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01/15/2012 11:00 PMAn annual audit of the town's finances revealed a positive fund balance as well as a multi-million dollar surplus.
East Haven's fund balance contains $200,000 for the 2010-2011 fiscal year and the year completed with a $3.73 million surplus. According to Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr., the positive fund balance is the first for the town since 2007.
Maturo attributed the surplus to $9.79 million in increased property taxes and the sale of town land-including land near Tweed New Haven Airport sold to the City of New Haven-that totaled $1.67 million. The Board of Education underspent its budget by $657,782, which also contributed to the surplus.
Board of Education Chairman Tom Hennessey said via email that he had no comment as the board looks into what happened.
Regardless of the positive numbers, Maturo stressed the continued need for strict budgetary controls.
"Since 2007, the town has seen its savings account go from a positive $4.1 million in 2007 to negative $5.2 million in 2010 and now back to a positive of just over $200,000," said Maturo in a statement. "This type of volatile budgeting is not good for the town and certainly not for the taxpayers. My administration is committed to careful budgeting and to stabilizing the town's finances going forward. The taxpayers should not be subjected to one-year tax increases in order to reverse shortfalls created in previous budget years."
Former mayor April Capone, who took office in 2007 and served as mayor until late last year, said the results of the audit were not surprising.
"They were the result of years of hard work and tough decisions by my administration," said Capone. "It was tough sacrifices by the people of East Haven that made it happen."
Capone added that "we weren't running a consistent deficit. It was one I inherited. But I said we would rebuild" the fund balance.
As budget preparations for the next fiscal year are set to begin, Maturo said he recognized that taxpayers "need some relief from last year's tax increase." He said he hopes to offer that.
"It is my promise to the people of East Haven that we will do everything we can to provide some relief from the 17 percent tax increase they saw last year, while still working to provide the services that our taxpayers have a right to expect," he said.