Board of Finance Deals with Referendum Repercussions

Following the results of the recent bonding referendum, the Suffield Board of Finance finalized its budget proposal to be sent to a May 11 town meeting for approval.

Two of the four projects, the purchase of new fire trucks and road and drainage improvements, were approved, while bonding for Town Hall renovations and the new library proposal were defeated. The Board wrote its budget proposal with the assumption that all the projects would pass, and spent the bulk of the meeting adjusting to the results of the vote.

First Selectman Tom Frenaye said the road to implementing the $4.5 million in bonding approved by the town would likely be a four-to-six-month process. The time is needed to perform engineering work and plot out the design of the road improvements and to get more specific information on the fire truck purchases.

Responding to a question about whether the reduced amount still made sense for bonding, he stated that a 20-year bond still makes the most sense for that amount of money, though there is some flexibility on the duration of the bonds.

Frenaye also recommended adjustments to the current budget to return money to the capital improvement plan in order to repair the roof of the current library. The total cost of the repairs for the roof and other fixes will total $598,000. The repairs are planned for the summer. Frenaye anticipated that the library would likely be closed for a period of time between one month and three months while the construction took place.

The board set aside $400,000 for the repair or replacement of the HVAC system at the Town Hall. The system is more than 50 years old and members agreed the step was necessary for safety and efficiency reasons. To offset the impact to the budget proposal, the board voted to reduce from $950,000 to $750,000 the capital set aside for road repairs and also to apply $200,000 from the fund balance to make up the difference. The additional fund balance brings the total of surplus funds to be used in the proposed budget to $450,000.

A motion seeking to reduce the funds set aside for farmland by $200,000 was defeated. An additional $94,000 of Local Capital Improvement Program grant money was added to the revenue side of the calculations. It was accidentally excluded from the last budget proposal.

The board also anticipated a reduction of revenues from $26,000 to $8,000 from the state for telecommunication infrastructure improvements.

There was continued uncertainty over state funding from the Pilot manufacturing grant and possible recalculation of conveyance tax allocations.

“It's really a moving target,” Board Chairman Justin Donnelly said of the state money Suffield will receive.

Donnelly informed the board of the receipt of two letters and a phone from local businesses expressing opposition to decision to roll the trash collection expenses into the mill rate. The plan would entitle the town to more PILOT money from the state in each year past the first.

The revised budget will be voted on at a town meeting scheduled for Wednesday, May 11.