The Board of Finance got to hear some positive details on Tuesday, June 10, regarding the Moody’s Investor’s Service review that reaffirmed Wilton’s Aaa credit rating last month.

Along with other items, BOF members also looked ahead to a quad-board survey that they hope will afford Wilton residents the chance to weigh in on a variety of issues directly with the BOF, Board of Education, Board of Selectmen and the Planning and Zoning Commission.

They also discussed the kickoff of the second iteration of the infrastructure priorities effort — formerly called TSNAP [Town and School Needs Assessment Priorities], now renamed WCPC [Wilton Capital Planning Committee].

Quad-Board Resident Survey

“The Board of Selectmen are going to discuss [the survey] more fully at their meeting on June 17,” BOF Chair Matt Raimondi said, noting that Superintendent Kevin Smith is discussing it with BOE Chair Ruth DeLuca, and that P&Z Chair Rick Tomasetti intends to share the idea with his commission.

While the BOF has offered residents a survey specific to budget issues each year, Raimondi has advocated for a quad-board survey as a chance to poll residents on a wider range of interests and issues, including school items and economic development.

“The big question that’s outstanding is: When is the right time to do this?” Raimondi said, anticipating that the earliest time will be in the fall, as it will take a couple of months to organize.

He said that on previous BOF surveys, town counsel had advised that items that did not fall directly under BOF purview should not be included.

“Because all the boards are going to be involved here, and they’ll be helping to shape these questions as well, we can ask any question we want to because everybody’s involved,” he said.

“The last one we did of this scale was in 2018,” Raimondi said, with voluntary services having been donated to complete the work through an outside agency.

Wilton Capital Planning Committee

The first official meeting of the renamed and reconstituted Wilton Capital Planning Committee, formerly the Town and School Needs Assessment Priorities Committee (TSNAP), is scheduled to take place Wednesday, June 11.

“It has a much broader agreement, so that will allow us to look at longer-term issues,” BOF member Rudy Escalante said. “It’s not just going to be for one year. It’s gonna be until we decide not to have it anymore.”

One of the first agenda items will be a discussion on an agreement between the town and the BOE regarding the delineation of maintenance and repair responsibilities — something BOS members and officials with the Department of Public Works have expressed a desire to see.

Jeff Rutishauser, the newest member of the committee and a former BOF chair, will be recommended to chair the WCPC by First Selectman Toni Boucher.

Patti Temple, board president of Friends of Ambler Farm, who chaired the TSNAP committee last year, will no longer be involved.

In regard to WCPC, Raimondi said the BOF should come up with a bond forecast that can be used in discussion, one that can give them a sense of how it envisions debt service increases year over year.

“It’s not going to be a vote,” he said. “It’s not going to be binding. It’s just so our board will have a point of view about what debt service is gonna be.”

“Having our board take a role in the financial outcome, I think, is important,” said Raimondi, who will be serving on the committee with Escalante.

Moody’s Aaa Rating for Wilton

The BOF heard some details from Wilton CFO Dawn Norton on Tuesday about the new Moody’s rating.

“Everything was very positive,” she said, noting there was a new individual who handled the rating and, in her opinion, did a great job.

“Growing the fund balance definitely supported the Moody’s outlook as to their rating with us,” Norton said, with the town having been advised by Moody’s last year to increase it and its subsequent growth amounting to approximately $3.4 million.

The company praised Wilton for its strong management team, strong demographics, growing grand list, strong tax collection, and low long-term liabilities.

There was also praise for Wilton’s balance of both adding debt and having it fall away on a consistent basis, with costs remaining relatively level.

“They felt that that was a very strong and positive outlook for Wilton,” Norton said.

The town was also praised for having a “structurally balanced budget,” she said, with revenues generally balancing with expenses.

“What they like to see is that we’re not using one-time revenues to buy down anything, that our revenue and our expenses off set,” she said.