Board of Finance Meeting October 17, 2017

Board of Finance Meeting October 17, 2017

The responsibility of the Board of Finance is to give guidance to the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Education prior to developing the budget. The Board of Finance should set the budgeting policy and make sure that each expenditure is allocated properly. Operating expenditures should not be placed in the Capital expenditures. It is also the responsibility of the Board of Finance to review the debt policy.

A Special Revenue Fund was developed for Simsbury Farms for accountability and making sure that expenditures and revenues will make the fund whole. Taxpayer dollars were not supposed to close the deficit year after year. Presently the taxpayers are paying $122,000 fof the shortfall. Every year there is an infusion of money from the General Fund. The taxpayers are paying for a Golf Course that continues to lose money.

Golf Courses are losing money on regular basis. Simsbury Farms Golf Course does not include Capital expenditures in the Special Revenue Fund.

Many towns and private clubs have contracted out the Golf Courses to management companies such as the Arnold Palmer Group with good results.

Bloomfield has found that the Arnold Palmer Group is cost effective and gives the golfers an opportunity to play on many of the golf courses under their umbrella.

The taxpayers can no longer support the Golf Course that continually loses money year after year.

The Board of Education can longer expect the State to support Simsbury’s schools as they have in the past. With reduced enrollment, it is time to consolidate resources and buildings.

The expectation that the fees for permits from the building department will enhance the revenues should not be used as a tool for long-term planning.

The Board of Finance has to continually review the supply of the buildings with the balance of demand on these products. There is always the possibility that the building stock will outweigh the demand leading to lower assessments as the demand contracts.

The Simsbury Mill Rate of 39.99 must be reduced to make Simsbury competitive with our neighbors for homes and businesses.

There will be many challenges in the future for the Board of Finance. We can no longer use the General Fund for political purposes but for unexpected expenditures.

The Board of Finance must be bold in their guidance to the Boards and Commissions with a future of less revenue leading to reduced expenditures.

I am looking forward to having a professional Town Manager that is not an experiment as stated by First Selectman Lisa Heavner, develop a fiscally responsible budget under the guidance of the Board of Finance.