A Concerned Weston Citizen

Can we spend more than we earn? This is a question that has recently garnered attention by our national government and electorate, as there is recognition that this path is unsustainable. As of this writing, US debt stands at $35 trillion and GDP at $29 trillion – that’s a 120% ratio which does not even include the debt at the state and local level.

Now let’s examine where Weston is today and where we are headed. Weston’s debt is approximately $1.5 million and its budget or tax collections are roughly $80 million --- resulting in 2% debt to tax revenue ratio. We were able to reach this point at the cost of underfunding the required town expenditures other than our schools. So, what now?

There is an interesting dynamic occurring within our Weston government that will drive this next phase and the players are, in no particular order,

• Board of Selectmen (“BOS”)
• Board of Finance (“BOF”)
• Board of Education (“BOE”)
• Facilities Optimization Committee (“FOC”)

Since the schools are the drivers of Weston’s expenditures the first question is – What investments are required by the schools? A question that should be answered by the school administration and the BOE. To date, the school administration has not put forth one idea on their wish list to improve our kids’ education. Their lens has been purely focused on the maintenance of infrastructure and facilities. No one ventured to ask for items germane to education. I would have expected requests from teachers for items like a new chemistry lab to enhance hands on learning, improvements to our theatre to help the arts program, a reconfiguration of the education space to accommodate different lecturing formats. I am not saying these are the relevant questions but there has been a void from our educators with regards to their input. Result: The school administration and the BOE punted the scope and cost of the renovation question to the FOC and flipped the decision framework from one related to education to one related to bricks and mortar.

The FOC (which was disbanded in 2022), in conjunction with the BOE’s Educational Optimization Committee (“EOC”), commissioned an extensive array of costly studies with multiple 3rd party consultants and contractors over a multi-year period on school and town capital improvement scenarios and the related cost estimates. Without going through all the details (which would require numerous pages), the resulting headline was a preference to present the more costly $100 million middle school rebuild/renovate as new scenario without considering a simple maintenance and repair catch up cost scenario. In May of last year, the $100 million rebuild proposal was in the process of being forced through for approval. Recognizing this hastiness, the First Selectwoman, Samantha Nestor, then decided to put a pause on the proposal saying, and I quote, “I want to understand the entire scope of what we need to fund throughout the school campus and model debt capacity”. Result: the EOC, the school’s Committee responsible for facilities and the BOS effectively punted the decision to the BOF, obtusely reframing the question simply to what the town can afford to borrow.

The BOF, in its efforts to answer the questions now posed to them, formed three subcommittees which in turn put forth some guidelines in a policy. The result of the work of two of the subcommittees was presented to the public January 15th in a public meeting that was neither streamed nor recorded. Chair Mike Imber’s attempt to put forth a semblance of fiscal responsibility rang hollow. There was no evidence of Selectwoman Nestor’s call for the debt capacity model requested seven months earlier in May of 2024. The one metric he touted as governing reasonable indebtedness was debt service to the town budget ratio. Put in plain English, the more the town spends the more it can borrow, hardly a metric to drive fiscal responsibility. When pressed on these items, Mike Imber defensively stated that the ultimate decision is up to Weston residents. Result: The BOF effectively punted the most important fiscal town decision on Weston residents.

So, in this season of NFL playoffs, punting seems to be in vogue in Weston government today. I am truly concerned that if this pattern continues, we will end up borrowing circa $100 million for the school rebuild resulting in a debt ratio of 140% which is not sustainable and precisely the one that the national electorate and national leaders are trying to reverse. If I am right, Westonites face two consequences:

• Another decade of disproportionately funding one project at the expense of other town requirements

AND

• Disproportionately high property taxes that will inevitably handicap our real estate values, requiring yet higher taxes, a vicious cycle.

My plea to Weston residents is to demand a higher standard of leadership from our town boards. Or if that fails, stay informed on the issues and participate in town votes to veto poor government decisions.

Respectfully

Victor Escandón

Proud Weston Resident

Former Board of Education Member

Member of Weston’s Conservation Commission

Advocate of Fiscal Responsibility