The following chart

gives a history of year-over-year town budget increases for the towns in our District Resource Group, since fiscal year 2012-2013.

Notice that Redding is the only district in the DRG where the cumulative growth since 2012-2013 is negative, as indicated in the final column.

To check the numbers in the final column, choose an imaginary starting number for a 2011-2012 budget (it can be anything, say 10,000,000), and then to get to the next budget, multiply by 1 + r where r is the increase for that year. For example, Darien would grow by a factor of 1.0481 the first year, to 10,481,000. In the second year, it would grow from 10,481,000 to that times 1.0405, or 10,905,481. Keep going, and the end result for the last year is about 13,150,000, or in other words a 31.5% increase over the 2011-2012 budget.