With plans in place for this evening’s May 7 Annual Town Meeting (ATM), First Selectman Toni Boucher took the opportunity at Monday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting to encourage voters to attend the ATM and vote on the proposed budget and capital spending projects.

“Please show up. We’ve worked really hard on these budgets,” Boucher said, referring to a high degree of “cooperation and harmony” across Town boards and departments.

She also reminded residents of several referendums on the ballot, including bonded capital projects which she called “essential” — plus “a fun one” to allow breweries in Wilton.

Noting the heated debate among town officials in neighboring Weston over their town’s upcoming budget vote, Boucher says Wilton’s leaders are unified in the budget package being recommended to taxpayers.

“We did the hard work,” Boucher said. “We invited the feedback of the public and listened hard to what they had to say and at the end of all that, we came together as the three boards [Selectmen, Education and Finance] that represent the Town essentially to say, we did the very best we could. This is our best thinking to keep our Town sound and moving forward.”

“I think this is a new day, and I’m really pleased to see where we go… we’re going to present a strong case [at the ATM],” Boucher said.

(Still unsure about how the Annual Town Meeting works? GOOD Morning Wilton‘s recent story explains everything you need to know.)

General Fund Balance Policy

Perhaps the most substantive agenda item pertained to a draft policy statement for the Town’s General Fund. The selectmen continued to discuss the topic, following previous discussions at the April 1 and April 16 BOS meetings.

Wilton does not currently have a written policy in place that more clearly articulates the Town’s practices.

Wilton’s CFO Dawn Norton led the discussion on the latest draft policy, which has also been reviewed by Wilton bond counsel, a Moody’s analyst, and the Board of Finance Chair Matt Raimondi.

The policy states that management of the General Fund “is essential to preserve the creditworthiness of the Town and meet the standards and expectations of rating agencies” as well as to meet “the cash flow and contingency needs of the community.” Contingency needs would include “unexpected emergency situations such as natural disasters, economic uncertainty, or other similar conditions in which additional reserves are needed to ensure continuity of operations and emergency response.”

As outlined in the draft policy, the Town would set a target for the General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance of 15% to 17% of the budgeted operating revenues and “the use of General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance will be limited to one-time, non-recurring purposes such as land acquisition, capital projects, emergency/storm response and other one-time, non-recurring uses.”

In a key part of the policy — which represents a change in Wilton’s practices — “the receipt of one-time, non-recurring General Fund revenues will not be used to
finance ongoing operating expenditures, programs and activities or used to
alleviate a mill rate increase or offset taxes.”

Boucher said she expects the Board of Finance to endorse the policy as drafted, though BOF approval of the policy is not required for the selectmen to adopt it. She also said she believes the policy is “absolutely essential” to the May 17 meeting with Moody’s which will determine if Wilton will keep its Aaa rating.

The selectmen voted unanimously to adopt the proposed policy.

More BOS Business

  • The selectmen approved a Board of Education computer equipment lease. As described in a memo to Boucher from Wilton Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Kevin Smith, “The district had been using BOS-approved leases to purchase technology equipment for a number of years… Leasing equipment will enable to district to get back on schedule with its technology equipment replacement plan and provide an opportunity to reduce the currently proposed operating budget by $200,000.” Details of the leasing plan — which includes laptops, presentation spaces, iPads, and more over a five-year period — are posted on the Town website.
  • The board voted unanimously to renew a three-year contract with Environmental System Research Institute, Inc. for the budgeted cost of $87,900, as recommended by Town Administrator Matt Knickerbocker. ESRI provides Geographic Information System [GIS] mapping systems used by numerous Town departments.
  • The board approved an agreement with the State of Connecticut Department of Aging and Disability Services to accept $41,000 in funds available from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which allocated funds to the states for coronavirus recovery efforts. The $41,000 may only be used for facility improvements or programming in Wilton’s Senior Center. The amount was based on Wilton’s population of residents aged 60 years and older as well as factors such as race, ethnicity, disability, poverty level and other factors.
  • The board voted unanimously to appoint Mike Whitted and Jason Terry to the Inland Wetlands Commission, and Ken MacCullum to an alternate seat on the Historic District & Historic Properties Commission.