Fairfield Schools, Town Staff Included In Budget Cuts

The Board of Finance cut $2.6 million from the budget recommended by the Board of Selectmen earlier this week. Its final budget called for about $297.8 million in town spending, which would require a tax increase of about 3 percent this summer.

The largest piece cut came in Fairfield’s public schools budget. The finance board turned down a proposal to cut $2 million from the Board of Education’s funding but voted unanimously to take $1.25 million.

“This is going to affect services at the schools. There is no way that it cannot,” said board member James Walsh, who proposed the $2 million cut. “But we as a community have just got to start making some decisions early on over the next year of what services we want to sully and how much we’re willing to spend.”

The Board of Finance can’t make changes to specific programs in the Fairfield Public Schools budget. But in its own budget talks in February, the Board of Education considered charging activities fees for high school students, reducing elementary school world language or orchestra classes and laying off central office administrators.

In addition to canceling the town’s contribution to the Pequot Library, the board also made cutbacks at Fairfield’s public libraries. The board decided not to fund an open library associate job and made other reductions to the library budget. They also proposed an $82,600 cut to eliminate a reference librarian position, but at the request of Town Librarian Karen Ronald that money was taken out of library materials.

The cuts will not affect library hours, and it will return to its normal schedule this summer, Ronald said. But the library materials budget pays for its books and subscriptions, so the Fairfield Public Library will have less money to add to its collection next year.

In the first selectman’s office, the finance board eliminated a secretary’s position that had already been cut to half-time by the selectmen. It also decided to fund only half of the projected salary for the chief of staff, instructing First Selectman Michael Tetreau to wait until halfway through the fiscal year to fill the job.

The Department of Public Works will also not fill two open positions this summer because of cuts. The Board of Finance also decided to trim the department’s allotment for outside contractors and delayed some of its equipment upgrades.

The Fairfield Police’s school safety unit also saw a reduction Tuesday night. The Board of Finance decided not to hire a new sergeant to supervise the program. They also considered eliminating the added overtime that would be used for officers’ extra patrols at schools, but that motion was rejected by a 1-8 vote.

Fairfield’s 2013-14 budget will now go to the Representative Town Meeting for a final vote May 6. Any changes to town services would go into effect July 1.

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