The Brookfield Board of Selectmen has opted to move forward with spending $600 on a Grant Finder Program.  At their meeting last week, the Selectmen forwarded the proposal to the Board of Finance for approval of funds.  First Selectman Steve Dunn says about 15% of the town's total revenue, depending on the year, comes from grants.  All of the town's departments go out looking for funding on their own.  Dunn says some are pretty straight forward, like ones from the state including the Small Town Economic Assistance Program and Local Capital Improvement Program.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities has made an arrangement with Grant Finder for a substantial discount on the fee for the program.

Dunn says this will allow the town to look at grants being offered across the nation.  He says there are likely grants Brookfield is missing, small grants but funding nonetheless.  He says the Grant Finder program will be used for one year, and if it makes sense, a decision will be made after that whether to continue with it. 

Dunn called this a reasonable expenditure for something that will pay for itself if the town only gets one grant worth more than $600.