came in under budget, so there could be excess funding left for other Phases of the Project.
Councilor Saums explained in the event of that occurring it may be too late under the Federal
ARPA Guidelines to reallocate funds and they would have to be returned to the US Treasury.
Therefore, he stated that Mayor Allyn, III, has asked the Water Pollution Control Authority
to consider implementing part of a Phase of the Project that has not been funded using
ARPA Funding to date. Councilor Saums stated that the Finance Committee believed that
this would be an excellent alternative to retuning the funds to the Federal Government; and
agreed with the Mayor’s approach; (b) LED Message Signs; (c) Electric Charing (EV)
Stations; (d) Linda C. Davis Food Panty Vinyl Siding; (3) Public Act No.21-58 “An Act
Concerning Solid Waste Management” in accordance with “Resolution Regarding Revenues
Received from Beverage Container Surcharges”- Councilor Saums stated the Finance
Committee continued to discuss the Surcharge Revenues the Town has been and would
continue to receive from the State and a plan to implement a Town-wide Clean-up Program
working with the Ledyard Beautification Committee and Non-Profit Organizations. He stated
to-date the Town had a balance in the Surcharge Beverage Account in the amount of
$48,000; (4) Transition Items to Incoming Town Council - Councilor Saums stated the
Finance Committee agreed to forward a recommendation to the incoming Finance
Committee to continue work on the following initiatives: (a) ARPA Funded Projects List; (2)
Surcharge Revenues, uses and roadside clean-up program; and (3) Opioid Settlement
Funding relative to the, Allocation of Funds;
Potential Uses; and
Oversight-follow-up-communication with Organizations administering the funds.
Councilor Saums continued by stating that he wanted to mentioned the work of the
Committee to Review the Budget Process, noting that some members of the Committee were
present this evening. He stated the Committee provided a number of good recommendations;
however, he stated the one recommendation that stood out the most to him, because it had the
potential to change the way the town used taxpayers funds, was to set aside more funding for
capital improvement projects. He stated Finance Director Matthew Bonin, who previously
worked for an Auditing Firm, and performed Ledyard’s Annual Audit prior to taking the
position of the town’s Finance Director, commented several times to the Committee that in
his experience that he has never seen a town set aside money the way that Ledyard does, so
that they do not have to pay interest to borrow funds to purchase large capital items such as
fire trucks and equipment or public works trucks and equipment, etc. He stated the town had
a multi-year plan showing the lifecycle of these types of large purchases, and they set aside
funding each year so that when the time comes to replace those vehicles the funding was
available. Therefore, he stated the Committee to Review the Budget Process looked for ways
to save more money without cutting the budget. He stated they looked at trash removal and
recycling expenses and were only able to find a savings that was less than $1 million.
However, he stated the Committee also looked at what the town paid for Debt Service each
year, noting that currently the town does bond (borrow) funding for Capital Improvement
Projects such as School Projects and the construction of the new Police Facility. He stated the
town currently spends about $4 million a year on Debt Services ( interest on the bonds and
financing fees), noting that about $1 million of that was for interest. He stated 1mil of the
town’s budget formula equated to about $1 million. He stated if the town had set the money
aside for those large projects; and was not paying interest fees, their mil rate would be 1 mil
less than it was today. He went on to state that Committee Member Minna DeGaetano, who
was present this evening, conducted an analysis on two business cases, with the help of
Committee Members Terry Jones and himself, regarding the following two scenarios: (1) If
the town set aside money each year (example to support a $10 million Project), in advance of
needing the money for the project, how much money would they have to set aside; and how
would that impact the mil rate ”; (2) If the town bonded the funding to fully support the $10
million project how would that impact the mil rate? Councilor Saums stated the result of the
two-business case analysis showed: (1) If the town set the funding aside in advance, that the
