided not to make the cut. No specific figure for cutting was mentioned, and the board didn't vote on the suggestion.

The Board of Finance decided to fund two projects with a bond not part of next year's budget: A sewer project for the Intervale Road area and tennis courts for Weed Beach to replace the ones damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The sewers cost $1.5 million, the tennis courts are expected to cost roughly $460,000.

Correction: An earlier version of this article had the total amount of the education budget wrong. It's $89,224,929, not $89,424,929.