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01/29/2018 11:00 PMAbout 30 residents came to Polson Middle School on Jan. 25 for the Annual Town Meeting at which First Selectman Tom Banisch reviewed the town’s financial scorecard from the prior year as well as current and future projects and potential capital needs.
“In general the town is in great shape,” he said. “We have great boards and commissions that do a lot of things that keep us in great shape and we owe everybody that is involved a debt of gratitude.”
The town ended fiscal year 2016-’17 with a $550,000 surplus on the town side and a surplus of $316,000 on the Board of Education side, $270,000 of which has been dedicated to a furniture reserve for future schools use. The total town surplus was $1,717,000, which was put into the general fund according to Banisch.
In regard to other town accounts, Banisch said the police pension plan is currently funded at 72 percent, the town at 73 percent, and fire at 75 percent.
“All of our pensions are considered well funded,” he said. “We do have a plan in place to bring them all to 100 percent over a 20 year period. We are looking at ways to possibly decrease that period and increase the payoff.”
When it comes to projects in town, Banisch said the Strong Center field houses are complete, the communications tower at the Town Campus is undergoing final checks, the Academy School now has four new development options to consider, and the Downtown Center project is moving along. Banisch said the town is working on securing the final easements to take down the old poles along the Post Road in the downtown area.
“We have gotten assurances from Eversource that as soon as we get the easements they will pull the poles as soon as they can,” he said.
Banisch said the town is rehabilitating or using mill and overlay to do as many town roads as the budget allows and public works has upped its efforts in regards to cleaning catch basins, routine maintenance, and curb repairs among other things.
Commissions and committees in town have numerous projects and initiatives underway, according to Banisch. He highlighted progress including a request for proposals for a strategic plan for the town, recent financial awards, the police department’s double accreditation, and an upcoming manpower study to determine if Town Hall is staffed at proper levels.
Outstanding debt and upcoming capital expenditures were also reviewed. Town debt will start to drop off significantly in fiscal year 2021 and the current total for spending under the Capital Improvement Plan for the upcoming year is currently listed at $3,454,881.
Responding to resident queries about debt and capital, Banisch said there are plans to try to hold down increases in the coming years.
“I wouldn’t rule out bonding for other capital needs,” he said. “I think going forward if we want to hold down taxes for people, one way to do that would be possibly by bonding.”