Money Transfers Discussed At Wednesday's RTM

Meeting in a Minute

• Money transfers discussed, including a $35,000 request from the Public Works Building Committee.
• Headway made on resident's request regarding Public Act 490

A number of monetary transfers were discussed at Tuesday night’s RTM administrative services meeting prior to going to Wednesday’s RTM. One request was for $35,000 requested by the Public Works Building Committee. The committee will use the money, coming from the town’s contingency account, to hire engineering consultants to survey land once a site for Branford’s new public works building is selected. At Wednesday’s RTM, representatives discussed the request at length with Public Works Building Committee member Mario Ricozzi before approving the amount.

A $57,985 transfer was also approved on Wednesday. The money, coming mainly from the contingency fund and the salary and wages fund, was requested by the Branford Police Commissioners Board for technology acquisition and wages for full time members of the Branford Police department as well as part time community service officers.

Also approved was $650 for the Repair and Maintenance department to acquire an additional software license so that R&M staff can use their computer programs at separate locations. According to lead tradesman Otto Berger who presented the request at Tuesday’s Administrative Services Committee meeting, the issue has become increasingly problematic since some R&M staff work from town hall while others work from the current public works building.

Town Clerk Marianne Kelly had $1,500 approved for office supplies, conferences and meetings.

Other requests for money transfers were re-referred as those requesting funds were not present at the meeting. Representative Dennis Flanigan expressed the importance of having some presentation available before voting on transfers.

Issues surrounding the town assessor were also brought up at Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s meetings. The discussion is in response to resident Wayne Cooke’s petition to further investigate the role of the assessor and the procedures the board of assessors follows when making decisions regarding tax status. Cooke lost his 490 farm tax status raising his taxes several fold. The RTM decided to re-refer the issue hoping to gain more insight into the assessor’s role directly from town officials.

Tied in with the issue is Branford’s interpretation of Public Act 490 tax code, a statute created in 1963 to maintain lower tax rates for property owners using their land for agriculture. Cooke, in a separate petition, asked the RTM to review the farm tax code and clarify what he sees as discrepancies between the public act and the actions taken by the town assessor. Third selectman John Opie offered a resolution to the RTM that would see policies relating to PA 490 clearly defined by the board of assessors in conjunction with the Commission on Open Space. The resolution was passed by Wednesday’s RTM and marks the first tangible progress for the case since its introduction two years ago.

The of 1111 Main St. in exchange for 178 N. Main St. was on the agenda, but re-referred once more. The swap is now on hold; follow-up to come.

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