TRUMBULL — The Board of Finance has approved an almost $211 million budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
The board unanimously approved the $210,964,164 budget Tuesday night. It will now go to the Town Council for an April 7 vote.
The board approved a $129,177,640 budget for the school district. Five board members voted for and one voted against increasing Tesoro’s proposed $128,577,640 school budget by $600,000.
In an emailed statement Thursday morning, Semmel said that although the increase in Tesoro’s proposal is helpful, a funding gap remains. “We are exploring opportunities to reduce expenses further without eliminating too many staff positions for the 25-26 school year.”
“We are still early in the budget process, and as more information becomes known, the picture will become clearer,” he said in the email. “We look forward to the continued collaboration and conversations with both the Board of Finance and the Town Council to navigate through this year’s challenges.”
Tesoro initially proposed a 3.25% increase, totaling $4,047,238, for the school district’s 2025-26 operating budget.
Board member Dave Galla moved to increase Tesoro’s proposal because Semmel stated during a March 4 meeting that the district would face a $2 million gap if its full request were not granted. Board member Marty Isaac supported Galla’s motion.
“I think what became clear to me when they came in was they needed approximately $2 million to keep programs and services equal to this year. What we’re doing with increasing the first selectman’s allotment by $600,000 is giving them a pathway to this $2 million,” Isaac said.
Board member Scott Zimov disagreed with the motion, saying that increasing the district’s budget every year is unsustainable.
“It’s a hard idea to believe that we should keep increasing it exponentially,” he said. “We also have a new middle school that’s going to be built that’s larger than the current one. … There’s more cost coming forward, and taking that increase now, I don’t think, is the right approach.”
Semmel also told the finance board on March 4 that the district could utilize $200,000 from the district’s non-lapsing account, which is comprised of unspent funds the district already has, to help with the gap.
Semmel then highlighted other savings that could help the district meet its $2 million need, including $400,000 if insurance costs dropped to 11% instead of the current 13% and an increase in excess cost grant funding from the General Assembly’s $40 million special education bill that Gov. Ned Lamont signed earlier this month.
“These are unknowns at this point, as we stand here, so it’s very hard for any of us to predict exactly what will happen,” he said.
