A Breakdown of the Southington Town Budget: Part I

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Budget documents are rarely easy to digest. In some ways they contain too much information – rows of numbers that can make your eyes glaze over. Yet they may also contain too little information, employing abbreviations and terms that are hard to interpret. As a result, it can be hard to get a sense of where money is actually going, despite the good-faith efforts of those who created the document to be clear and concise.

To make things a little easier for residents who want to be prepared for the Town Council’s crucial budget vote next week, we have gone through the proposed budget document that was approved by the Board of Finance and placed its items in order from largest to smallest. For each department or line-item expense, we have given the proposed expenditure, followed by one, two, or three of the biggest components, to indicate where the lion’s share of that money is going.

For town departments, the main expense is usually salaries, which can account for 70 to 90 percent of the expenditure. Next come utilities and maintenance, if the department has a dedicated building, followed by supplies.

The reader will notice that some budget line items are listed separately from the departments they apply to. The Heart and Hypertension fund stands as an example of this: while reserved exclusively for police and firefighters, it is not listed in their department budgets. The budget sometimes splits departments, such as the Barnes Museum and the Library, that are linked to each other administratively. And while computers and copies are used by every town office, they are only included in the budget of the Information Technology office, which manages and maintains them.

The town may spend most of its money on personnel, but also purchases things – sometimes big things. Large, one-time purchases of equipment or pieces of infrastructure are listed under the Capital budget. This budget is broken out at the end.

A few line items are very large, like that for the school system. Others are tiny, like the Parking Authority’s, which is mostly used to purchase signs. To keep these differences clear, we have grouped the expenditures into Large (> $1 million), Medium ($1 million to $100,000), and Small (< $100,000).

In a forthcoming article, we will take another look at the budget, this time with a focus on increases and decreases. Our hope is that this will give readers a sense of what is costing the town more – and thus serving to push up taxes – and what is costing it less.

To view the original Budget document approved by the Board of Finance, click here.

Total FY 2026/26 Budget: $196,004,428

Large Items: Over $1 million

School System $126,799,132

Wages for Superintendent & 1,166* employees; maintenance; utilities; supplies

       *This figure represents the District’s current 1,189 employees with 22 layoffs.

