Norwalk To Host Budget Public Hearing In September

Information via the city of Norwalk

NORWALK, CT — The city will host a hybrid budget public hearing Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. in the council chambers ahead of the development of the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 operating and capital budgets.

In a news release provided by the city, Mayor Harry Rilling said Norwalk voters approved the city's proposed charter revisions, the first comprehensive charter revision in over 100 years, back in November.

While the adoption of the city's new charter doesn't change the overall budget process, it does include several new provisions that establish a framework for the development of the city's budget, Rilling said.

One of the provisions provides for increased opportunity for public participation through the establishment of a budget public hearing ahead of the development of the operating and capital budgets each year, according to Rilling.

The public hearing this month aims to elicit ideas and comments from members of the public on the upcoming 2025-2026 operating and capital budgets, Rilling said.

The public hearing will include a series of panelists who have a role in the city's operating and capital budget process, including Rilling, Chief Financial Officer Jared Schmitt, Common Council President Darlene Young, Board of Education Chair Diana Carpio, Board of Estimate and Taxation Chair Ed Abrams, Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Louis Shulman and Greg Burnett, chair of the Common Council's Finance and Claims Committee.

The Fiscal Year 2025-2026 operating and capital budget calendars can be found here.

More information about how to access this meeting in person or virtually is available here. Those who can't attend but would like to submit written testimony can email it to the city's director of management and budgets, Tom Ellis, at tellis@norwalkct.gov by noon on Sept. 23.