Politics & Government

Tax Board Proposes Budget with Reserve Fund

The Board of Apportionment & Taxation would like to see a reserve account for unforeseen circumstances in Shelton.

The Board of Apportionment & Taxation presented their proposed Shelton budget for fiscal year 2013 Thursday night in , which now goes to the aldermen for review.

A&T proposes a bottom line of $113,118,710 while keeping the mill rate of 21.85, which is the rate Mayor Mark A. Lauretti had set .

Expense breakdowns by department were not immediately available at last night's meeting, though A&T Vice Chair said the Board of Education's budget stayed consistent with the mayor's.

A key point of A&T's proposal is the institution of a reserve account to consolidate department surpluses into one contingency source.

"It's a good and common budgeting practice," said Tickey of the reserve account. "It has been talked about by us and by the aldermen in the past, and we'd really like to see it happen."

Wayne Bragg said the idea of a reserve fund is similar to one's own personal bank accounts: The city's general fund is like a checking account, used for daily expenses, while a reserve fund is like a savings account, used to protect in times of from unforeseen circumstance.

"You've got to have something to protect you from risk," Bragg said. "Change is difficult but it's important to have structure where we can manage risk."

Judson W. Crawford commended the board's work throughout the budget process, particularly their bipartisan efforts.

"While there will no doubt be further refinements and improvements in the budget, I hope all of the aldermen will approach this budget with good faith and work together to do what is best for the city of Shelton," Crawford said.


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