Fairfield Theatre Company, IT Budgets Scrutinized

With just a few weeks until the Boards of Finance and Selectmen vote on the Fiscal Year 2012-2013 (FY13) operating budget, the bodies held their

Of note were the following departments’ and organizations’ budgets:

Finance Department: $1,976,070

The proposed FY13 budget represents a 106.8 percent increase of the current fiscal year’s $955,608. The steep increase is mainly due to an additional $1,000,000 line meant for funding the town’s unassigned balance reserve to maintain Fairfield’s AAA rating.

“We’re at the lower end of surrounding towns and other AAA communities,” Fiscal Officer Paul Hiller said of the existing reserve account. Most AAA towns carry a reserve that equates to approximately 10 percent of the total operational budget; Fairfield’s $13.5 million reserve is about 5.1 percent of the current $263 million budget.

The addition of the $1 million line item is a “multi-year” endeavor, First Selectmen Michael Tetreau said. The item will continue to be a part of the budget until the town’s reserve is in a more secure place to meet rating agency’s guidelines for AAA towns.

The $1 million will increase the reserve to $14.5 million, or approximately 5.3 percent of the proposed $272.6 million budget.

Information Technology: $1,473,560

The town’s IT department’s proposed FY13 budget represents a 0.36 percent decrease from the current $1,478,912.

“We were told to keep the budget tight, so that’s what I did,” said Information Technology Director Donald Leslie.

A highlight of the proposed budget includes $25,000 in funding for FairTV. Leslie said FairTV is usually funded inconsistently by a regional pool of funds and that the organization is never guaranteed a certain number to rely on.

“To have a quality FairTV to do what we do, we need a consistent number,” Leslie said. The $25,000 will cover labor, equipment, and maintenance for the organization.

FairTV aside, the decreased budget was not exempt from scrutiny by the boards of Selectmen and Finance.

Finance Chairman Tom Flynn said he could not tell whether the IT budget is money spent wisely because he doesn’t have examples to benchmark the proposal against.

He said he did the math, and the $1.47 million budget equates to roughly $3,100 in IT services and equipment for each of the town’s 464 employees.

“I just don’t know whether we’re being efficient,” he said.

Library: $4,430,235

The library’s proposed budget carries a 3.22 percent increase over the current budget of $4,291,909.

“The library’s story is a good news story,” Town Librarian Karen Ronald said.

The on the Post Road is the state’s second busiest library (second to Greenwich) and the is the busiest branch in the state, according Ronald.

The line items driving the proposed increase (besides contractual salary increases) include funding to replace damaged tables used for programming, to refurbish the walls, to paint the walls and stairwells, and to increase the line item for library materials.

Ronald said the library materials account should increase 5 percent (or $35,000) each year to keep up with rising costs, but library staff worked hard to cap that increase to 4.35 percent ($27,500).

Though the position is not included in the proposed budget, Ronald pleaded the library’s case for an additional fulltime information technology librarian. The library’s sole IT librarian Jim Swift works 35 hours a week, Ronald said, to service two libraries, one of which is open 69 hours a week and the other is open 65 hours a week.

“It’s critical to think about this,” Ronald said. Tetreau added that additional staffing was a request across all departments, but felt those additions could wait until the next budget.

Members of the Board of Finance questioned the use of the $200,000 RFID scanners used for checkout, which were funded a few years ago. Swift said that 13 to 15 percent of library patrons use the scanners to check out materials.

“That doesn’t feel like money well spent,” Flynn said. He and other finance members suggested that the need for an additional full-time position could be eliminated if circulation desk employees encouraged more patrons to use the scanners, freeing up desk employees’ time for other duties.

Fairfield Theatre Company: $39,000

The (FTC) budget was moved this year from within the Department of Public Works to its own account under the Miscellaneous: Not-For-Profit Organizations heading.

Tetreau said the move was an effort to make this account more transparent. The funds cover electricity and heating costs, as mandated by a lease signed by the town and the FTC when the organization moved into the town-owned building on Sanford Street.

Selectmen James Walsh took issue with the accounts classification under the not-for-profit section of the budget, since the town and the theatre company maintain a lease.

He said the account should be moved elsewhere in the budget so officials and the public could weigh revenue vs. expenses.

According to the lease between the town and the FTC, the company owes the town $2 of every ticket sold to events. Should the FTC fail to make that mark, they’re responsible for paying the real estate taxes on the property, Hiller said.

But the FTC has not been consistent in paying the town the agreed-upon revenue, as Walsh pointed out to members of the two boards. Hiller said the FTC’s account had been paid in full as of June 30 for last year’s expected revenue.  

“This has been an issue for years,” Walsh said. “We’re the last creditor. They pay us last; it’s not coming in as the contract said.”

This “breach” is the reason the FTC should become it’s own budgetary line time, Walsh said. He added that he does not believe the town only pays for heat and electricity costs.

Walsh and other board members asked for further information regarding cost breakdowns, expected revenue, and what rent would be for 70 Sanford Street in an open market.