By Sarah Opdahl

In a special meeting on Monday, April 28, New Fairfield’s Board of Finance (BOF) set the mill rate for the town of New Fairfield at 26.33, following the passing of the 2025-26 fiscal year budget on Saturday, April 26. Chair Ms. Thora Perkins said, “I want to thank the board again,” and described the budget season as very “intense.”

There was a lengthy discussion regarding financial transfers among line items, which was  previously debated in a recent Board of Selectmen meeting before sparking discussion in this meeting. At issue was a request to cover fees for legal labor services in the amount of $6,000, in part, with the Board of Finance contingency,, rather than transferring from other areas of the budget that still have funds available. Perkins noted that the BOF had offered to help following the departure of Finance Director Mr. Vladimir Kan and she sees this request as First Selectman Ms. Melissa Lindsey taking them up on the offer. Perkins also said that Lindsey assured her that, if money was needed to replace the contingency, it would happen.

BOF member Mr. Wes Marsh pointed out that he believes transferring the contingency “sets a bad precedent” and also questioned the current state of affairs, saying, “Before we vote on anything, we really should know how badly legal has been overspent.” Marsh added, “we tend to want to keep the contingency open in case we have multiple referendums or things go over on the audit, or there are some other unexpected things that happen in the budget during the year and other line items…” He went on to say that making a transfer like this one, which was ultimately approved in a 4-2 vote, “is just something we don’t do…I just think it’s not the right thing to do.” He pointed out that there are thousands of dollars in various areas of the budget, such as business machines or police overtime or public works. Lindsey countered to “simply ask why a contingency is more important than a business machine line or a salary line in our budget. It’s all one big pot, really.”

When Marsh brought up a transfer out of the BOF contingency early in the fiscal year, questioning if the full $6,000 is available, it became clear that more mistakes than were previously understood had occurred with Kan as the Finance lead. It was noted that a four-person team has been going through transfers since Kan left and “they are finding that some of the transfers were not carried through all the way,” Perkins said, later saying, “There seem to be some transfers not done correctly in the system.” They are tracking every transfer to make sure they were completed. BOF member Ms. Jessica Sanchez stressed, “we need to really be very transparent about this once we have all the answers, I would hope that the Board of Selectmen makes an explanation of these things, and is able to give a full reconciliation that can be followed altogether for the things that they’re working on.” She pressed on the need, saying, “I think it’s important to the town, especially after passing this increase, that we do have as much transparency as possible, especially since the director did leave.”

In a brief medical update, Perkins explained that the BOF’s medical consultant Mr. Tom Kowalchik is “still in negotiations with Anthem” regarding the health plan’s stop loss amount. The renewal package is not complete yet due to the stop loss and a contribution discussion.

The next regular meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 28, 7:30 p.m.