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06/05/2018 03:30 PMOn May 16, after a three-hour discussion, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) approved a five-year capital expenditures plan that attendees at a Monday, June 18 Town Meeting will be asked to adopt. The plan would allow the town to move ahead on projects ranging from upgrading accounting software and security systems to repairing sidewalks and replacing boat motors.
The new version, unlike the one presented to an April Town Meeting, attaches cost estimates to each of the listed project in each of the plan’s five fiscal years. First-year spending is proposed at $913,425.
“Capital expenditures” is a term that refers to spending on projects and purchases that are long-lived. Capital spending project examples include the installation of a new roof or building boiler or the purchase of a new vehicle for the Fire or Public Works department. Spending on capital projects can begin in one fiscal year and end in another fiscal year and can have a long lead time from bidding to order and then delivery. This differs from a town or Board of Education operating budget in which funding allocations are intended to be spent in a single fiscal year.
The Town of Westbrook also must have an approved five-year capital plan to be able to access capital improvement money the State of Connecticut sets aside by town. These town-specific funds—called Long Term Capital Improvement Program or LOCIP funds—are available to pay for municipal road repaving and similar projects. To access the funds, the town must demonstrate to the state that it has an adopted five-year capital plan. Currently, the Town of Westbrook has $118,000 sitting in an account waiting for the town to request it for qualified capital projects.
At their May 16 meeting, the BOS approved Board of Education (BOE) capital projects totaling $220,000 for year-one spending; those projects will be funded from the BOE capital reserve. The School Building Committee is currently weighing how to remove underground oil storage tanks at two schools and whether to replace them with an above-ground tank or rely on the existing natural gas line for fuel.
In addition to the $220,000 in funding from the Board of Education, the town will tap $150,000 in state LOCIP grant money to offset the Department of Public Works’ paving program in the capital plan’s first year. Also offsetting the $913,425 total for first year capital projects is the $350,000 in capital funding approved by the voters in the 2018-’19 budget, leaving the town with a $193,425 balance the selectmen proposed the Board of Finance (BOF) appropriate from the unassigned fund balance.
The BOS first chose its highest priority projects for funding in year one from the $350,000 in already-approved capital. Projects getting the nod included a town-wide facilities plan ($30,000), an upgrade to the town’s financial/accounting software ($50,000), an upgrade to the data in the assessor’s Vision Appraisal system ($15,000), a contribution to build the town’s dredging reserve ($25,000), construction funds for a passive nitrogen treatment system demonstration ($50,000), planning funds for sidewalk gap infills and sidewalk repairs ($25,000), upgrades to town security systems ($29,100), replacement of two boat motors on the fire boat and of the rescue Zodiac craft ($69,000), Public Works Department fleet replacement ($45,000), and capital maintenance and repair work at town buildings ($41,900).
The BOS also voted to allocate $200,000 from the current 2017-’18 operating budget surplus to buy a replacement police boat; the board also selected the capital requests that it wanted to fund in year one of the five year plan, which begins on July 1.
Selectman John Hall moved to allocate the unspent $200,000 in capital in the approved 2017-’18 budget for a new police boat. The current Boston Whaler was shown in a recent inspection to be at the end of its useful life. This motion was approved unanimously. As a result, the appropriation for funds from the capital account to a project account for the boat will be before the electors at the June 18 Town Meeting.
Board of Finance Action
After discussion, the BOF voted to appropriate $193,425 from the town’s unassigned fund balance to fill the shortfall in year-one funding. With this appropriation, all of the capital projects the BOS found worthy to fund in year one of the capital plan would be funded.
Director of Finance Donna Castracane confirmed that the town had a healthy fund balance and that even after this appropriation the fund balance would represent more than 14 percent of the annual town budget.
At the June 18 Town Meeting, the town’s electors will be asked to adopt the five-year capital plan that starts with the 2018-’19 fiscal year. Also on the call will be a $200,000 appropriation from unspent capital in the current budget to pay for a new police boat purchase.
Capital Plan Need
Each year the Town of Westbrook adopts a five-year capital expenditure plan that prioritizes municipal spending for capital projects and purchases. Only the first year spending of this plan represents a financial commitment from the BOS and BOF. Years two through five include estimates for capital spending that may be required, but no funding is yet appropriated to pay for those projects.
On June 18, the Town Meeting will see this proposed five-year capital plan for a second time. In April 2018, the Board of Selectmen presented a five-year capital plan for adoption, but the version presented to the Town Meeting did not include project cost estimates.
Those in attendance objected, saying there was not enough information in the capital plan to assess the town’s financial commitments now and in the future. In response, action to adopt the capital plan was tabled. The capital plan electors will see on June 18 will now be a five-year plan that includes cost estimates by project and year.