With the ink barely dried on the FY 2025 Town budget approved at Wilton’s Annual Town Meeting, Wilton’s Board of Finance (BOF) met Tuesday night, May 14, with several topics on the agenda.
Board of Education Supplemental Budget Request
Wilton Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Kevin Smith attended the BOF meeting to relay a Board of Education (BOE) request for just over $160,000 to cover costs stemming from mold remediation work at Middlebrook and Cider Mill schools during the current school year.
The BOF voted unanimously to approve the BOE’s request. The funding will come from the Town’s Charter Reserve and will not impact the budget.
Smith provided the BOF with the following breakdown of the mold remediation costs:
- Contracted services: $26,073 (tile installation, sheetrock, ceiling tile, etc.)
- Equipment rental: $6,775 (air scrubbers, HEPA filters, etc.)
- Materials and supplies: $76,646 (drywall, tiles, adhesives, paint, dehumidifiers, etc.)
- Overtime pay for custodians: $28,781
- Testing: $25,112
Smith explained that a number of factors — such as aging HVAC equipment and a period of high heat and humidity last summer, among others — created the mold conditions. Combined with two other costly emergencies at Cider Mill this year — a burst pipe in the ‘old’ gymnasium and a fire in a classroom — the BOE is struggling to absorb the budget impacts, despite significant insurance reimbursement.
Smith noted the “good news” that future conditions at Middlebrook would also be improved by the $3.8 million that was approved at the Annual Town Meeting for bonding the cost of a new chiller and unit ventilators.
General Fund Balance Reserve Policy
CFO Dawn Norton attended the BOF meeting to discuss the new General Fund Balance Reserve Policy recently adopted by the Board of Selectmen. Barry Bernabe of Phoenix Advisors, Wilton’s bond counsel, also joined the discussion.
Bernabe said rating agencies like Moody’s like to see a policy adopted that garners “buy-in” from the Town, particularly from boards like the BOF. He emphasized that the rating agencies view such a policy as an important “guardrail” and an indicator that the Town has fiscal discipline.
“I’m in favor of this fund balance policy,” BOF Chair Matt Raimondi said. “The Board of Selectmen did vote to adopt this policy, as the policy-making authority in this town. They voted unanimously. And what I would like here is to show support for this as well.”
The BOF then voted unanimously to endorse the new policy, after board members raised some questions. Sandy Arkell asked whether the policy gave the BOF enough flexibility to use the fund balance in extraordinary circumstances. Vice Chair Stewart Koenigsberg questioned the policy’s targets for fund balances and requested additional data from Norton to more precisely understand the implications of transitioning to the new policy.
Assessment Appeals Results
Town Administrator Matt Knickerbocker presented the BOF with a summary of the outcomes from recent hearings by the Board of Assessment Appeals on the recent property revaluation process.
He noted that 76 residential properties — and just one commercial property — received reductions in their assessed values during the appeals process. The total valuation change is roughly $4.4 million, which would equate to $106,237 less in property tax revenue to the Town. (The reduction is within the $335,233 reserve the Town had set for the appeals process.)
The outcome of any litigation in the appeals process is not yet known.
More BOF Discussion
CFO Norton highlighted the recently completed annual audit (for the year ended June 30, 2023), which she reported “went well.” The 128-page report is posted on the Town website.
The BOF briefly discussed the FY’25 budget process, which members felt reflected favorably on the board for its transparency, communications and collaboration. To further improve the process next year, the board might consider ways to make budget guidance clearer and get more assistance with analytics.
The next BOF meeting is scheduled for June 11.