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All rise for the pledge, please.

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» Can you lead us in the pledge?
>> Yes, sir.

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» I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic

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for which it stands. One nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and

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justice for all.
>> Moment of silence for the men and women

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in the armed forces, our first
responders, our veterans, those fighting

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the good fight in Ukraine, and those
suffering in the military conflict in

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the Middle East. And may those six US
soldiers killed in the line of duty, may

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their memories be eternal.

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Thank you.
>> [clears throat]

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» Diane, do we have anybody for public
participation?

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» We do.

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» Got it. Hi, Rosanne Patruso, Courtland
Drive. So, I um just came out tonight.

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might have been watching the meetings
online um over the pre the presentations

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over the watching the meetings online um
over the the presentations over the last

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few weeks. I wanted to come out and
voice my support of the board of

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education's proposed budget that was
presented by Dr. Parlott.

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The budget is a decrease in spending
year-over-year. I believe it

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demonstrates fiscally respons um
responsible accounting for the decline

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in enrollment numbers but still provides
the level of support for students needs

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and to help them um grow as learners.
Dr. Parlato highlighted district

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accomplishments last week and like any
other organization she addressed areas

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in need of improvement and an action
plan for future success. I believe that

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the town council members asked great
probing questions and um I I appreciated

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that you participated in discussions
about the inequities of state funding

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and unfunded ma mandates during Dr.
Parlott's presentation. I hope that

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tonight town council will support the
education budget as it's proposed to

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continue moving our district in a
positive direction under Dr. Parlato's

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strong leadership and her commitment to
our district. Thank you. Thank you,

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Rosanne.
>> Anyone else? Diane.

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» No.
>> Anyone else from the public like to say

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anything?
>> Okay.

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» All right.
>> All right. Katie,

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» like move it.
>> Yep.

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» Okay.
I'd like to make the motion that we move

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for the town of New Milford budget
the amount of $49,581,236.

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» Any discussion on the motion for the
town side of the budget?

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All those in favor?
>> I

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» opposed.
>> Thank you. Any abstensions? Thank you.

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Next,
>> I'd like to make the motion that we

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approve the board of education budget of
78,773,658.

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» We have a second. Any
>> Roland? Yeah.

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» Oh, any discussion?
>> All those in favor?

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» I.
>> Any opposed?

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Any abstensions? So, thank you everyone.
uh before we uh adjourn a couple of

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housekeeping items uh that we need to be
aware of. Now what where does the budget

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go from here? So the budget now will
move over to the board of finance.

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Walter uh who's the chair uh of the
board of finance will be uh holding a

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town meeting of which the public can
give input and then they will have an

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opportunity to um have their
deliberations if they so choose and then

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they can make adjustments that would be
by category [clears throat] if they so

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choose. Another thing that we need to be
cognizant about, uh, Olga and I had, uh,

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uh, got information from OPM and OPM is
kind of the fiscal, um, entity up in

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Hartford. And we talked about this last
year, similar to the same thing this

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year, and that is what they call the M,
what is it, OGA? M,

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municipal spending cap.
>> M, municipal spending cap. The state

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always puts a cap on. This year's cap as
it was last year was 2 point. What's it

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this year? 2
>> 2.64.

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Last year, the same as the other towns
and the same as New Milford. We are over

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that cap. We are at 3.23.
New Fairfield is at 5.8. New Town is at

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3.75.
Bethl is at 6.7.

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What they what they do is usually wave
that. They haven't given us that yet up

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in Harford because they're still going
through their deliberations, but we

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wanted to just let everybody know. And
Olga, if in fact they were to keep that,

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what happens?
>> So, just a small clarification, it's not

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really a cap on the budget. They don't
they don't say that municipalities need

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to stay within that cap. that cap is
only applicable um to one uh possible um

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revenue that may come from the state. Um
and that's why that cap is applicable.

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It's only when in relation to that
grant. So basically the state does have

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a municipal revenue sharing grant
um uh actually municipal revenue sharing

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fund and from that fund they make
several um payments to municipalities.

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Some of those payments are prioritized.
they are statutoily and they are

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guarantees. If the funding is um
remaining, if there is available funding

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after all those payments are made, then
there is a formula based on which um

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Canadian municipalities will receive
additional distributions and that's when

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uh the municipal spending cap report
comes into play. Um so basically they

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just think that you know if um the
municipality is getting some of that

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revenue from the state then they should
be within [clears throat]

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this cap um and if the municipality
exceeds that cap that's a choice but

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then they will reduce that assistance
>> and over for the last two years

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» have we gotten any of that money
>> we have not received any funding from

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» have we budgeted any of that money in
our budget that we're currently using

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this year
>> uh nothing Right. So, [snorts] we never

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got that money the last two years. It's
not in our budget, but we just want to

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make sure that everybody knows that that
is something that OPM looks at, but

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there's nothing in our budget to reflect
that. So, I just wanted to make sure

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everybody knew that. Uh,
>> Mr. Clarification, the 2.64% increase,

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is that what you're
>> cap,

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right?
>> No, no, no. 2.6 is the cap. Yes,

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» would be an increase. I'm sorry. I
apologize.

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» And then uh next uh tomorrow
>> [clears throat]

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» um the grand list is certified now by
Brian, right? Brian has certified the

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grand list. So this has nothing to do
with the budget, so to speak, but the

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Homestead Act we're going to be putting
out uh for people to use. uh it's an

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estimator. So you be able to plug in
your value of what your new proposed

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value is to the value in in 2020. And
that differential right Olga is what's

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going to be showing up and it will show
what your if this budget is passed by

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the public what your new uh taxes would
be on that.

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» But it's 2024 grand list versus 2025
grand.

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» Correct.
>> Sorry. Any questions, you can call the

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mayor's office and we'll talk more about
that. But I want to thank everybody for

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coming tonight. As I said, next step it
goes over to Walter and his crew and

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thank you to the town council.
>> Do you have the date?

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» No, Walter does that.
>> Do you know what you're going to?

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» Yep. Yes.
>> Walter, if you could,

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» please. Let's The date is important.
>> Yeah. The date of the town meetings to

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be determined. It's uh by
uh town charter uh from your budget is

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going to be published in spectrum. After
it's published, there's a time window

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that we have to wait between publication
and having the the public hearing and

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then we will set a time for our
deliberation. And I encourage everybody

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to come to the public hearing if you
want to comment. Last year there was

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only five people that commented and the
year before there wasn't much more. So

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I'd appreciate if people would show up
and give us their input.

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» Great. Thank you, Walter.
>> Welcome.

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» Okay. And if I could have a motion to
adjourn.

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» Thank you.
>> Second.

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» All in favor?
>> I

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» opposed. Abstensions. Thank you,
everyone.

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» Have a good night. Thank you.

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That's

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all.