Budget Process Update from Board of Finance
What a strange time for all of us! The Board of Finance (BOF) knows this is a difficult time for everyone in town, emotionally and financially. We are keeping that in mind as we move forward with the budget process for the next fiscal year starting in July. The Governor has made several executive orders that have impacted how Lebanon is proceeding with the budget process. We want to let you know what the Board of Finance is are doing and how you can participate and give us feedback.
Per our newly enacted Charter, the Board of Finance is typically supposed to present a budget to the townspeople for a vote at our annual meeting the first Monday in May. Through a series of executive orders, the Governor has changed the annual budget process in two critical ways. First, the Board of Selectman can take action to extend the date for a budget to be approved by 30 days. For Lebanon, this means the new deadline is June 2, 2020. In addition, with the suspension of in-person gatherings, the Board of Finance will be required to approve a budget. Given these impactful changes, the Board of Finance has put a plan in place to allow for townspeople to give us feedback along the way.
Public input into the budget process is essential for the Board of Finance. We welcome townspeople to join us for our meetings – we have been hosting meetings via Zoom for the past few weeks and will continue to do so until the stay-at-home edict is lifted. Our agendas are posted on the town’s website (www.lebanontownhall.org) and they include the connection information for accessing these meetings. All meetings are open to the public to listen in or watch. All we ask is that you mute yourself during the meeting until we open it up for public comment at various times. Note that not all meetings allow for public comment and the agenda will specify this. Within a day or two after the meeting, a recording of the meeting is uploaded to the town’s website as well.
An initial proposed budget will be available for public review by the end of April. We will post the proposed budget on the town’s website. You can also call the town hall (860.642.6100) to request that a copy of the proposal be mailed to your house or emailed to you.
As part of the revised budget process, the Board of Finance will be hosting a virtual public hearing on Tuesday, May 12th at 7:00 PM via Zoom. Meeting details will be posted on the town website. The proposed budget will be presented at that time. We want to encourage people to submit questions and comments prior to the public hearing so we can address them in our presentation and to help make for an orderly meeting. There will also be a questions and answers portion of the public hearing for additional public input.
As in more traditional years, the Board of Finance will then discuss the public hearing and changes we may want to make to the final budget proposal at our regular meeting on May 19th and possibly Tuesday, May 26th. As always, agendas are posted on the website or you can receive a copy by calling the town hall.
We know this is not an ideal process and wish things could be back to normal for all of us in all aspects of our lives. We appreciate your participation and support during this modified process. We appreciate any feedback you wish to provide. It helps us to do the best job possible for you. Questions and comments can be submitted to:
- lcharron@lebanonct.gov
- BOF, Lebanon Town Hall, 579 Exeter Road, Lebanon CT 06249
Liz Charron
Chairman of the Board of Finance