Seymour officials on Monday (March 18) asked a committee of lawmakers to approve a bill that would give the town more time to make payments related to the construction of its middle school.
Last November town officials discovered that the town had never applied to the state for reimbursement of part of the project that would result in the Seymour being on the hook for more than $500,000.
State law sets a 10-year time limit on how long towns can roll over financing for such projects — and $1.3 million worth of bond notes related to the middle school project will reach that limit May 1.
The money is eligible for reimbursement from the state, but the town needs Hartford to waive the 10-year limit while an audit on all the paperwork is completed.
Click here for more information from a previous story.
On Monday, First Selectman Kurt Miller, Sen. Rob Kane, and Rep. Teresa Conroy asked legislators on the General Assembly’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee to let Seymour have a one-year extension.
Miller said the middle school project was “plagued from the outset with legal issues involving the architects, engineers and contractors. While the building was opened in 2002, these issues delayed the final acceptance of the building by the Board of Education until just recently.”
While the first selectman said that if the town had to fork over $552,070 on May 1, it would not affect the mill rate, but “it will severely limit our financial flexibility.”
“We ask only for the ability to renew these notes for up to one year so that we can apply the expected State reimbursement,” Miller testified.
Click here for Miller’s full testimony, via his Facebook page.
“The Town of Seymour is projected to receive a matching $1.3 million in state reimbursement, but if these notes are not renewed it could cost the Town about $580,000,” Kane testified. “Again, this is a simple bill that will save Seymour over half a million dollars.”
Conroy testified, “During a time where we have been impacted with several large storms that are affecting our local budgets, Seymour cannot afford a large hit to its budget.”
The bill currently awaits a vote before the Legislature’s Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee.