Faced with drastic revenue cuts from the state, New Milford Mayor Pete Bass has announced a staffing reduction.  He is also cutting additional expenses in an effort to address the $700,000 shortfall this fiscal year.  If no action was taken, Bass says he would have had to budget for a more than 10-percent tax increase. 

The staffing reduction will be made through a mix of cutting existing positions, not filling vacancies and denying requested additional positions for the coming budget year.  Bass says New Milford is facing a more than $3 million projected revenue decline next fiscal year, the equivalent of the four largest taxpayers leaving New Milford. 

Bass is planning to meet with the Board of Education about how to address a reduction in educational cost sharing funding from the state.  He says that, coupled with substantially increased healthcare costs, have driven the need to look at structural changes. 

He says the Board is working to find savings and efficiencies that do not impact the quality of the education.