After nearly a month of workshops, the Board of Finance on Wednesday unanimously approved a budget recommendation to the Town Council of $124 million, a 1.29 percent increase.

The budget request represents a decrease from the town manager‘s budget, which called ofr a 3.47 percent increase. The Board of Education side of the budget is up 0.39 percent, general government 4.2 percent.

Members attributed the big increase on the general government side to several factors, including payments on the loan for the denitrification plant, retirement benefits and decreased state funding.

"We couldn't ask for more and are very proud to forward this on to the Town Council with recommendation that it come back to us in the same way we sent it," finance board Chairman John Leary said.

Members took time to explain the low request on the school budget. The school board had originally requested a 1.95 percent increase, amounting to about $1.5 million. With a federal education jobs grant saved for use this year, the finance board opted not to include it as part of the school system operational budget. It will still be able to use the money, though. Shifting that money from the budget eliminated $1.16 million from the request.

"There is going to be a funding cliff next year regardless of which option we choose. Either way we choose the impact to the taxpayer is exactly the same," said finance board member Joseph Labieniec.

Next year, if the school board were to request the same amount it is allowed to spend this year, the grant money would represent a 1.14 percent increase before anything else could be added. Labieniec called on the next incarnation of the finance board to take that into consideration next year.

The finance board also removed $80,000 from he remaining $380,000 of the school board budget. Leary said each member had his or her own ideas on what those additional cuts represent, but individual ideas are lost in a general consensus.

"We all went in with understanding the education system in Southington is the pride of Southington. ... We all tried to make cuts we can believe in, without harming the education system and actually preserving it," Leary said.

School officials didn't seem too fazed by the finance board's actions. School board Chairman Brian Goralski commended the board for its hard work and increased communication throughout the budget process.

"On behalf of my office, we thank you for allowing the core of our work to continue. To the comment about troubles in other districts, I'm real proud to be part of the district of Southington. We are not part of the chaos we are part of the solution," Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi Jr. said to the finance board after some referenced layoffs happening in other towns such as Wallingford.

The budget now heads to the Town Council, which can cut or add items to the budget before making a final decision in May. The budget then comes back to the finance board for the tax rate to be set.