Academy Cost Rises––

Finance Board Rethinks Its Capital Improvement Plan

By Jan Howard

The Board of Finance is rethinking its priorities for the five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) in light of the likely inclusion of funding for future open space acquisition and a proposed $500,000 water line extension to Middle Gate School.

The water line extension, originally proposed for the CIP for the 2005/06 fiscal year, became an issue recently because of continuing water problems at the school and the need to repair or replace parts of the current water system. The Legislative Council recently rejected the proposal.

After a lengthy discussion at their meeting Monday, Board of Finance members decided to ask the Board of Education to attend its next meeting on November 20 to discuss the priority listing for the water line extension as well as for the high school academy, which is proposed for the 2006/07 fiscal year. The finance board members are also interested in discussing the school board’s quarterly financial report and the most current student population growth projections.

Added to the finance board members’ concern is a higher cost for the academy that was the subject of a letter to Chairman John Kortze from Ron Bienkowski, the school system’s director of business. Instead of the $17 million initially included in the CIP, the cost of the proposed school would be approximately $23 to $25 million, exclusive of land acquisition or building demolition. If Kent House in Fairfield Hills is the site of a new school, demolition costs will be $495,000 without interior abatement.

That new number would completely change the total for all capital improvements projected for that year, most likely throwing it above the town’s self-imposed guideline limiting overall debt to ten percent of expenditures or less.

 Board member Michael Portnoy said that since the Middle Gate water line extension was moved from the fiscal year 2005/06 to the present, it would require a higher priority when added to the CIP.

Mr Kortze agreed that it should be added because some of the problems with the Middle Gate water system would need to be addressed at some time in the future, such as replacement of the water tank. He felt, however, that the Board of Finance should solicit information from the Board of Education as to where to rank it.

He said members of the Legislative Council were concerned about the lack of information they were given regarding the proposal. The council also questioned the urgency of going further with the project at this time.

Mr Portnoy questioned how the council could unanimously disapprove the project after the Board of Finance had approved it. He suggested that in the future the board should send a report outlining its reasons for recommending approval. Kelley Urso agreed that the council should know the background that resulted in the board’s recommendation.

The finance board had voted 3-2 to recommend the project.

Discussion followed about whether the ten percent guideline for debt service is too high, and that a lower percentage, such as eight percent, should be considered.

Finance Director Ben Spragg handed out a chart to illustrate the effect of debt service on future budgets through 2009. In the year 2005, the current CIP would effect a 6.7 percent change in the budget, which would include everything on the CIP, he said.

“If the percentage is too high, we need to get things off the CIP,” Mr Portnoy said.

Harry Waterbury said the board could leave the plan as it is, realizing that within the next two years the capital projects would be too high under the guidelines. “It is appropriate to say that based on today’s standards, it would be too high,” he said.

He noted that it “is important to add the water line and funds for open space.” These projects, however, would increase the impact on the plan.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said it would be helpful to the selectmen to have an approved plan. However, he noted, “This is a planning document,” and some future proposed projects would “be in trouble if it’s a bad year.”

It was also suggested that proposed projects could be addressed through the budget process each year. If including the projects would raise the percentage over the guideline, then they could be removed at that time.

Mr Rosenthal noted that open space funding would not be bonded in one year, but over a period of years as properties became available for purchase. “It clearly wouldn’t be spent in one year,” he said.

Mr Portnoy suggested moving projects that would require bonding back a year to keep within guidelines.

Mr Rosenthal said, “We have to take a harder look,” because it might not be possible for the town to have a capital budget in addition to an operating budget during difficult financial times.

He said the $17 million academy “blows the plan,” adding the Board of Education needs to come back with other alternatives to solve the space problem at the high school.

Mr Spragg said the academy and the police building proposals are the biggest issues in that one year.

“I feel strongly these projects bring us too close to the target of ten percent,” Mr Waterbury said.

The board asked Mr Spragg to create a graph that shows capital improvements based on an eight percent of expenditures guideline to determine how many projects would need to be removed from the CIP at that percentage.

Mr Portnoy said in 2005 the town would be below the guideline with current proposed projects, but additional data is needed regarding future funding for open space and the water line to see if it would “push us up to the line.”

Mr Kortze said, “At some point, we have to make tough decisions.”

In other business, Mr Rosenthal discussed with the board a professional services agreement with the Trust for Public Land that he would be discussing with the Board of Selectmen at its next meeting.

Tim Northrop of Newtown, state director of the Trust for Public Land, recently made a presentation to the Board of Selectmen outlining how the nonprofit agency could help the town acquire new open space properties.

The agency’s $3,000 fee would be paid from existing consulting funds, Mr Rosenthal said.

The Trust for Public Land’s mission is to protect open space, and would help the town with methods of funding and various options for preserving open space, such as purchase of development rights and conservation easements, he said.

The town’s Open Space Task Force used criteria similar to that of the state for prioritizing parcels of land, Mr Rosenthal said. The task force has been working on a plan for open space acquisition since 1999. It sent out letters to owners of more than ten acres advising them to contact the town if they were interested in selling their land in the future.

Mr Rosenthal said the Trust for Public Land would have 45 days in which to present its report.

Open space acquisition is the one piece that has been missing from the CIP, he said. The Trust for Public Land would help the town to educate the community as to why it is beneficial to buy open space.

The consensus of the Board of Finance was that the study would be a good start. Board members also asked Mr Rosenthal to send them a copy of the Open Space Task Force study.