Yale Daily News

On Friday, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker will submit his fiscal year 2024-25 budget proposal, starting the budget adoption process.

Per the New Haven Charter, Elicker has to submit an annual budget proposal no later than March 1. After that, the budget needs to be approved by the Board of Alders; city alders will likely make amendments to it.

“We spend several weeks examining [the budget], asking questions of [city] staff, hearing from residents,” Alder Adam Marchand, who serves as a chair of the board’s finance committee, told the News. “Then, in May, the finance committee deliberates on the budget and typically makes changes through the amendment process. Then … it goes to the full board of alders for a vote, usually the last week of May.”

The fiscal year 2024-25 is set to start on July 1. 

The Budget adoption process

Over the next two months, the Board of Alders’ finance committee will hold three public hearings to solicit testimony from residents and five workshops with city officials to review the proposed budget in detail.

The committee will then meet to deliberate and amend the mayor’s budget proposal. The first committee vote is scheduled for May 13. 

Marchand said that the board usually passes the final budget with a “large majority” of votes. He attributed it to the prolonged discussions that happen throughout the budget adoption process and said that all alders who do not sit on the finance committee are still encouraged to share their ideas and input. 

Typically, the board adopts the version of the budget that the committee approves, but “every now and then” some amendments are also adopted on the board’s floor before final vote, Marchand said. 

Last year, the Board of Alders adopted the final budget with the same revenue and expenditure numbers that Elicker proposed, although they did change specific allocations of the funding. This means, Marchand said, that for every amended expenditure to the Mayor’s budget, the board needs to also take off some of the Mayor’s spendings.

City income and expenditures 

Property taxes are by far the largest income source for the City of New Haven. Last year, property taxes accounted for 49.3 percent of city income. They have increased due to the bump in property values after the city-wide revaluation. 

This year, the city will not reevaluate its properties, but its planned property taxes income could still be slightly higher, Marchand said, due to new property developments. 

New Haven also largely depends on the state for funding. Last year, it accounted for over 40 percent of the budget, of which 22 were allocated specifically for education. 

“The charter requires us to pass a budget where the revenue is the same number as the expenditures,” Marchand said. “One of our big functions is to be wise fiscal stewards for the city. Each year we try to help the city achieve a stronger financial position.”

Elicker has also regularly stressed fiscal responsibility in his remarks and this year’s proposed budget will likely reflect that commitment. 

Education is the largest expenditure in New Haven’s budget. Last year, education costs rose by $8 million to a record high of just over $203 million, which accounted for more than 30 percent of spending. This increase was largely driven by the New Haven Public Schools teachers’ salary bump, per their negotiated union contract.

In the coming fiscal year, education costs will likely increase further, as teachers’ salary will rise again.  

Another large source of expenditure in New Haven’s budget comes from salaries and employee benefits, accounting for 15.7 percent of the budget last fiscal year. 

In his past budget proposal, Elicker proposed the creation of 34 new city positions of which the board approved only nine — the largest disagreement on the budget. This year, any added or removed positions by mayor or alders will reflect their priorities for the city.

“When the mayor wants to propose new positions, for example, we try to understand if those positions are really necessary, if they contribute to needed services, if they help the city achieve the policy goals that are in our legislative agenda,” Marchand told the News.

The annual spending that will carry into the next fiscal year is debt service and pensions for public employees, which accounted for 10.43 percent and 13.29 percent of the budget, respectively, last year. 

Last fiscal year’s planned spending was $662.7 million.