East Haven's Budget Process: Hands-On, Page-By-Page, Line-By-Line

East Haven CT

15 March, 2022

12:30 PM

Description

EAST HAVEN, CT — As East Haven prepares its annual budget, Town Finance Director James C. Keeley, Jr. told Patch in a recent interview that the goal is to be very hands-on, using "real numbers." And he said, importantly, looking to the town's future economic good health. East Haven's budget process begins with each department sharing its budget requests. Those go to the finance department and then to the mayor. On March 30, East Haven Mayor Joseph A. Carfora will make a budget presentation during his State of the Town address. After, the budget heads to the Town Council for approval. And, as Carfora said, he's deeply and directly involved in the "intensive process." "I vowed from my first budget to be involved in every line item, every detail, every evaluation from start to finish," he said. "There are times that I frustrate staff because I'm so involved at every level of the respective department's budget requests." Keeely said that the current administration's attention to every detail has improved the budget process. "With past administrations, it seemed like most of the work was done by the finance director individually and the mayor and his staff had minimal input, whereas this mayor and his administration takes a direct hands-on approach," he said. "We go through this budget book, as big as it is, page by page. We look at not just what this year's numbers will be, but future years. We ask where are we going? Where do we want to be? Even with capital improvements, we look not just this year, but at what we will need in the future." East Haven Finance Director James C. Keeley, Jr. talks budgets with this year's many inches thick budget book. Ellyn Santiago/PatchKeeley said that in years past, "it was just a process looking at numbers for the current year, especially if it's an election year." "Now, we're looking at it as, 'What's in the best interest of the town, the community, how do we grow this town? How do we get to a better place?,'" he said. Keeley admits that approach, "sometimes that means making hard decisions." "And sometimes the numbers aren't what we like, but they are real numbers," he said. "That's our goal. To get to a better place as quickly as possible using real numbers." Last month, Keeley wrote to Carfora about the 2021 fiscal year audit. He said the town's "fiscally responsible and financially accurate budget presentation," has helped "turnaround" East Haven's financial outlook. >>Read the full story on Keeley's letter and budget outlook here.