Text: First Selectman Jayme Stevenson on the New Town Budget

First Selectman Jayme Stevenson delivered the following short address to the Representative Town Meeting on Monday, just before the RTM voted to approve the town budget, including the selectmen's budget:

Good Evening Madam Moderator, RTM members and in particular, everyone at home listening to tonight’s budget discussion.       

I’d like to again, thank members of the Board of Finance for supporting some process and budget document changes that helped this year’s budget discussions be more productive and transparent.  I’m also grateful to the members of the RTM, including our new moderator, who became engaged in the budget process during Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance deliberations to help glean a comprehensive understanding of the complexities of the budget and to understand in detail the funding decisions that have been made to date.  I’m hopeful that the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and RTM can continue to work together to streamline the budget process even more in the coming years.

Again this year, the Budget Perseverance Award goes to Louise Berry and Alan Grey from the Darien Library – your unwavering presence at all of our budget meetings is not only a testament to your dedication to the successful operation of the library but shows a respect for the process that is exemplary.    

Since January, we’ve spoken at length about the details of the budget so I will be brief.  Tonight, I ask for your support of the Board of Selectmen’s 2013-2014 fiscal year budget request of $42,466,624.  This budget request includes $10.8 million in debt service for approved town and Board of Education projects and $3.4 million in a grant to the Darien Public Library.  It’s important to note that over $2.2 million in spending requests were cut across all town departments yet we were able to preserve core services.

The most significant drivers of this year’s Board of Selectmen’s operating budget increase are the dramatic increases in the cost of healthcare and other insurance, the full realization of operating cost increases for the new police building and Weed Beach facilities and the anticipated increase to debt service.

This year’s capital budget includes funding for the important Intervale Road drainage improvement project, investment in sidewalk maintenance, keeps our first responder communication systems up to date and adds to our reserves for equipment replacement in our Public Works, Parks and Recreation Departments and at our 3 volunteer fire departments.    

There are no new service initiatives in this requested budget.   In many cases, we’ve simply deferred expenditures until future budgets as the need for road and parking lot repairs, software upgrades and recreation facilities maintenance grows.  

While we can’t and shouldn’t count on revenue growth to offset our obligation to be prudent in our spending, revenue projections are favorable and suggest that our economy may be showing signs of life again.

One final note…the Board of Selectmen’s budget net of the Public Library Grant represents 30% of the total town budget.   Contractual obligations and public demand for quality services and at an affordable price requires that we continue to do more with less.  My board is committed to exploring new opportunities to make our government more efficient while continuing to provide a level of service and investment that protects our property values and helps us maintain a good quality of life.  

On behalf of my board and all our hard working town employees, thank you for your consideration and support of the 2013-14 Board of Selectmen’s budget as presented  to you this evening.  

Jayme Stevenson
First Selectman