I’ve been an Ansonia resident for about 65 years. My background is in finance and accounting, having worked as a Finance Manager & Controller for domestic and international Fortune 500 companies.
I’ve taken time over the summer to examine the most recent Ansonia fiscal audit of city finances. The claims of ​“Recharge and Progress” by the current administration are based on half-truths and financial spin, masking poor management of city finances. What the audit shows is that Ansonia’s finances are a house of cards, ready to crumble with the slightest breeze due to the draining of our rainy-day fund and rapidly ballooning debt.
Here’s where things stood in the 2014 fiscal Audit.
–The city had a $9.5M reserve (“Rainy-Day Fund”) balance;
–The Outstanding Debt was $11.3M;
–The grand list was $893M.
The outside audit firm listed ​“twelve areas” that required improvement.
Fast forward seven years to the 2021 audit.
Ansonia’s finances are in a worse position, and monies are seemingly being manipulated to paint a rosy financial picture. There are several issues that stand out, all of serious concern:
–The city needed an extension to complete its audit. Why are audits being submitted late after being instructed to improve controls in 2014?
–Long Term Debt has ballooned by 236% to over $26M. Alarmingly, $11M of this new debt was just added in 2021 — a 67% increase in just one year—without voter approval. A fiscally strong city does not need to borrow $11M dollars for city management to spend on whatever they choose.
–Our ​“Rainy-Day Fund” has decreased by about 50% over seven years, to a meager $4.9M (down from $9.25M in 2014). Additionally, the fund balance would be about $1M less if not for a give-back from the Board of Education that year.
–The city’s Net Grand List has only increased by an anemic 11.6% over seven years, due to higher value of new & used cars. The remaining increase is due to higher valuation of Ansonia’s top ten taxpayers (e.g., United Illuminating’s assessment went from $11.5 million to $19.8 million).
In reality, Ansonia’s expenses are greater than its revenue. They’ve been overspending the budget for years. This is being disguised by raiding the rainy-day fund and borrowing more money — a classic ​“robbing Peter to pay Paul” scenario. The city hired a CFO to the tune of $140K/year to fix these issues, yet here we stand, with rapidly rising debt, overspent budgets, and a rainy-day fund being propped up with give-backs from our schools.
How does this happen? Lax controls and particularly, lack of checks and balances in city government. Capital spending is excessive and they are too busy with the latest self-promotion hoping taxpayers don’t notice what’s really happening.
The city is currently managed by solely one party (Republican). For years the administration has worked to eliminate any differing of ideas regarding government activities. When questions or concerns are raised, residents are treated as an enemy, mocked, spoken to condescendingly and ignored. This is not how democracy works!
Numbers don’t lie, and if checks and balances aren’t put on this administration and alder chamber soon, the taxpayers are going to pay dearly for the arrogance and fiscal negligence of our current City Officials.
Sincerely,
Richard Tylinski
ANSONIA
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