Derby Finance Director Brian Hall speaks at a meeting on July 22.
DERBY – A newly-formed commission is trying to prioritize a $35 million to-do list for the city.
After not meeting regularly for years, the Derby Capital Planning Commission was started again under Mayor Joseph DiMartino, who was elected in November.
The commission – which includes representatives from the Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen, the tax board, and the board of education – compile and prioritize big-ticket purchase requests from city departments and make recommendations to the Alders.
Ideally the commission creates a structured five-year plan of what’s to be funded.
Capital requests refer to expensive items, the public sector equivalent of when a homeowner has to replace a roof or renovate a bathroom.
In Derby, long-term capital planning has been absent due to several financial crises, including a recent $2 million budget deficit and, in years prior to that, accounting mistakes that put Derby in the hole.
Taxes just went up 11.9 percent in Derby to get the city back on its feet and to avoid a potential state takeover of city finances, officials said. Money from the American Rescue Plan Act was also used to plug holes in the budget.
Meanwhile, as Derby keeps putting out financial fires, requests to fund big-ticket items have languished.
The fire department needs two new engines. The police department needs new vehicles. The rescue truck at the Storm Engine Co. is so old members had to use eBay to search for replacement parts. The new athletic fields are already halfway through their lifetime. The parking garage is crumbling.
Click here to see a spreadsheet created by the finance department.
The new commission met in May and then again on July 22, but have yet to make a recommendation on what to fund and when.
In May, Derby Fire Department Commissioner Gary Parker and Storms Chief Thomas Lenart reviewed the importance of keeping emergency apparatus up to date. Lenart also spoke on behalf of the police department, since he’s on the Derby Board of Police Commissioners.
Parker noted that one Derby Fire Department engine is permanently out of service since he became commissioner in 2019. The building that houses the emergency radio system on Cottage Street is falling apart, Parker said, and the system itself needs to be upgraded.
Lenart told commissioners about members of his organization searching eBay because the rescue truck – a fire truck that carries specialized equipment – is some 30 years old and they couldn’t find replacement parts anywhere.
Lenart and Parker also said that any new trucks ordered would take three-to-four years to arrive in Derby.
Meetings in Derby usually have a “public portion” section, where members of the public can weigh-in. At the capital planning meeting of July 22, resident Karen Kemmesies said that Derby followed a plan when it came to long-term spending a decade ago. Things such as police cars were replaced according to a schedule.
Today “we are spending money to fix a 25-year-old fire truck,” Kemmesies said.
Derby Town Clerk Marc Garofalo laid the blame on the administration of former Mayor Rich Dziekan, saying the city had “six years of gross mismanagement in the finance office.”
In addition to past budget blunders and inaccurate budget forecasts, Derby has also had a revolving door of finance directors, a fact noted by the Municipal Finance Advisory Commission, a state entity Derby officials are mandated to appear in front of to make sure finances are under control.
The DiMartino administration hired Brian Hall as interim finance director in December 2023. He became permanent in April 2024.
Hall reviewed capital requests with the commission on a spreadsheet he created. It showed requests totalling $35,029,646. Those requests cover the fiscal years from 2023 – 2024 through 2027 – 2028.
Upon questioning from Jim Gildea, the Derby school board chairman also serving on the capital planning commission, Hall said in the short term the commission has to weigh-in on how to spend about $309,944 in “LOCIP” and capital money allocated in the 2024 – 2025 budget.
Gildea asked Hall and Mayor Joe DiMartino to recommend how that money should be spent at a meeting to be scheduled.
Parker, the fire commissioner, asked whether the administration would consider going to voters this November to get approvals to borrow money in order to take care of some of the items. Parker said he would have to get new cost estimates from fire truck manufacturers, since the cost had likely changed.
Gildea and Alderwoman Sarah Widomski said they did not think they could get a proposal ready for a public vote by November. They asked Hall to check with city department heads to make sure all the requests have been noted on his list, and said they’ll tackle the issue again when they meet again.
