Amy Murphy Carroll

ARPA: Selectmen Vote to Transfer Remaining $750,000 to Town’s General Fund

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously to transfer all remaining funds from the American Rescue Plan Act or “ARPA” to New Canaan’s General Fund. First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll during their regular meeting voted 3-0 to return the $747,634 to the fund so that the town can spend however it wants, rather than along ARPA-specific guidelines. Murphy Carroll, who served on a joint Board of Finance and Town Council subcommittee that made recommendations about ARPA allocations, said the federal dollars can be used to reimburse communities that lost revenue due to the pandemic. “We did lose approximately $3 million in revenue, and I was always a fan personally of pulling it in, because once you pull it into the town, you can use it for whatever purpose,” she said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference “If you allocate it directly this way, you have to really align with ARPA requirements. So I think it makes all the sense in the world for us to pull this in and then just allocate it out of our General Fund.

Anne Kelly-Lenz

‘We Should Not Gamble with the Taxpayers’ Money’: Councilman Calls for More Oversight of Capital Projects

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Saying cost overruns have resulted from a change whereby the Town Council is less involved in and informed of planning for major capital projects than it has been in the past, one member of the legislative body this month called for a return to stronger oversight. In the past, the Town Council “appropriated the monies for the design” of a project and “the development of the drawings” before it goes out for bid, according to Cristina A. Ross. “We’ve abandoned that and we’ve gone from concept to budgeting to approval,” Ross said during the Council’s April 5 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “We don’t see anything else in the middle. We don’t know what the project is going to look like, for the most part, unless we insist.

Anne Kelly-Lenz

Town On Pace To Exceed Legal Budget Again

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The town is on pace, once again, to exceed its budget on legal fees. Documents show that in the last fiscal year, New Canaan exceeded its $300,000 budget by 32% ($395,947.42). 

In the current fiscal year, the town is on pace to spend about $383,989, based on billing from the town attorney’s firm as of the most recent legal invoice approved by the Board of Selectmen. Selectman Kathleen Corbet during the Board’s Feb. 19 meeting asked how the town proceeds with covering such non-budgeted costs. “We have reached our budgeted amount and we’ve got four more months of the fiscal year,” Corbet said at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference.

Andrew Brooks

Board of Finance Chair: Budget Planning Amid Economic Headwinds

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The purpose of this letter is to update you on the plan for the 2023/24 budget, and our overall financial picture. In summary, our town is in great financial shape, but there are economic uncertainties and challenges that we will need to work through this year. Let me share some highlights. On February 7th, the New Canaan Board of Finance will begin analyzing the Town’s budget for the fiscal year 2023/2024 that begins on July 1st. The town departments have been working on their needs and requests over the past few months.

Anne Kelly-Lenz

Town Hires New CFO

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Weeks after losing its well-regarded CFO to one neighboring town, New Canaan is hiring away a successor from another. The Board of Selectmen during a special meeting Monday voted 3-0 to hire Anne Kelly-Lenz starting Jan. 18. The CFO of Wilton since 2015, she succeeds Lunda Asmani, who left New Canaan last month to work for Norwalk. “I highly recommend Anne,” New Canaan Human Resources Director Cheryl Pickering Jones said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.