Let the Board of Finance Know Why We Are Rejecting the North Haven Budget

To:  North Haven Board of Finance

We, the undersigned, hereby request the following to be done before a second budget is presented to North Haven voters. We support the education budget and ask that no funds be taken out of it, unless as a result of the inquiry in paragraph 4. By signing this petition, we are sending the message (i) that we want the budget to include accurate estimates of expenses and revenues, (ii) that we want the Town Meeting to approve all budget transfers over $20,000, and (iii) that we want our insurance costs to be lowered, like other towns’, and we want to know whether our high insurance costs reflect fraudulent or other illegal or unethical activity.

1. Make accurate estimates of expenses.
That, because it has consistently underestimated energy, maintenance, and overtime expenses, the Board of Finance go through each item in the 2007-2008 town budget, comparing it to the Actual expense figure (for 2006-2007 the Estimated expense figure) for the same item in the three prior fiscal years, and that each time the amount of the current budget item is over 20% less than the average of the three prior years’, the Board of Finance change the current budget item to a figure no less than 10% less than the three-year average or, if the budget item has been consistently rising (for example, energy expenses), no less than the Estimated expense figure for the 2006-2007 fiscal year. For any budget item where members of the Board of Finance feel that this is too restrictive due to special circumstances, the budget item must be openly debated and a detailed rationale for the Board’s decision, if not within the above restrictions, must be put into writing and included as a note to the budget when presented to the public. The Board of Finance will place this policy into a written form to guide it during future fiscal years.

2. Make an accurate estimate of tax collections.
That the Board of Finance use a revenue collection estimate in an amount equal to the average of the actual revenue collection percentage from the prior three fiscal years (including the collection of back taxes). The Board of Finance will place this policy into a written form to guide it during future fiscal years.

3. Recommend an ordinance that requires budget transfers over $20,000 to be approved by the Town Meeting.
That, because last year it approved 37 budget transfers each in the amount of $19,999 in order to get around the state law requiring Town Meeting approval of all transfers over $20,000, the Board of Finance recommend to the Board of Selectmen an ordinance that accomplishes the following: Any budget transfer to or from any budget item, in a total amount greater than $20,000, will be sent to the Town Meeting for approval. In practice, this means that if the difference between the budgeted figure and the actual expense for a budget item is, say, $75,000, and the Board of Finance decides to transfer some of this money out of the contingency or other fund, and/or approve a figure up to $19,999 itself (the legal limit), then the Board of Finance still has to get Town Meeting approval of the entire $75,000 rather than, as in the past, the amount that is left after deducting the amount transferred from a fund and the amount approved by the Board of Finance.

4. Inquire into and make a report on insurance costs and contracts, bringing in a forensic investigator where any irregularities are suspected.
For all insurance contracts of a type handled (generally, not necessarily to the exact specifications) by CIRMA (the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities’ nonprofit insurance division), that the Board of Finance immediately get quotes from CIRMA and make these quotes (as well as what North Haven has paid for similar insurance over the last five fiscal years, and to which companies or individuals) public, and that the Board of Finance hold one or more public meetings, at which they consider the following issues and then write a report of its findings: (i) the need for the specifications, coverage, and rating of the current insurance contracts/contractors (all insurance policies), relative to their costs; (ii) the adequacy of the bidding or quoting process for these contracts, in terms of the range of contractors and agents who bid, applied, or inquired, and in terms of the prices paid, relative to other towns; (iii) any possible conflicts of interest with respect to these contracts, that is, do any town officials or employees, or any spouse, child, parent, or sibling of any town official or employee, have an interest in or were they employed by the contractor or its agent or subcontractor; and (iv) whether, considering costs and coverage, the policies with current insurance agents and/or contractors, or new policies with CIRMA and other alternative contractors, are more in the public interest.
To the extent that, in the course of this inquiry, any irregularities are found or suspected in any insurance contract or in the bidding or quoting process for it, the Board of Finance will ask that the forensic or forensic-operational auditor investigate the bidding that occurred, if any, and the contractor, subcontractors, and agents to the contractor, to determine if there might have been any fraudulent, or other illegal or unethical acts involved, including acts involved in the bidding process itself, in the writing of specifications, or in any monies from the contract going into the hands of others, including town officials and employees or subcontractors in which town officials or employees, or their relatives, as listed above, have an interest or for which they work.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Let the Board of Finance Know Why We Are Rejecting the North Haven Budget Petition to North Haven Board of Finance was created by North Haven Info and written by Robert Wechsler (catbird@pipeline.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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