Politics & Government

Budget Presentations Begin in Bethel

Special meeting one of four occurred Thursday night.

The Board of Finance and Board of Selectmen heard budget presentations from 13 town departments Thursday night. First Selectman Matthew Knickerbocker said he and Comptroller Robert Kozlowski met with each department prior to their presentation to help in their decisions.

Board of Finance Chairman Bill Slifkin reminded attendees that no decisions will be made during the presentations, as the meetings are mainly used for discussion and questions.

Many department followed the Board of Finance's request to present a zero increase budget, including the Town Clerk's Office, the Planning and Zoning Department, the Tax Collector's Social Services, Visiting Nurses Association, the Selectman's Office, the Office of Treasurer, Finance Department and the Legal Department.  

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Mary O'Leary and Mary Legnard, of the Office the Registrar of Voters, asked for an increase in their budget for elections, as three are expected during the 2011-12 budget year. "It's only responsible to consider the cost of three elections this year," O'Leary said.

Town Assessor Ann Marie Heering also asked for an increase in her department's budget to hopefully afford a full-time employee. According to Heering, by the time she's trained two previous part-time employees, they have found better, full-time work in other town offices. Not only is that wasting time and money, but she said a full-time employee would help cut down on her work load.

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"I tried to really look at the needs of the office," Heering said. "...I tried to find a way to that without a tremendous increase in the budget."

Though some Board of Finance members were concerned about the cost of adding benefits for this potential employee, Knickerbocker said himself and Heering restructured the Assessor's Office budget and said a full-timer would benefit the town.

"I personally think we will see an increase in town revenue [with a full-time employee]," Knickerbocker said.  

The Bethel Health Department, which received cutbacks the year before asked the Board of Finance for previous budget amount to be reinstated, to prepare for possible, unseen emergencies.

Knickerbocker also represented the data processing/information technology department, and explained to the Board of Finance why they are looking at a "substantial budget increase."

Knickerbocker explained that there have been many circumstances this past year where some town departments have come close to losing large amounts of data. He also said many of the town's computers were not compatible with each other, were not receiving outside e-mails and had programing licenses that hadn't been paid. 

While the town has hired an IT person to fix some of these problems, the department is looking for an increase in funds to make further improvements.

"Technology now plays a vital role in how we run the town," Knickerbocker said. "...and it will keep benefiting us going forward."

The next budget presentation meeting will be Thursday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Clifford J. Hurgin Municipal Center, Meeting Room A. The final two meetings will be Monday, Feb. 28 (when the Board of Education is expected to present its budget) and March 3, same time and place.  


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