Town of Wilton News: Budget Proposals and COVID-19 Update

At last night's Board of Finance meeting, First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice reported that the members voted to ask the Boards of Selectmen and Education to provide 4 revised FY2021 budget proposals as follows:

• Flat to FY2020 budget
• 2% less than the FY2020 budget
• 5% less than the FY2020 budget
• 10% less than the FY2020 budget

The 10% reduction reflects concerns about the ability to finance any significant shortfall in tax receipts due to nonpayment. 

While the Board of Selectmen met last night, Vanderslice said that they did not discuss revised budgets.  Four revised budgets will be presented and discussed at our May 4^th regular meeting. As required in the Governor’s Executive Order 7S, the Board of Selectmen voted to offer a tax relief deferment plan to qualified taxpayers.  Information will soon be available on the town website and linked in a future update.  The Board of Education is meeting this Thursday evening.

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Lynne Vanderslice answers question from a resident

A resident wrote asking about NYS’s case growth versus CT’s, with the observation that NYS’s growth has slowed, while CT’s has not and did I know why.  First, a couple of key data points:

• The virus spread much more quickly and more widely in NYS and the NYC suburbs than it did in CT and Fairfield County. 
• Having watched the rapid growth in NYS, we were much quicker to take measures to reduce the spread.  For example, Wilton and New Rochelle closed the schools on the same day, despite New Rochelle having their first case 6 days earlier than Wilton and having already brought in the State National Guard.  
• Westchester County has 2,545 cases per 100,000 residents, Fairfield County has 881 cases per 100,000 residents  Westchester County has 93 deaths per 100,000 residents, Fairfield County has 54 per 100,000 residents. 

NYS’s growth is slowing, but from a growth rate faster than CT's. The goals of the measures taken were to slow down the spread and not to overburden the healthcare system.  We are doing that, as evidenced by our numbers versus NYS's.  One more reason to continue to behave as if you have the virus and as if those around you do also. 

As per yesterdays data, CT DPH reports 20,360 laboratory-confirmed statewide cases with 8,472 or 42% in Fairfield County and 119 in Wilton.  Approximately 2.5% of total reported cases have not yet been assigned to a municipality. Today’s test positive rate remained at 27%.  Currently, 1.8% of the State’s population has been tested.  Deaths rose by 92 to 1,423 with Fairfield County at 544.  The number of patients currently hospitalized increased by 30 to 1,949 with an increase of 2 in Fairfield County to 735.