To the Editor:

On behalf of myself and the members of the Newtown Board of Finance (BOF) — Chandravir Ahuja, Vice Chair, Steven Goodridge, Laura Miller, Sandy Roussas, and Erica Sullivan — the following is submitted. There is a proposal on the ballot that the BOF be eliminated and that the functions of the BOF be absorbed by the Legislative Council.

This is a short-sighted and counterproductive move that Newtown voters should reject in the upcoming November ballot referendum.

Some significant actions taken by the BOF include:

(1) Review of a ten-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and adoption of a 5-year CIP. This improves our planning for projects. The BOF also improved the CIP planning process to make it more user friendly for project planners and advocates.

(2) Updated Fund Balance and Debt policies to reflect long-term planning and best practices.

(3) The municipal budget outlook has been stretched to ten years to smooth out financial fluctuations. (4) Built capital non-recurring account to reduce borrowing and hold down the mill rate.

The BOF independently scrutinizes the finances of the entire town, modeling its finances over an extended period of time. Rating agencies prefer the fact that Newtown has an independent BOF and that has contributed to our AAA Bond rating. This has resulted in significant savings on our borrowing costs.

Over its history the BOF has worked together with the Board of Selectmen, Board of Education and the Legislative Council in a spirit of bipartisan cooperation to recommend fiscally responsible budgets.

We believe our history shows that a dedicated and independent Board of Finance, elected by and accountable to the voters, provides a significant impact to Newtown’s finances, and that its role should not be lumped in with the Legislative Council’s many other functions. If it is not broken, do not fix it ... we urge you to vote “NO” to question #2 proposing to eliminate the Board of Finance.

Sincerely,

Newtown Board of Finance

John S. Madzula II, Chair