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During my campaign I promised that I would always be as open and honest with you as possible; that I would share the bad news as well as the good news. It’s no surprise to anyone that these times are tough on budgets. As we’ve been working through next year’s budget, trying to find every place possible to increase revenues and decrease expenses, we are now faced with a significant decrease in revenues this year – approximately $500,000.
Hearing for months how the state’s revenues are down, we’ve been tracking revenues and expenses carefully. Cautionary spending procedures were put into place in October, with a full freeze on expenditures in January. We’ve focused on some of our bigger areas of expenses to use volume pricing to decrease costs, including phones, copiers, and cleaning supplies. We joined an energy consortium to keep electric costs down. Office supplies are purchased through the State contract and we continue to monitor to ensure that we are receiving the best prices possible. The First Selectman and CFO have joined together to institute an aggressive risk management program to address ever increasing insurance costs and we’re looking at employee wellness programs for the same reasons. Departments are
sharing resources; so much so that the budget binders for the various boards this year are recycled from previous uses. There is no more overtime authorized except for emergencies. The only workshop and seminars authorized are those which are mandated by law, required for the employee’s certification, or which relate to safety issues or strategies that will save the Town money in the long run.
We are developing a series of steps to take in the coming weeks, including reviewing and potentially increasing fees that have not been raised in five, ten, and even fifteen years. We are searching for ways to build new revenue streams. With an aging fleet, our vehicle maintenance costs are high and continue to grow. Working with department heads and our fleet supervisor, we will be reviewing better ways to structure our vehicle usage. I continue to work with other 1st Selectmen and Mayors to develop areas on which we can work regionally to increase efficiencies. We all search out and apply for grants to help offset operational costs or to provide services which would otherwise not be provided. Your Town employees have been incredible in bringing forth ideas for saving money and/or doing
specific jobs better. For many of them, this is their Town too. For all of them, they truly care – they are all professionals and want to provide you with the best service possible at the best price. From plowing your road to inspecting our restaurants to providing emergency services, our employees are working to make a difference.
Colchester’s challenge is not an expenditure issue – it’s one of revenues. Our Town Planner and I continue to meet with developers interested in bringing businesses to Colchester once the economy improves – yes, there is interest and there are plans. Our tax collector, Tricia Coblentz, has been amazing at collecting past due taxes. Her tenacity and creativity has led to an increase in the tax collection rate. Tricia has been working closely for the past several months with administrative assistants in many of our departments to combine knowledge, which is leading to an increase in not only tax collections but also collections in other departments.
Your elected officials on the Boards of Selectmen, Finance, and Education are working together to address the Town’s financial challenges. We look forward to working with and hearing from you. Please join us at the upcoming budget meetings. You can find the complete schedule at www.colchesterct.gov or by calling our office at 537-7220. Yes, it’s tough. But, it’s not un-doable. Together, supporting each other, we will get through these times and make Colchester a stronger community because of them.
Previous Selectman Notes can be viewed at
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