To the Editor:

I will vote “NO” to the proposed charter change to eliminate the Board of Finance (BOF) as an elected body. I believe that the removal of this vital layer of protection is not only ill-conceived, it is also not in the best interests of our taxpayers. Here, I will address some of the “charges” made by the Legislative Council (LC) to the Charter Revision Commission (CRC).

“The Legislative Council is and has been the Fiscal Authority in Newtown and that the Board of Finance in Newtown is an advisory body that makes recommendations to the LC.” — CRC Charge

The charter is clear on this point. The BOF, in an advisory capacity, is the principal architect of our town’s financial policies and provides oversight and guidance to the LC. The LC, as the fiscal authority, makes the final decisions.

The taxpayers of Newtown deserve fiscal oversight at the highest degree, especially as necessary expenditures and costs continue to rise. Maintaining an elected body, independent from the LC, dedicated to our town’s financial affairs, offers the kind of detailed oversight and operating rigor critical to evaluating and controlling town spending and borrowing.

If properly leveraged as intended, the Legislative Council could, and frankly should, take full advantage [of] the value offered by the high level of fiscal evaluation, guidance and oversight provided by a dedicated and elected BOF. Perhaps what is not well understood by those in support of removing the BOF, is the vital role it plays as part of Newtown’s overall financial governance structure.

As an elected body that operates independently from the LC, the BOF provides taxpayers with a check and balance on financial matters that would otherwise be lost if the BOF didn’t exist. If removed and absorbed by the LC with appointees as proffered in a committee format, the taxpayers’ right to elect (and thus remove) its representatives will be stripped.

“Having two similar elected bodies in series in the review process confuses said process for members of the public.” — CRC Charge

The work done by the BOF is in advance of the LC’s review process and is frankly, a necessary step in protecting our taxpayers. To consider the BOF a duplicitous layer is to not understand the role it plays in the budget review process. The value of an elected, dedicated and independent BOF as a part of our budgetary review processes, is that it independently examines and challenges budget and spending requests submitted by town departments (as well as the Board of Education) in a public meeting format and makes well-informed recommendations to the LC regarding such requests.

Of course, I am in full support of improving operating efficiencies within our government. Perhaps a better solution would be for the LC to fully leverage the work already done by the BOF as opposed to repeating it.

These comments are my own and not on behalf of the BOF, of which I am an elected member.

Erica Sullivan

Newtown