Sabrina Thaler, Contributing Photographer

New Haven’s general operating budget for the last fiscal year was balanced, Mayor Justin Elicker announced at a Tuesday press conference.

According to a financial report published Wednesday, the city brought in revenues of $681,543,089 and spent $681,484,371. This marks the fifth consecutive year of balanced or surplus budgets at City Hall, after decades of extensive borrowing. This year, the city ran a much smaller surplus than last, when Elicker redirected surplus money to the public school system.

“The departments did a pretty good job of managing their expenditures and keeping their costs down as much as possible,” city budget director Shannon McCue said in a phone interview. “The education budget was over, which we knew.”

McCue said that several other departments came in under budget and that their savings balanced out the Board of Education’s overages. 

Elicker, who is currently running for reelection against Republican Steve Orosco, said that during his mayoralty New Haven had made “a ton of progress” in stabilizing its finances. 

“We work very, very hard to be transparent in our budget process, to not use budget gimmicks to pass on our problems to future generations and to grow our revenues,” Elicker said.

At a mayoral debate on Sept. 30, Orosco criticized Elicker’s fiscal management. 

“We’re short in every single department, yet our taxes keep on going up,” Orosco said to an audience of around 180. “The budget keeps on going up, but our city services continue to decrease, which means we’re paying more for less.”

On Tuesday, Elicker also touted New Haven’s improving financial stability. Just last month, the credit rating agency Fitch upgraded its rating of New Haven’s bonds from A- stable to A- positive. Moody’s, another credit rating agency, changed its rating from Baa1 positive to Baa1 stable. The improved credit ratings will allow the city to borrow money at lower interest rates.

Looking to the 2025–2026 fiscal year, which began on July 1, the mayor identified several challenges facing New Haven, including funding for the city’s public schools, a new contract with police officers and rising pension and debt service costs — along with uncertainty about federal funding.

McCue called the 2025–2026 budget “more conservative” than the previous fiscal year’s. She explained that it includes $1.7 million in labor reserves, which is available for the city’s contract negotiations with municipal employees, and $1.4 million in expenditure reserves which “provides cushion in case we need it throughout the year.”

McCue added that looking forward, “it’s all about minimizing spending growth.”

New Haven’s medical fund, which pays for city employees’ healthcare, was more than $2 million over budget. ​​McCue said that the city is currently “looking at different options” in order to “get it at the best cost.”

At the press conference, Elicker continued to draw a sharp contrast between New Haven and the federal government.

“At a time when the federal government is shut down and different folks in Washington can’t agree on a pathway to resolve the federal budget problems,” he said. “We in New Haven are continuing to do things differently by providing transparent, reliable and stable budgeting. It’s what our residents deserve.”

The general fund budget approved by the Board of Alders for fiscal year 2025–2026 totaled $702,310,050.

Sabrina Thaler contributed reporting.