Norfolk taxpayers may get a rare treat this year—a flat budget.
The budget presented to the Board of Finance Tuesday night totals $9,426,851 and includes all three budgetary components—general government, Botelle School and Region 7. It is 2.5 percent, or $189,281, higher than last year.
New First Selectman Henry Tirrell reduced the amount that would be allocated to the positive fund balance by $100,000 to lessen the tax burden and Board of Finance Chairman Michael Sconyers asked Tirrell to adjust it further to keep the mill rate at its current 22.49.
Sconyers praised Tirrell, terming his first first budget “one of the finest pieces of work I’ve seen in a while.”
Tirrell explained after the meeting that the town usually allocates $150,000 to the positive fund balance but will reduce that amount this year to about $50,000. He told the Board of Finance that the positive fund balance will remain at about 25 percent of the total budget, which he considers to be “robust.”
The balancing act comes in the face of extraordinary expenses, including construction of a new fire house, acquisition of a $270,000 plow truck this year and establishing regular deposits of $130,000 in a fund to purchase a new $1.1 million fire truck in coming years.
This year’s deposit for the fire truck and $270,000 for the first plow truck (to be delivered in late fall) are being drawn from funds remaining from the closure of the town’s defined benefit plan. A second truck is funded at an additional $270,000 in the 2026-2027 budget.
While the town is spending down $400,000 from the remaining benefit plan funds, it is anticipated that interest revenues from town investments will remain at $65,000. This will be generated by town accounts and the interest paid on the $4 million bond anticipation note for the firehouse now sitting in the bank.
The proposed budget includes $14,000 to assist with the reclamation of City Meadow, where work is being done to remove invasives and replace them with native plantings. This amount is $26,000 less than was included for this purpose last year and Tirrell said future allocations will be much less.
Tirrell told the finance members that the town has received a $10,000 reimbursement from the town’s insurer to offset legal expenses from a lawsuit filed against a Planning and Zoning Commission decision. He also hopes to hear within a week or two whether the town will receive $500,000 in an insurance settlement to offset the expense of cleaning up after the 2022 gas spill on Route 44.