First selectman candidates differ on municipal fiscal issues

Brookfield CT

24 October, 2021

4:45 PM

Description

By Scott Benjamin BROOKFIELD – The three candidates for first selectman have a variety of proposals on how to manage and fund a $69.3 million municipal budget and the town's debt service. Republican nominee Tara Carr said at the Brookfield Chamber of Commerce debate on October 12 that over the next four years the first selectman will face a debt bubble form payments on the renovations to Brookfield High School, a project that was approved at referendum in 2003 and that was completed in 2009, and the financing for the Candlewood Lake Elementary School, which is currently under construction after being approved at referendum in 2019. Town Treasurer John Lucas, a Democrat, told Brookfield Patch in 2019 that the town's debt burden is scheduled to go down considerably starting in 2026. In an August 23 interview with Brookfield Patch, Carr said, "I'm not promising no new tax increases, but I would like to hold them to a minimum." She said at the debate that many other suburban towns in the metro Danbury area have had smaller increases than Brookfield in the six years that Dunn has been in office. The tax mill rate increased by 1.52 percent for the current fiscal year, which began on July 1. Brookfield Patch contacted Carr on October 15 via e-mail to schedule an interview on municipal fiscal issues for this story. She replied via e-mail that she would not be available at the dates and times that were proposed. Brookfield Patch sent two further e-mail messages to Carr indicating that there were other dates and times when an interview could be scheduled or there could be a phone interview. Carr apparently did not respond to those follow-up messages. She faces petitioning candidate Austin Monteiro, a commercial real estate agent and fitness trainer, and three-term Democratic incumbent Steve Dunn, a retired vice president at J.P. Morgan Chase, in the November 2 municipal election. Monteiro said that the town should not increase the tax mill rate during a pandemic. Dunn maintains his administration has been "fiscally conservative," noting that, for example, the construction of the $78.1 million Candlewood Lake Elementary School is ahead of schedule and under budget. When asked about the current debt load during an interview with Brookfield Patch at his campaign headquarters on Federal Road, Monteiro said, "I don't see it as a huge issue." Brookfield has an AAA bond rating, the highest possible, from Standard & Poor's. At the debate, Carr said that most municipalities in Fairfield County have at least at AA-plus bond rating so Dunn hasn't moved "the needle" much. Also, at the debate, Carr said that Dunn should have sought to return the $1.1 million surplus from the fiscal year that ended in June directly to the taxpayers, some of whom are "struggling." Dunn said during an interview at the town hall that the $1.1 million in the unassigned general fund was the result of savings and fees above what had been anticipated. Regarding returning the money to the taxpayers, the first selectman remarked, "I would say that would be a short-sighted view." He said that by applying the money to the town's fund balance – which is now near 14 percent – it helps maintain the AAA bond rating. Dunn said the AAA bond rating has helped save "more than $14 million" in financing interest costs on the Candlewood Lake Elementary School in comparison to projections from 2018. Monteiro said he would reduce the first selectman's salary back to the $90,691 that was paid until January 2020, when it was boosted to $100,346. Dunn said that the Board of Finance approved the higher salary and set it for implementation after the new term for the first selectman began following the 2019 election. He said that he believes the higher salary will attract more qualified candidates for first selectman, particularly people in mid-career who have children to support. In the August interview with Brookfield Patch and at the debate Carr has been critical of what she terms "overdevelopment" in town, particularly in the 198-acre Brookfield Town Center near the Four Corners intersection of Federal Road. She said at the debate that she would implement "disciplined development," noting that there has been a considerable increase in lower rent housing since Dunn took office in 2015. During the debate she said there is limited business activity in the Brookfield Town Center during night hours. Dunn said that there is "a waiting list" for the apartments at Brookfield Village in the Brookfield Town Center and there also has been considerable interest in the Laurel Hill apartments nearby on Laurel Hill Road. He said Brookfield Village and Laurel Hill are attractive for young professionals working in Lower Fairfield County or in Westchester County in New York state since they can get to Super Route 7 in two minutes, whereas in neighboring Bethel it takes 10 to 15 minutes to get to Interstate-84. Monteiro, who is 38, has said the Millennials are the first generation destined not to be as prosperous as earlier generations. He noted that "90 percent" of his friends have moved out of Connecticut to more affordable states and there should be more lower-income housing in Brookfield. Dunn remarked, "People say the rate of crime at Laurel Hill and Brookfield Village is higher than anywhere else, and that they're bringing in undesirable people. "Nothing could be further from the truth. The