Town Finance Director: Fiscal Responsibility Leads To Turnaround

EAST HAVEN, CT — In a letter to Mayor Joseph A. Carfora about the 2021 fiscal year audit, town finance director James C. Keeley Jr. said the town's "fiscally responsible and financially accurate budget presentation," has helped "turnaround" East Haven's financial outlook.

Keeley noted that the town has a surplus of $2,854,114 for Carfora's first year in office, 2020/2021, as compared to the prior two years running deficits totaling $2,972,528. He said the town created a "budget where revenues were short of projections by a mere $376,299 in 2021/2022 compared to prior year audit results showing shortages of $3,679,591 in 2018/2019 and $3,450,220 in 2019/2020.

Keeley said the town's fund balance is at a "stable $5,698,115, almost back to the $5,816,569 it was on 6/30/18."

He also noted that the town had "no increase in bonding obligations, increased its Workers Compensation and Medical Self Insurance Net position by nearly $800,000, and saw only a slight decrease of .06% in tax collections during this pandemic."

And, he said, East Haven received $523,000 in LOCIP this past year, more than three times the amount received in 2018/2019 and 202019/20 combined, which helped lead to our Capital Assets, net of depreciation, increasing almost $3.6 million.

"In short, the town spent more on infrastructure and tangible assets such as computers, machinery, and equipment as opposed to disposable goods, providing taxpayers with more tangible value for their tax dollars," Keeley said.

Keeley said the town's "debt restructuring created a savings of $1,871,571. Without these combined efforts our surplus still would have been very good, but a more modest amount of $625,718."

And he noted the efforts of Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli, Police Chief Edward Lennon, and Public Works director Charlie Coyle in securing grants totaling $356,825.

"Everyone worked hard to identify paths to minimize expenses during these trying times, while providing increased services for our citizens," Keeley wrote. "I look forward to preparing the next budget in East Haven's Road to financial recovery, and sustained success."

In a statement emailed to Patch, Carfora offered thanks to Keeley and other officials.

"This clearly is a result of proper and responsible budgeting," he said. "I'd like to thank Jim Keeley for steering us forward in a fiscally responsible manner. Our department heads, the Board of Finance, and the Town Council also deserve recognition. When budgeting correctly and responsibly as a team, you will always get true and accurate numbers."