Robust parks, permit, and other municipal service fees, along with twice the anticipated revenue from police special duty service contracts in the 2017-18 budget, are adding up to what Town Finance Director Robert Tait estimates will be a $100,000 to $150,000 surplus once he closes out financials for the last year's fiscal cycle.

In fact, the town appears to have generated enough extra revenue so that $700,000 appropriated recently from the town's fund balance to cover the initial costs of storm clean-up can be recovered.

The Newtown Bee. "That means we won't need to use any of that $700,000 for storm clean up that was authorized."

"Although we still have a number of outstanding invoices to pay, if the storm never happened, at this point, we'd be seeing a $752,430 surplus on the general fund balance sheet," Mr Tait told 

During a July 16 Board of Finance meeting, Mr Tait explained that it could take a couple more months to close the 2017-18 fiscal business.

He reminded the board that the original projected budget revenues of $113,395,532 were amended by $1,031,481, representing intergovernmental revenues that came to the town from Hartford to cover special education funds and Educational Cost Sharing (ECS) revenue.

Despite the added $700,000 showing on the balance sheet representing the authorized fund balance withdrawal for anticipated storm cleanup, Mr Tait pointed to "unrealized revenue in the amount of $52,430."

While property tax collections were down $357,083 from what was projected in last year's budget, added intergovernmental revenues to the town to compensate for a mandated motor vehicle tax cap totaled $727,187.

The town also received additional unrealized investment income of $61,733; fees for services, permits, landfill, and parks programs at $135,299; and police private duty income of $175,000.

On the expenditure side, Mr Tait is projecting another $50,000 to $100,000 surplus.

"All in all, even with storm costs and all the uncertainty [about intergovernmental revenues], it looks like the 2017-18 fiscal year is going to turn out all right," Mr Tait told finance officials.