IF DANBURY CAN DO THIS AND PRODUCE A NEW BUDGET WITHOUT AN INCREASE IN TAXES ... THEN YOU GOTTA ASK YOURSELF ... CAN NEW FAIRFIELD (A BEDROOM COMMUNITY) FASHION A SIMILAR BUDGET ... OR ARE WE GOING TO BE SURPRISED WITH TOO MANY CAPITAL PROJECTS AND BONDING?
Danbury ends fiscal year with a surplus
By Dirk Perrefort, Staff Writer
Published: 10:30 p.m., Sunday, January 10, 2010
DANBURY -- Despite the lean times faced by most municipalities, not to mention most households, city officials were able to save some taxpayer dollars last year.
Mayor Mark Boughton said last week that a recent audit of the city's finances showed Danbury ended the fiscal year with a surplus of about $144,000. The city also didn't have to dip into $3 million officials anticipated using from the fund balance, which is essentially the city's savings account.
That may not be the case this year.
Boughton said the city had budgeted during the current fiscal year using about $4 million of the fund balance, and officials may have to use some of that money to balance the books in light of dwindling revenues from state and local sources.
"Like last year, things are extremely tight," David St. Hilaire, the city's finance director, told members of the City Council recently when asked about the city's finances.
Last Wednesday, St. Hilaire told The News-Times that the city to date has received about $700,000 less in state aid than originally anticipated -- and that could only get worse given the deficits faced on the state level and proposed cuts to local aid.
St. Hilaire said income from building permits and other fees have also yet to meet expectations while interest payments are also at "historic lows."
He said, however, that as the spring building season approaches he hopes revenue from permit fees, much like last year, will begin to pick up.
"A push at the end of last year in permits and tax collection helped us end in the black, quite frankly," St. Hilaire told the council.
The finance director said the city has been aggressively pursuing tax collections, as evidenced by the booting program the city put into effect late last year to collect overdue motor vehicle taxes.
Scott Ferguson, the city's tax collector, said during last Tuesday's council meeting that the city has, both directly and indirectly, collected more than $600,000 in back taxes since the program began.
Council minority leader Thomas Saadi said he's happy about the surplus, but the city still has to be careful going into the next round of budget negotiations, which starts in the next few months.
"Hopefully, we can structure a budget that doesn't include tax increases," Saadi said. "Maybe we can use this surplus to offset the difficulties in the next budget and keep the burden off the taxpayers."
Contact Dirk Perrefort
at dperrefort@newstimes.com
or 203-731-3358.
