Finance Committee approves $16.16M Southwick budget, a $400K increase

SOUTHWICK — The Finance Committee on Tuesday evening voted to recommend a fiscal 2023 town budget with an increase of nearly $400,000 from the current budget.

The committee voted unanimously to accept the budget of $16,160,099 for municipal departments, an increase from the $15,760,881 approved for fiscal 2022.

Unexpected costs in the total budget are likely to raise the town’s tax rate, which currently sits at $16.98 per thousand assessed value. Select Board member Joseph Deedy estimated that it could rise to about $17.85, but the precise number won’t be known until the end of the calendar year, and will depend upon final state aid figures and property valuations.