Board of Selectmen

CFO: Board of Finance To Review Selectmen Compensation

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Though the spending plan for the office of New Canaan’s highest elected official calls for an overall 4.5% reduction, items within it such as the first selectman’s salary could be adjusted when the budget comes to the Board of Finance, officials said this week. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan’s current salary is $147,000, according to the approved budget for this fiscal year, while the two selectmen together are paid a stipend totaling about $16,000. “The Board of Finance will be considering compensation,” CFO Lunda Asmani said during a budget hearing Tuesday. “This is reviewed, typically, every two years, I believe, so they will be looking at first selectman and the selectmen. That will be discussed at the Board of Finance level, and whatever is proposed at that point we’ll make that adjustment to that budget.”

The Board of Finance is scheduled to take up the budget Feb.

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Hot Real Estate Market Drives Higher-Than-Expected Revenue for Town Through Conveyance Fees

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The strong local real estate market is driving higher-than-budgeted revenues in one area at Town Hall, officials said Tuesday. The high number of property transfers in New Canaan is translating into conveyance fees for the municipality, town CFO Lunda Asmani told members of the Board of Selectmen during their regular meeting. Through the first two months of this fiscal year (July and August), conveyance fees collected stand at $524,000 compared to $330,000 for the same period last year and $200,000 for 2018, Asmani said. “So it’s almost double what we have seen historically,” he said during the meeting, held via videoconference. 

The comments come as real estate professionals report historically low inventory in New Canaan, and an August where the number of single-family homes more than doubled from the year-ago month. Many have attributed the rise in home sales to young New York City families seeking top public schools and less congestion amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Board of Selectmen

TABLE: New Canaan’s Grand List Values, Town-By-Town Comparison

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Residential property in New Canaan forms a higher percentage of the total taxable base compared to those in similar nearby communities, town officials said last week. In New Canaan, more than 88% of all taxable property is residential, compared to 85% in neighboring Darien and 73% in Wilton, according to data shared by town CFO Lunda Asmani. 

Conversely, while just 5.4% of New Canaan’s Grand List values are composed of commercial and industrial properties, the figure is more than 13% in Wilton and Greenwich, Asmani told members of the Board of Selectmen. “That tells you who is responsible for paying the property taxes that we collect—the greater burden of these taxes in New Canaan are borne by residential properties unlike other communities that have a commercial and an industrial base,” Asmani told the selectmen during their regular meeting, held May 5 via videoconference. Here’s a table detailing the numbers:

 

Asmani’s comments came during a review of spending in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. The General Fund’s balance at that time is expected to be $29.5 million, Asmani said.

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Town ID’s $695,000 in Planned Capital Spending This Fiscal Year That Could Be Delayed

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Saying New Canaan should consider putting off some capital spending in the near term until a clearer picture of the economy emerges, town officials last week identified nearly $700,000 earmarked for the current fiscal year that could be delayed. Prepared with input from public works and district officials as well as the first selectman, the draft list of more than 75 items total $695,000 and range from small expenditures such $29 for signage and striping up to about $63,000 for a solar project at a town building, documents show. Board of Finance Chair Todd Lavieri said the main question now facing the town is whether the spending could be delayed or deferred “until we have a little more clarity.”

“You guys control this,” Lavieri told First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, Public Works Director Tiger Mann and town CFO Lunda Asmani during the finance board’s April 7 meeting, held via videoconference. “We can’t tell you what to do and how to do this. But I guess it would be our recommendation, or at least our consideration, to hold onto the spending at least for another month until we got more clarity.”

The comments came during a discussion within the finance board and no formal action has been taken on the recommendation. They also came as New Canaan and the nation grapple with a hard stop to the economy that’s seen businesses forced to slow down or shutter altogether for health reasons as unemployment claims soar.

Board of Selectmen

Selectman Williams Calls for Closer Look at Certain ‘Special Projects Funds’

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Selectman Nick Williams last week called for the town to pay closer attention to privately donated money that’s earmarked for specific local projects and causes and is controlled by municipal department heads and the volunteer bodies that oversee them. The money in various “Special Projects Funds” is “floating around” and the town “ought to get a handle” on them, Williams said during the Jan. 23 regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen. 

“Somebody has got to bring together all of these funds and [say], ‘Here is the purpose, here is what the money was supposed to be used for, there is still some money left over, the purpose has gone away, what do we do with the money?’ Something like that,” Williams said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. The town’s annual audit defines “Special Projects Funds” as those “used to account for donations from individuals and private organizations to be used for the stated purpose.” They cover funds for a wide range of causes, including the New Canaan Police Department K9 program, Waveny House and garden, platform tennis, land acquisition, New Canaan Food Pantry and Family Fourth. Some of the project names listed in the audit are more generic, such as “Human Services” (fund balance of about $133,000, as of June 30) and “Parks & Recreation” ($41,182).