December 13, 2024  |  Michael Imber

To the Editor:

Weston will face decision points on infrastructure investing in 2025. Roads, firetrucks, town facilities, water systems, the bus depot, and replacing the Weston Middle School are among the major capital expenditures that the Board of Selectmen and Board of Education members are now planning and considering.

The aggregate value of these investments is measured in tens of millions of dollars and will necessitate the issuance of long-term debt. The Board of Finance is taking a comprehensive, long-term analysis on all these investment opportunities that will facilitate leadership and community discussions about infrastructure priorities as well as how this will impact our quality of life and taxes we pay.

Since mid-September, three BOF subcommittees have been working on developing two financial policies and a long-term debt capacity analysis. These subcommittees have been meeting regularly for the past three months, analyzing example policies of other Connecticut municipalities of similar size and credit rating, consulting with experts in municipal finance, law, real estate, and advocacy groups that promote best practices. The subcommittees have also consulted with Town and Weston Public School staff professionals.

Two subcommittees recommended first drafts of new Board of Finance debt management and available fund balance policies at last night’s board meeting. The full Board of Finance will take these drafts under consideration and offer suggestions and edits at our January 9 meeting.

Continued input will also be solicited from the Board of Selectmen, town professional staff, and Weston’s municipal advisor at Munistat Services. The Board of Finance will listen to public comment on these policies at a meeting to be held on January 15. A final revised version of these policies will be considered at the Board’s February 13 meeting.

These BOF policies, when finalized and adopted, will guide the behavior of the current and future Boards of Finance. They will not have the weight of ordinance, statute or regulation, which is the purview of the Board of Selectmen.

The debt capacity analysis subcommittee is preparing a long-term financial forecast that will include inputs from the Town and Weston Public Schools on operating expense growth and planned capital expenditures. The subcommittee received inputs from the Town on November 22 and expects inputs from WPS soon.

In the interim, our analysis will proceed with certain “placeholder” assumptions that will be updated when we receive the WPS data. The model will create “what if” scenarios that vary expense growth rates, capital expenditures, and other variables, including Grand List growth and interest rates. The output will forecast estimated budgets including debt service levels and various financial metrics, including the tax impact.

We hope to have a first draft of the analysis to present to the full Board of Finance at our January 9 meeting. We will solicit input from the Boards of Selectmen and Education, the Town and WPS staff professionals, and our municipal advisor to validate the scenario assumptions.

The draft model outputs will be made publicly available, and the Board of Finance will listen to public comment on January 29.

It is important to note that the draft model’s output represents hypothetical scenarios and not hard commitments. The analysis provided will enhance the Board of Education’s planning for addressing the Weston Middle School and facility investment as well as the Board of Selectmen’s prioritization and timing of its own capital spending.

Ultimately, the output will inform the public’s understanding of infrastructure decisions and their consequent financial impact. The revised model version presented to the Board of Finance at its February 13 meeting will remain as a draft and subject to updating as an available tool for future infrastructure decisions.

It is my sincere hope that Weston citizens will continue to stay informed of the work that has been and will continue to be done to help advance the discussion around infrastructure investment which keeps our town the vibrant, attractive community that is the envy of municipalities across Connecticut.

—  Michael Imber, Chairman, Weston Board of Finance