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“Protect Hometown Connecticut.” Last week I attended a meeting sponsored by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities at the state legislative office building to discuss the importance of local and state government working together to address the many issues facing our residents as a result of the economy. A majority of the state’s first selectmen and mayors were in attendance as were many Board of Education members from across the state. Like we’ve heard nationally, many of the local leaders, including some who have been in
office more than eight, ten, and twelve years, talked about the challenges being faced by towns; challenges that have never been faced during their time or those of their immediate predecessors. What does that have to do with Colchester?
As you know, many times in this column I’ve talked about Colchester’s finances. Revenues were the focus of last week’s column and are at the foundation of this year’s budget challenges. At their March 19th meeting, the Board of Selectmen approved moving forward proposed fee increases to a public hearing this Thursday, April 16th. Many of the proposed fees have not been increased for almost five years and some have not been increased since 1991. We are also looking at other ways to increase revenues for services that are used by very specific users versus a majority of taxpayers.
Speaking of taxpayers, Tricia Coblentz, our tax collector is pursuing the collection of not only current taxes, but also those of past years. We are sure we’ll reach a collection rate of 98% this year and are aiming for 98.5%.
Another area of revenues that we continue to pursue is those of grants. Just this past year we’ve received over $230,000 in grants – not a bad feat considering the economy! Thanks to our department heads and unpaid interns who don’t let an opportunity pass to apply for funding for a variety of activities and projects, Colchester reaps the benefits of state, federal, and private dollars.
The Boards of Selectmen and Finance continue to meet to discuss both this year’s anticipated budget outcomes and next year’s proposed budget. We made several cuts last week that will impact services to customers. The part-time Social Services clerk position was cut until July 1, 2009, as well as the part-time clerk in the Planning & Zoning Department. How can we do that in this time of need you ask? We still have our Social Services Coordinator and the part-time clerk has organized volunteers such that they’ll carry us through the end of this fiscal year. However, we cannot continue long-term without this position and it is included in next year’s budget. The Planning & Zoning clerk is another position that we cannot do without long-term. This position was a full-time
one two years ago which the department gave it up because of budgetary issues during the 2007-08 budget process. However, because of the increased work load of our Town Planner, we added it back in last year. How does it save us money? For example, a mandated activity that cost over $90,000 the last time it was done will be done in-house by our Town Planner with the support of the department clerk. And that’s just one example. Additional cuts made included taking several vehicles off the road, decreasing mileage reimbursements, and requiring more sharing of vehicles. This will impact the immediacy of appointments by field personnel.
I hope you’ve marked your calendars for next week – April 20th or 21st. The budget will be presented each of those two nights and members of the Boards of Selectmen, Education, and Finance, as well as department heads, will be available to listen to your concerns and answer your questions. Comprehensive information regarding the Town’s budget can be found on our website at www.colchesterct.gov. Are we missing something? Do you need more information about a specific topic? Please let us
know.
Previous Selectman Notes can be viewed at
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