For a meeting that concluded in under one hour, the June 11 Board of Finance (BOF) meeting was packed with important financial updates and discussions.
While the discussion revealed Wilton’s strong financial footing, it also served as a reminder of the daunting task the Town will undertake over the next decade to upgrade its aging school and municipal facilities.
CFO’s Update
Dawn Norton — Wilton’s chief financial officer with dual responsibilities for both the municipality and the school district — played an especially visible role in the meeting.
Norton reviewed the details of Wilton’s most recent bond offering as well as the outcome of the annual report on Wilton’s creditworthiness by Moody’s.
Norton informed the BOF that Moody’s reaffirmed Wilton’s top “Aaa” credit rating following the annual rating call. In addition, Norton reported the Town sold $2,705,000 in bonds on June 5. Wilton’s offering drew nine bidders, with the winning bid at 3.35%.
“Due to our triple-A rating and due to the goodwill of Wilton, we had nine bidders that came in. Normally we would only have two or three when we have a small bond offer like this,” Norton said.
Norton shared a chart that outlined the factors Moody’s considers in its credit rating, with the Town’s general fund balance level among the top factors. Norton noted that Moody’s was particularly pleased to see the Town’s new policy for the unassigned general fund balance, which targets 15-17% of revenues in reserves. Norton expressed appreciation to the BOF for their endorsement of the policy, which had been adopted by the Board of Selectmen in May.
Overall financial management and “fiscal discipline” were also heavily weighted in Moody’s rating.
“Thank you for all the hard work that you do in keeping our budgets within reason,” Norton told the BOF.
More broadly, Norton expressed praise for the Town’s economic development efforts, pointing to businesses like ASML, which she said contributed to Moody’s favorable economic outlook for Wilton.
Current Fiscal Year Performance
Norton also delivered good news on the current fiscal year financials, with projections the Town will end the fiscal year on June 30 with a surplus.
On the revenue side, Norton reported several line items running above budget projections, including building permit fees, interest income, and back tax collections. Despite lower conveyance tax revenue, Norton is projecting $2.25 million in higher-than-expected revenue.
On the expense side, Norton is estimating net savings of $218,000 for the year. While employee benefits and liability insurance have been higher than budgeted, Norton expressed confidence the Town would finish the year in a favorable position — and any surplus would only further the goal of boosting the unassigned general fund balance under the Town’s new policy.
Norton also mentioned that the Munis system — the Town’s long-awaited new financial management platform — would be implemented for the July 1 kickoff of the new fiscal year.
Healy Dials In for School/Municipal Buildings Needs Discussion
A key agenda item for the BOF meeting pertained to a new committee that the Board of Selectmen (BOS) is currently organizing. The committee will advise the BOS in prioritizing and planning the significant upgrades needed at Wilton’s schools and municipal facilities over the next 10-15 years — with a cost anticipated to be over $100 million.
BOF Chair Matt Raimondi soberly described the building needs as “the biggest, most expensive capital spending plan that we’re going to hopefully ever see.”
First Selectman Toni Boucher has previously said she would like to see the new committee begin its work this summer. BOF member Rudy Escalante volunteered to serve as the BOF representative on the committee.
While some committee members will bring construction expertise, Raimondi said financial acumen would be just as vital.
“The perspective that we can bring, and should bring, is the affordability question… How much of this do we bond and the analysis that goes into that, how much of this should we spend out of cash flow,” he said. “It’s the financial portion of that which I think is imperative, because ultimately, that’s what the taxpayers can be faced with.”
When the meeting was open for public comment, Selectwoman Kim Healy asked to address the board and specifically commented on the board’s discussion about the new committee. She emphasized the critical role the committee would play in strategically planning for the capital investment.
“I think it’s really important that we have the right people and spend the time to really lay it all out, because we all know, [we] want it to be done to the best that we can and to spend our money wisely and get out of it everything that we need to,” Healy said.
Healy’s comments to the BOF also revealed she has significant reservations about one of the two major studies that evaluated the Town’s building needs. (Municipal buildings and space needs were studied separately from school buildings. Both reports are posted on the BOS webpage.)
Healy specifically referred to the municipal facilities assessment as potentially needing a new approach.
“One of the things that I would like to see is to have possibly that [municipal facilities assessment] be redone,” Healy said, adding, “But we need to talk about that publicly.”
GOOD Morning Wilton reached out to Healy with questions about her comment. Healy clarified that she has “concerns over the lack of data analysis to support the costs and expansion needs” outlined in the preliminary report, and that she has made inquiries to ensure all deliverables have been provided by the consulting firm that was retained for the needs assessment.
“If what we have been given already is all we will be getting, then I believe we will need to have more work done for the committee to be able to do what we need them to,” Healy wrote in an email to GMW. “If there are more reports that we have not been given yet, then we should absolutely wait and review it and hopefully it will give us all the supporting data we need to move forward without the need to have the whole process redone and spending more money.”
Discussion about the new committee is on the agenda for the BOS June 18 meeting.
FY’26 Budget Guidance
With the FY’25 budget approved at the Annual Town meeting just last month, the BOF has already turned the page and begun preparations for issuing budget guidance for the next round of budget planning by the Board of Selectmen and Board of Education (BOE).
Board members plan to continue discussions about their budget guidance process and information needs at their next meeting, including potentially providing specific dollar guidance rather than a percentage increase, as they did in the last budget process.
Raimondi would also like to see the BOF prepare its guidance slightly earlier than it previously has done so. To be most actionable, the BOF guidance must reflect the best available budget forecast data from the Town and school district, but also be issued in time to impact the budget proposals.
“My understanding from talking with the different [boards] is that actually [November] is a little late, because they’re starting to plan their budgets already,” Raimondi said. “So it might be better for us to make our [budget guidance] vote in October, in which case we need to ask for [forecast] data in August, which is why I bring it up now.”
More BOF News
The BOF voted unanimously to endorse the BOS’ decision to maintain the 2.75% interest rate on tax deferrals for the elderly and persons with disabilities.
The next BOF meeting is scheduled for July 9.