number of [police] calls made to Brookfield Village or Laurel Hill is no higher than any other rental area in town." Dunn said he believes some of the young professionals renting in the Brookfield Town Center may eventually buy homes in town. "We didn't have any families with kids on my street until the last two years," Dunn related. "Now we have two families like that." In at least one instance, Danbury has implemented economic impact fees on developers constructing affordable housing to help defray some of the costs for educating additional students. In an August 25 e-mail reply to Brookfield Patch regarding the use of tax abatements and utilizing economic impact fees, Carr wrote, "I don't want to get into discussions about hypotheticals. What works for one town may or may not work for ours. Bottom line is any financial decisions will be scrutinized to best serve our towns interests. As First Selectman I will always ensure our committees and legislatures are well informed to make the best decisions for Brookfield's economic, educational, and social long term prosperity. I will always put Brookfield first." Monteiro told Brookfield Patch in August that he supports tax abatements where it makes sense. Regarding economic impact fees, Monteiro said that based on his experience as a commercial real estate agent, the best deals "are the ones where both parties benefit." Dunn said that economic impact fees are not needed at this time in Brookfield. He said that there are only 14 additional children at the Laurel Hill and only eight at Brookfield Village. He said the economic benefit from those projects are far above the costs to educate those students. Under his administration, Brookfield did utilize tax abatements to help attract Branson Ultrasonics to the Berkshire Corporate Park. Regarding road repairs, Carr said at the debate that she believes the town could find "efficiencies" in its road repaving. Dunn said during that same forum that the town has gradually reduced the amount paid for through bonding and during the next fiscal year could reach the point where all of the funding is in the operating budget, which would eliminate interest costs. Monteiro said that, "As far as bonds go for annual road repairs I think we would have to look at this on a yearly basis. If we keep our AAA rating and interest rates remain low I don't think using bonds for road repairs is the worst thing. As with everything else this should be a case by case decision. If elected, I would be focused on working to create more revenue streams for the town to potentially pay for expenses in the future." On a separate subject, Monteiro believes he could reduce the municipal work force through advances in information technology. "The world is going to be moving faster with technology," he related. "The 15 and 18 year olds are so far of where we were." Dunn said that for the current fiscal year municipal employees received a 2.25 percent salary increase but labor costs only rose 1.1 percent because the local government "eliminated positions and cut down some hours on other employees." Could there be further reductions in municipal employees in the near future? "I'd say no," Dunn replied. "[Through the use of information technology,] we're able to do much more work with our existing staff." While Mark Boughton, a Republican, was mayor, Danbury reduced costs, for example, by hiring police dispatchers who were not represented by a collective bargaining unit. Dunn said, "I'm not a believer in outsourcing something as important as dispatching." Dunn noted during the debate that the pensions for the municipal employees are funded at 123 percent, marking the first time the town has ever had it above 100 percent. He has told Brookfield Patch that the town has benefitted from the efforts of the municipal Retirement Benefits Committee, which was established roughly a decade ago. Monteiro said the town "has done a pretty good job" in funding the pensions and added that having the Retirement Benefits Committee is the "best solution." During his first year in office Dunn started to require that municipal department heads seek three quotes on purchases up to $5,000, three bids for items ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 and formal requests for proposal on purchases beyond $20,000. Monteiro said he supports utilizing that system. Said Dunn, "We've gotten more responses." "Before I took office we hadn't gone out to bid for cutting the grass at Town Hall and other properties," he added, that after seeking requests for proposal the town saved $15,000. Monteiro said he also supports Dunn's decision to periodically seek requests for proposal for the appointment of a financial adviser and a bond counsel for the town. "You should be doing that every three years," he said. Dunn said, "We saved about $30,000 in fees with a better result" in 2019 after seeking requests and deciding to have Phoenix Advisors become the financial consultant and Pullman & Comley as the bond counsel. Monteiro said he also supports the decision by municipal officials to have a 10-year capital plan. Dunn said since municipal officials had felt that they hadn't been able to devote enough attention to proposed capital projects during the winter and spring budget season, a Capital Committee – to be chaired by Ricky Ramos - will be vetting projects starting in November and making recommendations to the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance for the upcoming budget cycle.