The Board of Finance held a regular meeting on Monday, August 9, 2004 in the meeting room at Town Hall South, 3 Main Street, Newtown, CT. Chairman John Kortze called the meeting to order at 7:35 pm.
PRESENT: John Kortze, James Gaston, Harrison Waterbury, Peter Giarratano,
ABSENT: Joseph Kearney, Michael Portnoy
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal, Schools Superintendent Dr. Evan Pitkoff, Schools Building Supervisor Dominic Posca, Board of Education member Lisa Schwartz, Legislative Council Chairman Will Rodgers, two members of public
NEW BUSINESS
Conveyance Tax Proposal
Legislative Council Chairman Will Rodgers was present. This item was addressed first on the agenda so that he could leave to attend another meeting. He advised that Council member David Brown has submitted a proposal to place two questions on the ballot in November. One question would be whether the Town should dedicate its local conveyance tax proceeds to the acquisition, improvement and maintenance of public lands/open space. The second question is whether the Town should petition the legislature of the State of Connecticut to enact legislation that would enable the Town of Newtown to set its own local conveyance tax rate, not exceeding 1.5%. The Council is asking for input from the Board of Finance. Mr. Rodgers stated his concerns about this proposal and advised that Mr. Brown could
not be here tonight but would be willing to come to a meeting to answer questions. Mr. Rodgers then left the meeting. Discussions continued later in the meeting.
Capital Improvement Plan - School System Modifications for 2005/2006 – 2009/10
Schools Superintendent Evan Pitkoff was present along with School Building and Grounds Supervisor Dominick Posca and Board of Education member Lisa Schwartz. Dr. Pitkoff reported that the Board of Education updated their CIP in June. The only change is the addition of lighting and ceiling paint in the high school auditorium. This project was put into their operating budget this past year but was then removed to reduce the budget. They believe this is more than a maintenance project and should be included in the CIP.
The other modification was pushinging the Middle School athletic field improvements out one year further to try to spread out project costs.
First Selectman Rosenthal arrived at 8:00 p.m.
First Selectman Report: Regarding the Conveyance Tax Proposal, Mr. Rosenthal advised that the town attorney will be submitting a legal opinion about whether revenue can be designated for a specific expense. There was some discussion about this proposal. It was the general consensus of those present that there is a concern about designating a large amount of tax revenue for open space and how it would be offset in the budget. There is also concern about the inflexibility of having to spend conveyance funds on open space, particularly in years when there are difficulties passing a budget. We could be forced to cut back on town and school operating budgets while at the same time having to spend money on open space. Chairman Kortze will send a letter to the Council with these
comments.
Acceptance of Minutes: Upon motion by Mr. Gaston, the minutes of the 7/12/04 meeting were unanimously accepted as presented.
Having no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Jan Andras, Clerk
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