Mayor shakes tree, $1.2 million falls out

10/26/2007

By: Tristram DeRoma , Editor

This time of year is usually the time when Stratford's boaters haul their boats out of the water, check for leaks and if they aren't too big, patch them right up.

Recently, Mayor James Miron revealed, his administration has quietly been doing the same with its $171 million budget. According to Stratford's Finance Director, John Norko, what they simply did was review every known procedure to see if it was being done correctly and efficiently. For the most part, Norko said, it has, but they also found several glaring accounting and budgeting errors that when fixed, will yield the town an extra $1.2 million, according to the administration's figures.

"...through the hard work and efforts of my administration, we have uncovered a series of fiscal and management errors and omissions, totaling $1.2 million to date," said Miron. I will continue to work to ensure that our tax dollars are not only being spent wisely, but that every penny is allocated correctly and accounted for. The good news is that we found these long-standing and hidden fiscal and management irregularities and have put them to an end."

At least one group of Stratford residents are going to find the findings unpleasant.

Apparently, 24 residents that live at Judith Terrace are about to get socked with a $306,053 "water hookup" bill, which will be stretched out over a 10 to 20 year period to ease the financial burden, Norko said.

According to Miron, the item was taken off the Town Council agenda Nov. 14, 2005 and was never put back on again.

Councilman Michael Henrick, R-10, was on the Council at that time.

He said, whether it was the Town Council agenda or the Water Pollution Control Authority's agenda, (Council and WPCA are made up of the same members), he said he never saw the item, and he's pretty sure his fellow Councilmen didn't see it, either. "If it was struck from the agenda, that would mean we weren't aware of it," he said.

One thing he is sure about however, that if re-elected Nov. 6, he will be reviewing the Miron Administration's claims, and if they are valid, put them to good use.

"I will be taking a hard look," said Henrick. He said he will also be demanding a 2 percent cap on all "nonessential services."

"If we have a surplus, then it's obvious to me we haven't cut enough," he said.

"This has had the effect of Stratford's taxpayers subsidizing a free water hook up for this group of residents," said Miron.

Another big leak the administration found was in the Police Department, a leak that has cost taxpayers $174,000 over the past 10 years. It was that year when the town switched town employees' pension benefit plan in an effort to save money.

Before 1997, each employee's pension fund, including the police, was calculated using gross pay. For the Police Department, this included callback and overtime, which added significantly to the retirement pensions of outgoing police officers. In 1997, the pension fund benefits were calculated using just base pay, which significantly reduced the amount the town paid out in employee pensions.

Apparently though, someone in the Police Department didn't get that message, and someone kept adding overtime and callback to the benefits to the police officer's pension plans.

"Effective July 1, the payroll deductions for employee pension contributions for all police officers covered by Pension Plan B were corrected and are consistent with the agreement between the town and the (police) union," said Miron.

It gets better or worse, depending on your perspective. Miron and Norko also said the town is going to try and get back $270,000 from the "International City/County Management Association." According to Miron, being a member of this association's retirement plan means that the town can ask for refunds of employer contributions from the ICMA for employees that have stayed less than five years. The town is going to ask for contributions back for 18 employees.

One of the more quirky discoveries included the funding and operation of a house of volunteer firefighters at 21 Prospect Drive. For many years, the town has been paying the organization $3,000 for operation and maintenance. Additional funding went toward heating and supplying water to the building.

Miron said that since the town no longer requires the fireman's services, and hasn't for a "very long time," and no longer uses the building for training, he will be ending the payments.

"In good conscience, I couldn't allow that to proceed," said Miron.

Working on the railroad

Parking scofflaws not paying the required parking fees at the railroad station may soon get a nasty surprise, the Miron administration has been busy plugging that leak too.

According to the administration's figures, collecting fines have gone up by $20,000 this year. While Miron said it's impossible to collect every single past fine, he said, current scofflaws should be on notice.

"If it's collectible, we're going to try," he said.

The big picture

Also at the press conference, Miron emphasized that his budget, the first one his administration his administration was totally responsible for, was one of only three that showed a surplus in the last 10 years. The budget balanced with a $580,049 surplus, according to Miron. He said his goal is going to be to increase the general fund balance, something that should put the town in good standing with financial rating houses Standard & Poors and Moodys.

According to Miron, the General Fund Balance declined from $15.1 million over a 10 year period to $8.2 million, a figure that caused Moody's and Standard to be "critical of the town's financial position," according to Miron. He laid this discrepancy solely at the feet of the town's past town managers, when the town was under a town-manager-Town Council form of government.

"Unfortunately," Miron said, in the previous nine fiscal years, former town managers and prior Town Councils have used the fund balance seven times in order to balance the budget," he said, explaining this led to the General Fund's 10 year slide to where it is today.

"One of my first budgetary and management priorities as mayor was to stop the irresponsible practice of using the fund balance improperly," Miron said. "The FY 2007 increase is a significant step toward improving the town's financial condition."