If you like numbers, facts and statistics — plus a healthy dose of pie charts and bar graphs — this post is for you.
The 1st Selectwoman’s proposed Fiscal Year 2023 budget is online. It includes revenue and expenses from the past year. In 320 pages, it tells the tale of Westport better than any “06880” story ever could.
The budget begins with a few pages of fascinating facts. Our population of 28,016 makes us the 12th fastest growing of all 170 Connecticut municipalities.
Our daytime population swells to 34,851 — meaning many more folks commute in than commute out.
Our 9,916 households include 68% families, 14% seniors living alone, and just 3% singles.
Our median income is $206,466. A full 51% of Westport households earn $200,000 or more. Just 7% earn less than $25,000. An eye-popping 85% of Westporters own their own homes.
A graphic display of Westport income.
But most of the budget is — well, the budget.
It includes $23 million for Public Safety, $19 million in Pensions, OPEB and Insurance, $12 million for Public Works, $7.2 million for Parks & Recreation (much of that offset by income), $1.4 million for Human Services — and just $528,000 for Health, and $343,000 for the Westport Transit District.
The biggest item, of course, is Education ($130 million). The rest of the town budget is $78 million.
Are those figures too high? Too low? Just right?
Find out for yourself. Click here for the full link.
And if you’ve got an opinion: Click “Comments” below, of course.
But you can also attend the Board of Finance meetings March 8 (7:30 p.m., Town Hall auditorium) and March 9 (if needed for the Selectwoman’s budget, and March 10 (same time and place) for the Board of Education budget.
The meetings will also be livestreamed at http://www.westportct.gov (select the “How Do I” heading, then “Watch Town Meetings”), as well as Optimum channel 79 and Frontier channel 6020. Comments may be emailed to BOFcomments@westportct.gov.
The Westport Transit District gets about $343,000 from the town.
How does a family with the median income of $200k afford the median home of $1.2m? I guess there are a lot of people who’ve hung onto their houses for a long time.
With regard to the Paramedic Services, what is the 5-year contract with Norwalk Hospital for? What services are provided by Norwalk Hospital? How much is paid and how is it paid?