Police Department $10,561,078

Wages for Chief and 81 employees

Bonds, Principal $7,821,000

Principal paid on mature bonds for general government, schools, and sewers

Payroll Taxes and MERS $6,703,211

Fed. payroll tax, Medicare, & Muncipal Employees Retirement System payments

Medical & Life Insurance $6,267,616

Self-insurance, for health and life insurance coverage

Sewer Department $6,227,506

Maintenance; waste hauling; wages for Superintendent plus 12 employees

Fire Department $6,177,656

Wages for Chief and 39 employees

Highways/Parks $4,494,567

Wages for Superintendent and 36 employees

Capital Budget $2,923,185

See below for breakout

Bonds, Interest $2,714,910

Interest payments on bonds for general government, schools, and sewers

Clear Water Fund Loan $2,181,141

Payments on loans from CT Clean Water Fund for wastewater infrastructure

Information Technology $1,794,852

Computers, software systems, copiers; wages for Director and 4 employees

Public Library $1,646,331

Wages for Library Director and 18 employees; book purchases

Heart and Hypertension $1,424,628

Payments to police officers and firefighters with heart disease or hypertension

Contingency $1,101,625

Unforeseen expenses; negotiated salary increases

Central Dispatch $1,063,516

Wages for 12 emergency services dispatchers

Insurance $1,062,994

Payments for auto, property, and workers’ comp insurance policies

Medium Items: $1 million to $100,000

Snow & Ice Removal $810,000

Supplies; overtime pay

Calendar House $709,048

Wages for Director and 5 employees; temporary wages

Finance Dept. $688,210

Wages for Finance Director and 6 employees

Engineering Dept. $673,609

Wages for Town Engineer and 6 employees

Building Dept. $608,655

Wages for Director and 6 employees

Assessments $553,490

Wages for Assessor and 4 employees; revaluation services

Street Lighting $531,375

Equipment lease payment; electric bill

Planning & Zoning $491,894

Wages for Director and 4 employees

Community Services $480,485

Wages for Director and 3 employees; temporary wages

Town Clerk’s Office $424,275

Wages for Town Clerk and 4 employees

Health Dept. $402,628

Subsidy payment to South Central Health District

Police Retirement $400,710

Supplemental retirement benefits for police

Recreation $315,881

Temporary summer wages (esp. lifeguards); wages for administrative assistant

Town Manager $315,801

Wages for Town Manager and Executive Assistant

Youth Services $306,148

Wages for Youth Services Coordinator and 3 employees

Bulky Waste $301,814

Hauling services and overtime pay

Fire Hydrant Rental $290,466

Rent payment to Water Department for fire hydrants

Tax Dept. $276,054

Wages for Revenue Collector and 2 employees; mailing expenses

Economic Development $273,368

Wages for Econ. Development Director and assistant; town promotion

Town Attorney $266,500

Regular wages and legal fees

Elections $264,932

Temporary wages; election supplies; wages for 2 Registrars of Voters

Human Resources $253,596

Wages for HR Director and assistant

Environmental Issues $230,000

Contractor services; legal fees

Miscellaneous $185,000

Accumulated sick leave payouts

Animal Control $179,393

Wages for Animal Control Officer

Town Hall $158,099

Building maintenance, utilities, part-time custodian

Barnes Museum $141,239

Wages for Curator and assistant

Small Items: Under $100,000

Town Council $94,343

Memberships in CT Conference of Municipalities

& Capitol Region Council of Governments

Non-School Nurses $92,329

Contractor services

Organized Recreation $83,947

Funding for 11 youth sports leagues

Safety Program $82,000

Painting traffic control markings; 10 town-owned traffic lights

Community Assistance $67,465

Contractor services

Annual Audit $55,000

Fee for annual audit

Weichsel Center $49,996

Utilities

Tree Maintenance $45,000

Tree maintenance

Non-Legal Professional Services $52,500

Services other than legal

Unemployment Compensation $35,000

Unemployment benefits for laid off municipal workers

Town-Owned Property $35,000

Maintenance; utilities

Historical Society $21,378

Utilities; maintenance

Zoning Board of Appeals $16,700

Advertising; temporary wages

Emergency Management $16,300

Part-time emergency director stipend; command vehicle updates

Probate Court $16,000

Town subsidy to Cheshire-Southington Probate Services

Conservation Commission $10,700

Temporary wages; advertising

Board of Finance $7,620

Secretarial services and meeting recording

Commission on Disability $4,000

Contractor services

Community Celebrations $4,000

Memorial/Veterans Day celebrations

Parking Authority $2,975

Signage and services

Board of Assessment Appeals $2,090

Part-time wages

Capital Improvements for FY 2026/27

Roofing Replacement for South End School $2,980,588 bond

High School Tennis Courts Rebuild $793,420 cash

Town Aid Road Maintenance $695,000 grant

Repair/Replace Town Sidewalks $250,000 cash

Road Resurfacing $425,000 grant

Spring Street Bridge Design Fee $350,000 cash

Townwide IT Infrastructure $325,000 cash

Public Safety Radio System, Police Dept. $306,733 transfer in

South End New Bridge Design Fee $280,000 cash

Dump Trucks, Highways Dept. $250,000 cash

ADA Sidewalk and Ramp Design Fee $250,000 cash

Brine-Making System, Highways Dept. $205,000 cash

East Street Reconstruction Design Fee $200,000 cash

Mobile and Portable Radios, Police Dept. $156,180 transfer in

Bus Replacement, Calendar House $153,000 grant + cash

Axon Body Camera Systems, Police Dept. $129,630 transfer in

Flock ALPR System, Police Dept. $98,400 transfer in

74 Self-Contained Breathing Cylinders, Fire Dept. $80,000 cash

Vehicle Replacement, Highways Dept. $62,000 cash

Panthorn Field LED Lights $55,000 cash

Mower Replacement, Highways Dept. $30,000 cash

Assessor’s Office Renovation $23,222, cash