[HISTORY: Adopted by the Special Town Meeting of the Town of Griswold 2-7-1984. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Contracts — See Ch. 24.
Board of Finance — See Ch. 40.
[Amended 5-22-2017 STM; 3-26-2019]
The total budget expenditures for any given year shall not be increased over the preceding annual Town budget year by an actual dollar amount in excess of revenue generated by the projected increase in the grand list, the receipt of state and federal income in excess of the amounts of such income received in the preceding fiscal year and other miscellaneous income. The increase in monies generated from an increase in the grand list shall be calculated by using the previous year's mill rate. This revision is subject to the following:
A. 
In the event that the long-term bonding debt and associated debt service or long-term public obligation shall increase the budget as the result of Town Meeting action or public referendum, the budget may be increased by this amount and the additional funding may be raised by taxation.
B. 
In the event that a specific revenue account, other than property taxes, is projected to decrease, the limit on total budget expenditures shall be reduced by the amount of the projected decrease unless the service is funded with the proviso that the Board of Selectmen recommend such funding as necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare and the same is approved by the Board of Finance as per Section 7-348 of the Connecticut General Statutes and approved by simple majority of the electors and voters voting in a Special Town Meeting or referendum called for that purpose.
C. 
In the event of an increase in the grand list due to revaluation, the actual dollar amount of increase in the projected budget shall be limited to the dollar amount of increase in the previous year's budget or the average amount of increase of the previous three years' budgets, whichever is larger.
D. 
This limitation on budget expenditures for any fiscal year shall not apply to any expenditure necessary to pay:
(1) 
Deficits or projected deficits from any prior year's budget or notes given to pay the same.
(2) 
Expenditures and appropriations for special projects that will be funded by bonds, notes or other forms of borrowing.
(3) 
Debt service on bonds, notes or other obligations of the Town.
(4) 
Judgments or settlements of claims against the Town.
(5) 
Expenditures mandated by the state and federal government in excess of the mandated expenditures included in the annual Town budget adopted for the preceding fiscal year.
(6) 
Expenditures occasioned by natural disasters, civil disorders or other definable emergencies, provided that the Board of Finance, upon recommendation of the Board of Selectmen, determines that such expenditure is necessary to alleviate a serious condition endangering the public health, safety or welfare.
(7) 
Expenditure increases which will be paid solely from grants, gifts or revenues other than property taxes.
[Added 12-10-1987 STM; amended 9-11-2003 STM]
Whenever an Annual or Special Town Meeting is duly warned and called for the purpose of voting on any of the Town's budgetary/fiscal matters, including but not limited to supplemental appropriations thereto, involving amounts in excess of $10,000, the substantive vote on said budgetary/fiscal matters shall be by secret ballot. The secret ballot vote required hereunder shall not apply to ministerial or procedural matters that may arise during the course of a meeting or to supplemental appropriations to the extent such appropriations are to be funded by state, federal or other grants or donations that have previously been approved by the relevant agencies.
[Added 12-12-1991 STM; amended 6-2-2000 STM; 5-14-2008 referendum; 11-15-2016 ATM; 5-22-2017 STM; 3-26-2019]
The Annual Budget Meeting shall be held no later than the second Monday of the month of June immediately preceding the fiscal year. In accordance with Section 7-344 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as it may be amended, the Board of Finance shall hold a public hearing not less than two weeks before the Annual Budget Meeting. At such hearing, the Board of Finance will present itemized estimates of the expenditures of the Town for the ensuing fiscal year and shall allow all persons to be heard with respect to such appropriations as they are desirous that the Board of Finance should recommend or reject. Following such hearing, the Board of Finance shall hold a public meeting at which it shall adopt a final budget report to be submitted to the Annual Budget Meeting as required by Section 7-344 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as it may be amended. The Board of Finance shall submit such report to the Board of Selectmen and the Town Clerk in a sufficiently timely fashion to allow publication of the report on a date prior to the date of the Annual Budget Meeting. Upon completion of any and all other business that may properly come before the Annual Budget Meeting and after a reasonable opportunity for discussion of and action on the Board of Finance's recommended appropriations, the Annual Budget Meeting shall be adjourned to a referendum to be held on a date not less than seven days nor more than 14 days thereafter. At such referendum, the question of whether to approve the proposed total appropriation for the Board of Education shall be voted on separately from the question of whether to approve the promised Town operating budget, as each may have been reduced by the Annual Budget Meeting. The date of such referendum shall be set by the Annual Budget Meeting or, if the Meeting does not set a date, by the Board of Selectmen. The hours of such vote shall be between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. In the event that the proposed appropriation is defeated, the Board of Finance shall promptly prepare a revised proposal which will be considered and adjourned to a referendum to be held on a date not less than seven nor more than 14 days thereafter. As authorized by said Section 7-344 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as it may be amended, budget referendum ballots may contain nonbinding, advisory questions to inquire whether the Town portion of the budget is too high or too low, and whether the Board of Education portion of the budget is too high or too low.
[Added 12-12-1991 STM]
The approval of an additional appropriation for any department as provided for in Section 7-348 of the Connecticut General Statutes, which appropriation, together with the sum of any other additional appropriations made for said department within the same fiscal year, exceeds $50,000 shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of those qualified voters voting in a referendum called for such purpose. No request for an additional appropriation shall be submitted to a referendum by the terms of this section without first having been submitted to the Board of Finance for its recommendations and to the Town at an informational Town Meeting (for such amendments as may be adopted at such a Town Meeting) called by the Board of Selectmen.
A. 
Nothing contained herein shall affect any contract and/or appropriation made under Section 7-348 of the Connecticut General Statutes relating to the repair of highways, bridges, sidewalks and water and sewer systems and the care of the Town poor.
B. 
The date of any such referendum shall be set by the Board of Selectmen no longer than 30 days nor less than five days after said informational Town Meeting.
C. 
The provisions of this section requiring a referendum vote shall not apply to any request for a supplemental appropriation to the extent such appropriation is to be funded by one or more state, federal or other grants or donations that have previously been approved by the relevant agencies, officials or organizations.
[Added 9-11-2003 STM]