Charter Finance Review Continues

By John Voket

During its August 22 meeting, the Charter Revision Commission [CRC] received such a concentrated amount of information from town Finance Director Ben Spragg that chairman Al Cramer indicated he might be asked to return to supplement additional information in the future.

During his appearance August 22, Mr Spragg announced to the CRC that the town has achieved its 10th consecutive certificate of excellence for financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association. He then provided a crash course in the most relevant aspects of bond rating and the importance of maintaining the best possible standing with the town’s bond rating service.

“Moody’s Investors Service likes a lot of the stuff we do,” Mr Spragg assured the panel. “Moody’s currently ranks Newtown AA2 – triple A is the highest possible rating with AA1 next,” he said.

Commissioner Carolyn Signorelli asked if ratings fall below the town’s current level, and Mr Spragg responded that the ratings can go into “B” status and below.

“But you don’t want to be a B,” he said.

Mr Spragg then explained the Capital Improvement Plan [CIP] process, and the criteria under which capital projects are ranked and funded.

“My office organizes the CIP process annually, then the Board of Finance meets with the school district and the first selectman on the town’s side,” he said. “Ultimately, the Board of Finance adopts a blended CIP which is sent to the Legislative Council for approval after the proposal is reviewed by the Council’s finance subcommittee.”

Mr Spragg told the CRC his department has been assisting with the CIP for 25 years, and outlined the Finance Department’s personnel structure.

“I have a staff assistant, an accountant, an accounts payable clerk and a secretary,” he said. “While a provision of the Charter allows me to hire more people, I’ve actually cut my staff over the years since I’ve been here.”

Mr Spragg offered his opinion on whether or not the town should bifurcate its budget vote between the school district and the town side, saying he couldn’t see how splitting the vote would help the budget process. He also suggested the Board of Finance should be left to function as is, in an advisory capacity.

He said by changing charter language to allow the town to manage its fund balance, and to mandate the town maintains a 10 percent minimum surplus might remove the final obstacles in the way of Newtown reaching the next highest bond rating of AA1 with Moody’s.