Granby Drummer (https://granbydrummer.com/author/michael-b-guarco-jr/)
In the last Drummer a fragment of the Democratic Town Committee took issue with my shot across the bow in the prior issue that indicated that the boards need to be focusing on flatter operating budgets and contract implications for FY22.
Life has been very different—if not surreal—for all of us through this initial pass of the pandemic. It locked us down in our homes to varying degrees, is impacting our family incomes just as erratically with some making more not working than when they were working, while others have seen their income reduced or totally dried up.
A democracy can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury… with the result of collapsing as victim to loose fiscal policy.
No matter who becomes our next governor or which party controls the legislature at the state capitol in Hartford, they will have their work cut out for them. While the bipartisan two-year state budget passed last year made some progress in helping to flatten the cost curve going forward, it is still the case that there are anticipated structural deficits of $2 billion and $2.6 billion respectively in the upcoming two fiscal years that will significantly test the mettle of state legislators and the executive branch.
In mid-February the Board of Finance set the expense limits it looks to see from the two operating boards—Selectmen and Education. Throughout this last November, December and January, their administrations had formulated the Plus One budget projections for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2019 which runs from July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019.