Selectmen look to increase revenue

WINSTED — Several municipal department leaders gave presentations at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Monday, Dec. 17, in order to discuss possible ways to increase town revenues.The presentations came in light of Town Manager Dale Martin revealing that, if town operations continue as they are, the town is expected to have a $200,000 budget deficit by the time fiscal year 2012-2013 ends.Martin said that the town only could control the revenues that come in from town departments.The other revenues the town receives, other than property taxes, includes funds via various state and federal aid which the town cannot control or increase.The first department head to give a presentation to the selectmen was Public Works Chairman James Rotondo.Rotondo told the selectmen that the income that comes into the department is limited.“In the buildings and parks side of public works it’s only a maintenance function that we perform, so there is no income there,” Rotondo said. “The highway department charges for road opening permits and driveway permits, but that is very small income that we earn from those things.”He said the biggest income maker for the department was cemetery services, which are expected to make the department $23,650 this year.However, Rotondo argued against raising the fees for the department’s cemetery services because all of the fees were already raised significantly in 2012.“We made all the changes we could in that department,” Rotondo said.The next speaker, Police Chief Robert Scannell, went over the services the department provides.Scannell suggested that the fee for fingerprinting services for pistol permits, employment purposes and citizenship purposes, could be increased from $5 to $10.“In the department, our biggest source of revenue is parking tickets,” Scannell said. “These fees are set by town ordinances.”He said that in fiscal year 2011-2012, parking tickets bought in $16,586 in revenue to the town.This year, the town is estimated to make $7,000 in parking ticket fines.“The fees for parking tickets are controlled either by town ordinance or by state statute,” Scannell said. “I suggest that, to make more revenue for the town, we could raise the fees for pistol permits and background checks made by the department.”The fees for many of the other services provided by the department are mandated by either the state or town ordinances.Marc Melanson, chairman of the town’s Building Department, said that most of the fees his department charges are set by town ordinances and the revenue it makes is determined primarily by the economy.“In the past few years what the department has made in revenue has been pretty low,” Melanson said. “We have had years where we have made $250,000, but that is when we have had large building projects in town.” Melanson said that in fiscal 2010-2011 the department’s income was $97,000.“I estimate that we will hit $88,000 by the end of this fiscal year,” Melanson added. “That is mostly in building department and zoning department fees. The only way we can increase revenues is by increasing fire marshal service fees.”However, Melanson said that because the fire marshal position is currently part-time, it would be difficult to fully provide services to all property owners who request it.Recreation Department Director Tricia Twomey told the selectmen that the possibilities to increase revenues in her department are very limited.The department is expected to bring in $10,500 in fiscal year 2012-2013, but Twomey said revenues all go back into the program for various needs, including staff and equipment needs.“We have raised the prices on a lot of fees that we charge residents who participate in the programs, but we have noticed that when you raise the price, our participation rates go down,” Twomey said. “Our department’s mission is to make sure we get as many people as possible to participate in recreation activity. Revenue is not our number one priority. Our priority is to get people involved and making sure everyone participates.”Collector of Revenues Arlene Boutin said that, just like Twomey’s department, her department was also limited in potential increased revenue possibilities.“Obviously, we run by state statute, it’s not like we can increase anything if we need to,” Boutin said. “The only thing I can see as possibly increasing revenue is by increasing fees for residents who use their credit cards for paying taxes.”Boutin said that the department uses Bank of America for their credit card services.She said that Finance Director Henry Centrella told her that the company charges the town bank fees for processing credit card payments.However, she did not know how much the company charged the town in fees.“A lot of towns passes the fee to the taxpayer and not foot the credit card processing fees,” Boutin said. “That might add some money to the town’s general fund. We need to investigate this.”Boutin said that the change might involve upgrading the town’s credit card payment system.She added that, last year, the town processed $1.2 million in credit card payments.The final department head who spoke to the selectmen about potential revenue increases was Inland Wetlands Agent Scott Eisenlohr.Just like the other department heads before him, in his brief presentation Eisenlohr said that the possibilities for increased revenue in his department was limited.“The fees that we currently charge are comparable to surrounding towns, including Torrington,” Eisenlohr said. “There’s hardly any enforcement in the town of inland wetlands projects because my position is down to 16 hours of part-time work.”The selectmen did not make any decisions after the presentation was made, but Mayor Maryann Welcome said the shortfall would be a topic of discussion at future meetings.