Town meeting set to vote on transfer

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BEACON FALLS — The Board of Selectmen has approved sending a transfer of $93,700 from the general fund surplus to a town meeting.

The town meeting is May 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Hall.

The funds are targeted for 12 capital projects, including $15,000 to replace the computer server at Town Hall, $13,500 for repairs at the police station, and $9,000 for a flail motor attachment for the public work’s mower.

Since the transfer exceeds $20,000 it needs to be approved at a town meeting.

First Selectman Christopher Bielik said voters will vote on the $93,700 transfer as a whole rather than each individual item.

The transfer request comes after voters approved three separate resolutions to transfer $850,000 from the general fund surplus on April 16. This included $500,000 for road repairs, up to $100,000 to completely renovate the parking lot at Town Hall, and $250,000 to the contingency fund for the wastewater treatment plan.

At the start of the 2013-14 fiscal year, the town’s general fund balance stood at $2.1 million. The fund balance grew to about $3.1 million by the end of the 2013-14 fiscal year. The increase was due to a combination of many factors, including aggressive collection of back taxes and some positions being left vacant.

Bielik said using the $93,700 from the surplus to pay for the 12 capital projects keeps them from being paid for in the budget.

“Getting approval from the town to expend money for those keeps it off the budget and uses excess fund balance for the purposes of why we have it in the first place, for one-time expenditures on things like this,” Bielik said.