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Is the BET Sneaking Through New Debt Servicing Plan?

This is Harry Fisher’s Speech To Be Delivered to the BET Tonight

Harry Fisher, former vice chairman of the BET, will be offering this speech tonight at the public meeting.

Good evening and thank you for your time serving the town.

I expected to come to here to discuss the town’s Debt Financing Plan prior to any decisions. But without a public hearing the democrats on this BET changed the Plan last night to allow for long term borrowing up to 20 years. If that is implemented, there is no going back. It is a one-time postponement of tax revenue that will have to be raised by future budgets.  It makes a decision today that future taxpayers and BET members will have to accept without a vote.

The origins of the Plan date to the renovation of the High School and addition of the science wing that was a huge project relative to the budget at the time.  However, not greater relative to anticipated capital projects now. The Plan was improved to allow borrowing in public markets over the life of the construction of a project, but no more than five years.

But wait, what is on the table today for capital projects is just a wish list with numbers that are barely guestimates of cost.  And it gets better. The numbers from the town’s finance department show that the modified pay as you go plan works just fine to handle the next 5 to 6 years of anticipated capital. There was no pressing need to change the town’s Debt Financing Plan that has served us so well for over two decades.

One must ask why are the democrats are in such a hurry.  Taken with the lack of a prior public hearing on such a weighty matter, one can only conclude that the democrats want to gloss over their objectives.

But wait it gets better, or worse, depending on your view.

The democrats are proposing cuts to various budgets to reduce service levels where there have been no complaints about services.  Is that really the best management technique? Cut until there are complaints? Or is this just setting up the budget to make room to finance a higher level of debt service.

Or perhaps is it in anticipation that State reimbursement for town school projects may be ending, and the State intends to shift more pension and other costs to the town.   In any case, the town should live within its means, and long-term debt financing violates that principal.

Then we must look at the ability of the town to increase and accelerate capital projects that would happen inevitably if we dip into the debt cookie jar. And here the picture gets much worse.

At a joint meeting of the BOE and the BET the report on the BOE maintenance and construction history was reviewed. I was there and have read the full report.  It is nothing short of a damning condemnation of the BOE’s ability to plan and manage even the simplest of projects.  It was less sharp, but still critical of DPW. In short, we do not have the processes, procedures or management capacity to properly and efficiently plan and implement major capital projects.

The town’s Debt Financing Plan was a governor on the natural proclivity of government officials to spend other people’s money, and at the same time give the town flexibility to slow down capital projects if times were tough, such as 2008. It was not broken before last night. Now it is broken for all time.

Thank you.

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