The City Council meets in special session tonight in West Haven High School’s auditorium for the annual public hearing on Mayor Dorinda Borer’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026. According to the City Charter this is the one and only opportunity to critique the proposal. Originally scheduled for the Harriett North Room in City Hall, the venue was switched to WHHS just before press time last week.
The $187.5 million spending plan has come under the recent revaluation required every five years by state statutes, The revaluation saw real property values balloon some 56%, according Borer, when she outlined her proposal two weeks ago. In an open letter in last week’s edition she outlined the progress accomplished by her administration in the past year, and what is hoped to be accomplished in the new fiscal year, beginning July 1.
For most city residents, the number they are most concerned with is the bottom line. The proposed budget shows an increase of about $5 million over the current fiscal year, attributed to inflation and other economic pressures. The rise is only 2.6%, according to the mayor.
Given the revaluation numbers, Borer said a decrease in the mill rate is reflected in the spending plan
“To mitigate the impact, we lowered the mill rate from 36.57 to 25.76 and reduced the Allingtown mill rate from 11 to 8,” she announced. The Fire Dept. of West Haven—Allingtown is under the operation of the city since the fire district was dissolved more than decade ago. The other two departments, First Taxation District (Center) and the West Shore Fire Department remain independent, and will announce their proposed budgets to be finalized in May over the next several weeks.
A homeowner can expect a tax of $25.76 per thousand of assessed value as the tax for the coming year, not including fire taxes.
The breakdown of this year’s budget sees the Education Department getting $93.8 million to operate the school system in FY2026. This is a total $1.7 million increase over the current year.
The annual public hearing is the only public act of the City Council, which then does a total review of the spending plan over the next four weeks. This is done as a committee-of-the-whole under the direction of the chairman of the Finance Committee. The session, once called to order is only suspended, not adjourned to ensure the quorum rules can be applied. A final budget ordinance must be passed by the first Thursday of May.
Still to be determined once the City Council gives its go-ahead is the Municipal Accountability Review Board. Under the Tier IV designation the city has come under for the past several years, the budget, though passed by the City Council, must still be approved by MARB. In the past the panel has imposed its own revisions of the budget, including tax increases.
MARB has mentioned some concerns during the preliminary budget-making process, including its concerns about underfunded fire pensions in the city’s independent fire districts.
Mayor Borer is hoping this is the last budget to go under official scrutiny by the panel, which has sat overseeing the city’s finances since December of 2017. It was thought the panel would see its way out of the city in the near future, though some officials have said privately they wonder if this year will be the year of exit.