City Council Meeting on City Budget

The New Britain City Council is set to vote on Wednesday on a city budget for the upcoming year.

The special Council meeting is planned for Wednesday, May 28, 2025, at 6:00pm. It is to be held in the Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall at 27 West Main Street.

Mayor Erin Stewart (R) has proposed no increase in operating funds for New Britain’s schools for the upcoming budget year that begins in July, making her total city operating allocations for city schools over her twelve years as mayor just 3.48% higher in total – an average increase per year of only 0.29% – and $29.8 million less school operating budget since 2014 with inflation taken into consideration. As in the past, Stewart’s new budget plan includes funding in a nebulous “non-operating” budget line under “Education Department”, this year, $2,646,191 in this line, which is $1.1 million more than this year, but $2.2 million less than the 2024 budget year.

At its public hearing in April on the city budget proposed by Stewart, the Council heard residents’ concerns about the need for greater funding for city schools, emergency housing, completion of the Allen Street project and the Public Library.

The budget under consideration is for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, 2025 and goes until June 30, 2026. It affects property taxes due on July 1st of this year and January 1, 2026.