Seymour leaders on Tuesday got their first look at the town’s first official long-term plan.
The town’s new Strategic Planning Committee presented a seven page 10-year strategic plan to the Board of Selectmen, outlining plans to manage the town’s budget and debt better. This is the first time the town has outlined its long-term goals, according to planning committee chairwoman Trish Danka.
“I think this is a historic moment for Seymour,” Danka told the Board of Selectmen.
Goals detailed in the plan include:
- Setting up a committee to look into “zero-based” budgeting — a system of budgeting where departments must justify every dollar spent each year.
- Striving for a debt service of 6 percent or less (Seymour is closer to 9 percent now, First Selectmen Kurt Miller told the board)
- Maintaining accurate tax collection records and keeping a minimum collection rate of 98 percent for property taxes
- Striving to reach a fund balance that is 12 percent of the total budget.
First Selectman Kurt Miller said the plan will stay in place as new selectmen are elected, allowing the town to operate smoothly regardless of who is in office.
“We’re definitely headed in the right direction. It’s just a matter of putting it down on paper and everybody agreeing this is the right course of action,” said Miller. “This is not a Republican thing, this is not a Democratic thing. This is good financial management for the town of Seymour.”
A ‘Living Breathing Document’
Danka called the plan “a living, breathing document” that will be updated and revised as needed.
So far it includes only financial recommendations.
The next step for the Strategic Planning Committee will be to meet with town department supervisors to get a sense of other ways to make their work more efficient. The planning committee will then create goals based on those meetings, Danka said.
Committee members do not have any suggested goals for departments, Danka said.
“We don’t have anything in mind,” said Danka. “We need the employees and department heads to tell us. They know their jobs better than us.”
The committee will then regularly meet with department heads and town officials to make sure they are on track to meet those goals.
Board of Selectmen members acknowledged that there was some discomfort among employees when they first learned of the idea.
“Initially I thought what was proposed was going to be punitive,” said Selectman Karen Stanek.
But, Stanek said, the committee is “putting a positive spin” on the effort.
“I trust you. I trust your committee,” Stanek told Danka.
Moving Forward
The Strategic Planning Committee started as a special committee in August, and became an official town committee by ordinance last month.
The group will meet quarterly with department heads and town officials about the goals. The committee will present to the Board of Selectmen each December.
Committee members are appointed by the Board of Selectmen to serve two-year terms. The committee has the authority to draft the plan, which is reviewed, but not voted on, by the Board of Selectmen.
An outline of the committee’s work, presented with the strategic plan, states that the group will “not seek to control processes, but to make recommendations to enhance and improve them.”
“This is a huge opportunity for the town to improve itself,” said Selectman Len Greene.
“As long as you keep the line of communication open, I think this can be successful,” said Paul Roy, a former First Selectman who now sits on the Board of Selectmen.
