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Yesterday, I announced today the creation of a new Scofieldtown Area Remediation Task Force to provide guidance to City boards, commissions, and administration in dealing with the problems presented by contamination in and around the former Scofieldtown dump.

I am establishing this ad hoc task force because it is clear that this issue will require coordination, community input, and complex decision-making for years to come. It is my hope that this task force can be a group that advises the City’s elected boards, advocates for solutions in the public interest, and provides the next Mayor and his staff with a helpful, independent perspective on this issue.  I also believe that it can be a way for those members of the community who are so powerfully affected or concerned by the contamination to have their voice be heard.

The Task Force consists of six members.  They include Board of Representatives members Harry Day, Randall Skigen, and Mitchell Kaufman; Board of Finance member Joseph Tarzia; Environmental Protection Board member and local resident Leigh Shemitz; and local resident Yossi Stern.  The Mayor identified Director of Operations Ben Barnes, City Engineer Lou Casolo, Health Director Dr. Johnnie Lee, and Environmental Protection Board Executive Director David Emerson as staff available to inform and assist the Task Force.

The first meeting has been set for November 16, 2009, at 6:30 p.m. at a location to be determined.

This week, I announced that the City of Stamford has posted a general fund operating year end surplus for fiscal year 2008-2009 of $1.3 million. The 2008-09 operating surplus represents approximately .3% of the City’s general fund revenue for the year.

I am very pleased that the City has ended the year with a modest surplus, given the state of the economy and the severe downturn in the global financial markets during this period of time. At the start of the fiscal year, I directed all departments to give back up to three percent of their operating budgets to offset anticipated non-tax revenue losses, the most significant of which was in building permits and conveyance taxes. This proactive approach proved to be the appropriate strategy as the end result was a drop in revenues of approximately $3 million offset by a decrease in expenditures by $4.3 million, resulting in the $1.3 million operating surplus.

Every year, the City designates surplus funds for specific purposes.  When these funds are not expended, they roll forward into the ensuing year as surplus.  In 2008-2009, the City did not spend $3.2 million of that designated fund balance; therefore, that $3.2 million is available along with the $1.3 million year end surplus for a total of $4.5 million available for future designation.

The City Charter requires that by October 15 of each year I recommend the amount of the surplus to be placed into the City’s Rainy Day Fund.  The Charter also requires that the draft annual audit be submitted to the Board of Finance by September 30 of each year.  Under State law, the Board of Finance must finalize the audit prior to December 31.  Because of its Charter requirement, Stamford is among the first communities in Connecticut each year to complete its audit. 

In the draft audit, I recommended that the $4.5 million surplus be designated as follows: City Medical Reserve Fund: $1,000,000; Risk Management Fund: $1,000,000; Change in Fair Market Value of Investments: $327,400; and Rainy Day Fund: $2,174,017. This level of contribution to the Rainy Day Fund affirms our commitment to the Rating Agencies that the City will take measurable steps in building adequate reserves in line with other AAA rated communities.