Date: Fri 21-Aug-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Council-Kortze-finance-budget

Full Text:

Panel Tries To Get A Grip On Town's Spending Plans

BY STEVE BIGHAM

John Kortze was a man with a plan when he took over the chairmanship of the

Legislative Council's finance committee 18 months ago. He wanted to help

create a more forward-thinking approach to the way the town spent its money.

"My number one goal was to have a finance committee that was pro-active, not

re-active; one that is constantly planning," he said.

That is not to say the old way of managing in Newtown did not work, town

officials say, but these are different times. As the town grows so does its

spending. Newtown is borrowing money at record levels and currently ranks

third in the state in per capita indebtedness.

Recently, council members began tallying the total expenditures anticipated by

the town. The total could be as much as $70 million. Many of the

appropriations have not yet been approved and some are more "urgent" than

others. However, each item has the potential to affect the town's finances,

and town officials say they want to be prepared if and when they come to

fruition.

Tuesday night, Mr Kortze's committee got down to business and began sifting

through a long list of potential capital improvement plan items, which has

come to be known as "The Blawie List," named after its original author,

council member Karen Blawie.

By establishing a rating system, the committee was able to rank each request

in order of importance. Tags included everything from "urgent" and "needed" to

"nice to have, but" and "don't do."

The only item deemed "urgent" by the financiers was the proposed municipal

center, which could cost several million dollars. A study is currently being

done to determine what the town's space needs are.

The Board of Education's proposed fifth- and sixth-grade school, estimated to

cost between $15-20 million, was rated, "needed."

The finance committee also made initial judgments as to which items on the

"Blawie List" were bondable and which were budgetable. For example, a request

for heavy duty public works trucks, at $80,000 a piece, was deemed a budget

item, even though it is part of the capital improvement plan, because it is

constantly requested in the public works budget. A $400,000 fire truck, on the

other hand, would be a bonded item.

The items paid for through the budget would alleviate the strain put on the

town's bond rating, according to committee members.

The finance committee has a new plan for its bonding program. Mr Kortze has

asked Finance Director Ben Spragg to create a graph showing where the town

currently stands as far as debt goes over the next 15-20 years.

"So if we decide we want to bond all "urgent" items one year, we can simply

overlay it against the existing debt to determine what the total impact will

be," he said.

The committee would be able to do the same for items deemed "needed,"

"desirable," and "nice to have, but."

"This should help show us how this will affect our bond rating and mill rate,"

Mr Kortze said. "This was our ultimate objective -- to have a true planning

scenario."

Melissa Pilchard said having a better feel for what the town's potential debt

is will give everyone a clearer financial picture.

Finance committee member Karen Blawie said she was extremely pleased with the

progress made at Tuesday night's meeting, saying the town may be on the right

track toward addressing the estimated $70 million in costs for potential

capital projects.

"We still have no real grasp of cost, but at least we have somewhat planned

for them," she said.