Board of Finance - Minutes - 03/17/2025

FIFTEEN ROPE FERRY ROAD.
WATERFORD, CT 06385-2886
Board of Finance
*REVISED* Budget Hearing Minutes
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Wednesday, Magch 1720258.
Town Hall Auditorium 7:00pm
Present: Chairman Glenn Patterson, Ronald R. Fedor, Bill Sheehan, Michael Rocchetti,
Robert Tuneski, Joseph Filippetti
Absent: Josh Kelly
Elected: Rob Brule, First Selectman; Paul Goldstein, RTM Moderator; Dave Camp, Town Clerk; Alan
Staff:
Wilensky, Tax Collector
Patti Waters, Registrar of Voters; Bigi Ebbin, Registrar of Voters; Paige Walton, Assessor;
Steven Sinagra, Director of Emergency Management; Rebecca Hall, Admin Assistant
Finance Office/BOF Recording Secretary
Establishment of a quorum and call to order:
A quorum was established and a call to order was established at 6:59 pm, March 17, 2025.
Public comment:
Standing Motion: was made by Joseph Filippetti and seconded by Bill Sheehan to consider the
budget requests without individual motions for each series and department to expedite the
meeting. Bill Sheehan will make motion on all budgets and Ron Fedor will second the motion.
Vote: 6-0-0 Motion: Passed
Registrar of Voters Budget:
Motion by Bill Sheehan and seconded by Ron Fedor to approve the Registrar of Voters budget
request for FY25/26 in the total amount of $121,255 designated by the Series Subtotals above.
Registrars Patti Waters gave an opening statement discussing how the department administered
three (3) elections in the past year as well as early voting. New tabulators and a new voting
system require new training for staff members in addition to higher costs of maintenance of the
new machines. These additional costs are reflected in the request for increase in the budget for
FY26. Bill Sheehan pointed out that the requested increase is 25.62% over FY25 and added that
this department has been over budget in three (3) of the last five (5) years.
The Registrars do not expect the ROV office to receive further grant funding.
Vote: 6-0-0 Motion: Passed

Board of Finance Budget Minutes ~ March 17, 2025
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Assessor Budget:
Motion by Bill Sheehan and seconded by Ron Fedor to approve the Assessor budget request for
FY25/26 in the total amount of $319,641 designated by the Series Subtotals above.
Assessor, Paige Walton, began discussion of the budget. The Assessor pointed out that the
Grand List saw a decrease of 1.69%. Her department has requested a budget with an increase of
11.29% to fund business/personal property audits that began last year. The cost for audits is
done by one of only two assessment auditors in the state, therefore, the service did not gO out to
bid.
Vote: 6-0-0 Motion: Passed
Board of Assessment Appeals Budget:
Motion by Bill Sheehan and seconded by Ron Fedor to approve the Board of Assessment Appeals
budget request for FY25/26 in the total amount of $1,829 designated by the Series Subtotals
above.
Josh Kelly, via written questions submitted to the Chair prior to the meeting: Our elected
officials, in particular our Tax Collector, Town Clerk, and Treasurer positions, are run by
professionals who must have technical experience and training in their fields — the fact that they
are elected or partisans does not change the functions of their job or the way the job is
approached to any degree. While | am of the belief that these should be hired positions, our
Charter currently requires they be elected, which severely limits the number of duly-qualified
individuals who may seek the office. As such, we need to ensure that the position pays enough to
attract qualified individuals to keep seeking it - and taking the risk every four years to possibly be
ousted from said position for no reason aside from being a partisan from another political party.
Do we feel that the proposed salary increases for these individuals is adequate considering that
the CPI changed 3.0% between January 2024 and January 2025?
Paul Goldstein, RTM Moderator, approached the Board to answer Mr. Kelly’s question. The
Moderator advised that letters from the RTM have been submitted to the Board of Selectman to
request an increase in pay for Registrar of Voters, Treasurer, Town Clerk and Tax Collector. This
item will be on the RTM Agenda in April.
Vote: 6-0-0 Motion: Passed
Tax Collector Budget:
Motion by Bill Sheehan and seconded by Ron Fedor to approve the Tax Collector budget request
for FY25/26 in the total amount of $227,817 designated by the Series Subtotals above.
The Tax Collector, Alan Wilensky, provided the BOF with the following statistics on his
department's progress with collection rates for FY25 {as of January 2025):
Real Estate: 99.13% Personal Property: 99.82%
Motor Vehicle: 96.14% Motor Vehicle Supplemental: 85.39%
Overall: 99.03%
Vote: 6-0-0 Motion: Passed

Board of Finance Budget Minutes ~ March 17, 2025
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10.
Town Clerk Budget:
Motion by Bill Sheehan and seconded by Ron Fedor to approve the Town Clerk budget request
for FY25/26 in the total amount of $272,301 designated by the Series Subtotals above.
Dave Campo, Town Clerk, opened his department's budget discussion by thanking his staff and
their dedication to the department. He takes pride in his department’s commitment to the Town
for being the first contact for most residents and being sure every resident is directed to the
appropriate department to manage their needs.
Vote: 6-0-0 Motion: Passed
Representative Town Meeting Budget:
Motion by Bill Sheehan and seconded by Ron Fedor to approve the Representative Town
Meeting budget request for FY25/26 in the total amount of $18,903 designated by the Series
Subtotals above.
Vote: 6-0-0 Motion: Passed
Board of Selectmen Budget:
Motion by Bill Sheehan and seconded by Ron Fedor to approve the Board of Selectmen budget
request for FY25/26 in the total amount of $206,402 designated by the Series Subtotals above.
First Selectman Rob Brule told the BOF he is blessed and thankful for the staff in our town. The
Department Heads are doing a great job and noted many of them are new [in the past few years]
to their positions. He operates to be fiscally responsible and responsive to the residents and
taxpayers in the Town of Waterford. Bill Sheehan commended Mr. Brule on a good, detailed
budget submitted this year.
Vote: 6-0-0 Motion: Passed
Emergency Management:
Motion by Bill Sheehan and seconded by Ron Fedor to approve the Board of Selectmen budget
request for FY25/26 in the total amount of $1,230,035. designated by the Series Subtotals above.
The Director of Emergency Management, Steve Sinagra, presented his budget request to the BOF
by first thanking the Board for rescheduling his department's Budget Hearing, He acknowledged
his staff and complimented them on their selfless effort for the Town during a time of staff
shortage. Currently, the department has nine (9) full time dispatchers, three (3) part time
dispatchers, and one (1) vacancy. Overtime will decrease in FY26 for his department due to the
increased regular staffing.
There was much discussion on the end-of-life public safety radio system replacement project
which is estimated at $6,500,000. Director Sinagra, First Selectman Rob Brule, and the Director

Board of Finance Budget Minutes ~ March 17, 2025
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of Finance, Kimberly Allen, are working to secure funding from sources outside of the Town of
Waterford to subsidize the cost of this project which boasts many regional benefits for public
safety.
Vote: 6-0-0 Motion: Passed
Adjournment:
Motion by Bill Sheehan and seconded by Michael Rocchetti to adjourn the Budget Meeting of
the Board of Finance at 9:05pm.
Vote: 6-0-0 Motion: Passed
Bill Sheehan, Clerk ‘ebecca L. Hall, Secretary
Respectfully submitted