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Town Establishing Community Center Fund, 10-Year CIP

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Newtownis completing the process of setting up a special revenue fund into which he will process the remaining $5 million the community was promised from General Electric following the 12/14 tragedy to underwrite operating costs for the new community center.The Newtown Bee that it is just "good planning" to expand the capital project funding timeline from five to ten years, and he believes it will help make the process of developing annual CIP updates much more transparent for residents and taxpayers who ultimately benefit from these large-scale projects.

Following through on a campaign promise made by now First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, Mr Tait has also instructed town agency and department heads that the Capital Improvement Plan will now incorporate requests for bonding going out ten years. The current and past CIPs have encompassed five-year windows of anticipated capital spending requests.

Mr Rosenthal told 

The first selectman explained that as the expanded CIP process rolls out, other officials from the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, and the Legislative Council could ultimately agree to only approve projects within a five year window. But he said it would not be an issue if they decided to eventually approve projects on the planning document extending out up to a full decade, with the understanding that the further out planned projects are, the more likely they would be subject to adjustments and potential cost escalations.

Mr Tait said that the ten-year CIP would be accompanied by a corresponding bonding schedule, giving both officials involved in the planning and taxpayers who will foot the bills a greater understanding of long-term future costs for projects that are included.

"It's an important step from a strategic planning perspective," Mr Tait said.

Regarding the establishment of a Community Center special revenue fund, the finance director explained that the town has already received and allocated the $10 million in capital project money promised by GE for the community center's planning and construction. Now there needs to be a specific fund established to hold the annual operating allocation from GE, which equates to $1 million per year for five years.

That fund will also hold any special donations made to the cause beyond the GE commitment, and it will serve as a depository for any revenue generated through the day to day operations of the center, such as rental and program fees. Essentially, Mr Tait said, all the center's operational revenue and expenses would transact through this newly established fund.

"It's a large operation, so it's better to have the money in a special revenue fund," he said.

As the center's director, who has yet to be hired, begins planning for operational expenses and programming, Mr Tait said he would make requests for distributions from the fund and set up vendor and personnel accounts.

For most of the first year, one of the only significant expenses will be to cover the director's salary and benefits. The finance director said the balance of money in the account would be a revenue generator itself, as it would earn interest on any annual balance.

Since Mr Tait expects operating costs to be far less than $1 million annually, accrued interest would add to the fund and possibly help to stretch that promised $5 million to cover as much as ten or 15 years of the center's operations.

The finance director was expected to present details on the special revenue fund to the Council during a regular meeting on May 16.

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