In my prior letter to the Editor, I questioned the City of Ansonia’s over budget spending on the Farrell Building (65 Main St.) conversion. I also emphasized the City’s abusive use of bond monies, surplus monies, taxpayer dollars and ARPA funds to spend as they choose and to cover up their mistakes and incompetency.
I thought the “Money Pit” at 65 Main St. was bad — unfortunately, it gets worse based on the following.
This following data is taken from the city’s audit report of Capital Spending for fiscal years 2018 – 2021. There are two line items for which there is no direct attribution — listed as “Misc.” and “Unidentified:”
Construction In Progress Capital Spending (2021 – 2018) ($000’s)
65 Main Street (Police Station/Senior Center): $12,799
Wakelee Avenue: $4,991
Solar Panels: $1,299
Mead School Portables: $1,610
River Walk: $2,106
Boiler Prindle Avenue (2021): $727
Prindle Avenue (2020) : $727
Misc. $236
Communication System: $346
Middle School Boiler: $358
Armory: $330
Unidentified: $4,290
Total CIP Spending: $29,819
Machinery & Equipment: $4,981
Paving: $1,999
Building & Systems: $1,121
Land Improvements: $597
Total Other Capital Asset Purchases: $8,698
Total Overall Capital Spending: $38,517
Disposal/Transfers: ($8,615)
I don’t understand how Ansonia Comptroller Kurt Miller and Mayor Cassetti could approve an audit report that is incomplete, nebulous and lacks transparency — which is amazing considering the audit report is almost 100 pages! There are all kinds of comments and numbers, but they intentionally do not justify the $38.5 million capital spending of taxpayer dollars.
In private industry, financial reporting for the categories “Misc.” and “Unidentified” are unacceptable, no questions asked. That’s $4.5 Million unaccounted for! Also, the “Disposal/Transfers” category – which the city combines — should be separated with detailed explanation. Simply, these vague line items hide the true expenditures. Are the large amounts for “Misc.,” “Unidentified,” and “Disposals/Transfers” the administration’s version of smoke and mirrors?
Ansonia spends $2 million a year in finance management. The Comptroller, Kurt Miller, makes $140K/year himself to oversee the process. He and Mayor Cassetti approve and sign off on the audit reports. They are solely responsible for providing accurate and transparent reporting of the spending of our tax dollars. Based on this audit, accuracy and transparency are nowhere to be found.
It’s time for a change of leadership. Election Day is nine months away.
Richard Tylinski
ANSONIA
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