East Windsor Board of Finance Approves $33.14 Million 2011-12 Budget Propsal

The East Windsor Board of Finance Wednesday approved the 2011-12 budget proposal that will be presented to voters on May 10.

The $33,141,666 spending plan represents a $639,925, or 1.9 percent, increase over the current budget, officials said. The budget is more than $500,000 less than the preliminary budget presented during a public hearing on April 5.

Board of finance members approved the proposal 4-3 with chairman John Mannette reluctantly casting the deciding vote. Mannette wanted the increase to be limited to 1.75 percent.

“It’s a very serious question, I’m torn two ways,” Mannette said before he voted.

To achieve the 1.75 percent increase, the budget would have to be cut another $70,000. Doing so would have an extremely negative impact on the budget, board member Marie DeSousa said.

The town government’s proposed budget was $13,941,374 and represented a 1.9 percent increase over the approved 2010-11 budget. The board of education’s proposal was  $19,726,451 and represented a 4.77 percent increase over the 2010-11 spending plan.

Under the budget proposal approved by the board of finance,  the board of education will get a $578,245 increase and town government will get a $61,680 increase.

DeSousa said she thinks the current proposal is sellable to the community.
Mannette had suggested that the board take money from a fund used annually by the town to save funds for capital improvement projects. Several board members said to use that money would in the 2011-12 budget to help reduce the amount of taxes people pay would be shortsighted.

Board member Danelle Godeck said using the money would be a one-time shot that would make things easier for some now but would have to be paid for in the future.
This is the second year, the budget is under a charter change requiring a referendum vote to be approved. If voters don’t approve the budget in three referendums, the spending plan is automatically increased by 2 percent.

Before the board set final numbers and voted, Alan Baker, a Spring Street resident, said he thought the budget proposals from the town and the board of education were reasonable.

“In a time when we’re trying to grow the economy, cutting for the sake of cutting is penny wise and pound foolish,” Baker said.
The board of selectmen on Tuesday set voting hours from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on May 10.