The Stonington Board of Finance meets at 7 p.m. in the Stonington Police Station meeting room for a hearing on the proposed budgets for the Human Services Department and Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA). The human services’s proposed budget includes outside agencies such as the libraries, Stonington COMO and Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center. While the meeting is open to the public the chance for public comment will not come until the April 10, 2013 public budget hearing.
Human Services Department
The proposed budget for the Human Services Department including outside agencies is slightly less than the budget of the 2012-2013 fiscal year. A $1,059,476 budget was approved in the 2012-2013 fiscal year. The proposed budget this year is for $1,046,044.
During the current year the Human Services Department served 9,069 free meals a day for students during the summer as part of the USDA Summer Food Service grant and between August and December of 2012 a total of 270 energy assistance applications were processed at a value of more than $160,000.
The proposed budget includes funding the three ambulance services that serve the town at $30,000 each. If approved each ambulance service would be receiving $10,000 more than during the current fiscal year. However, each ambulance service requested additional funding than was included in the proposed budget.
The proposed budget calls for funding the Stonington Historical Society, Westerly Public Library and Stonington Free Library at the same amount as during the current fiscal year but gives an additional $16,810 to the Mystic & Noank Library. Both the Stonington Free Library and the Mystic & Noank Library requested more funding than is in the proposed budget.
WPCA
The proposed WPCA budget is $90 more than the 2012-2013 budget. The proposed budget for the 2013-2014 year calls for $385,102. During the upcoming fiscal year the major objective of the department is maintaining operations during the rehabilitation of the Mystic wastewater treatment facility.
A complete copy of the proposed 2013-2014 budget is available on the town’s website.
Here is the full budget-hearing schedule:
- February 13: WPCA, Human Services Department and outside agencies budget hearings.
- February 27: General Government, Capital Improvement and Police Department budget hearings.
- March 6: Board of Education budget hearing.
- March 13: Budget deliberations.
- March 20: Budget deliberations.
- March 27: Budget deliberations.
- April 10: Public Budget Hearing 7 p.m. at Stonington High School
