Town Saves $572K With Bond Refunding

The town has refunded its bonds to net a savings of about $572,000, most of which will go towards next year's budget, officials said Monday night during a Board of Selectman meeting at the Municipal Center.

"We are targeting $532,000 to next year's budget, which will offset our debt service payment," Finance Director Bob Tait said.

For weeks, town officials have been looking forward to the outcome of the third and final round of bond refunding, hoping to reap savings estimated in the range of  $300,000 to as much as $600,000, Tait said.

"We've been crossing our fingers," he said, adding that on Thursday he learned the savings would come in at $572,000.

With interest rates at all-time lows, the town has been refunding its bonds, a process that has netted Newtown more than $2 million in total savings, officials said. It's unlikely the town will be able to net further savings after this latest round, Tait said.

"Most every serviceable bond that we have with a high interest on it has been refunded," he said.

On average, the interest rate for the refunded bond was 2.7-percent, with the 20-year bond holders getting more and the first-year bond holders getting only .25-percent, he said.

Tait also re-iterated the importance that the town maintain its fund balance policy in light of evidence that it attacts investors, citing a conversation he had with a representative of an investment firm who wanted to know more about the town's fund balance approach.

"He had one question, and that was it," Tait said.

Standard & Poor's recently assigned the town a rating of AA+ with a stable outlook and a financial management score of "strong," which officials said was due to their focus on bolstering the town's fund balance. During the latest budget season, officials drew only $1 million from the fund balance, about half of what they took out the year before, as part of their strategy to loosen the town's reliance on the fund balance to pay for services.

In other matters, the selectmen agreed to send a letter of commendation to the town's emergency dispatchers after Communication Director Maureen Will wrote a letter to First Selectman Pat Llodra detailing the dispatchers involvement in a regional task force activated following a July blaze that killed two firefighters in Bridgeport.

The town's dispatchers were members of the Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce, and volunteered their time to assist Bridgeport as the staff there grappled with the loss of the firefighters, officials said.

The selectmen also discussed vacancies on town boards and their recruiting efforts. There are two vacancies on the Economic Development Commission, one for a Democrat or unaffiliated voter and a second to replace outgoing member and former chairman Robert Rau, who was a Republican, but whose spot can be filled with someone of any political affiliation. Oct. 4 is the deadline for anyone interested in applying.

Also available are two openings for alternate members on the Commission on Aging, one for a Republican or unaffiliated voter and another for a member of any political party.

Finally the Lake Zoar Authority is seeking a Republican or unaffiliated member, although officials said they have some possible candidates in mind left over from the last time officials solicited nominations. The deadline for anyone interested in that spot is Oct. 18.