East Haven ends fiscal year with budget surplus

EAST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- The Town of East Haven ended the 2011-2012 fiscal year with a budget surplus.

Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr. announced Monday that The Town of East Haven ended the fiscal year with a budget surplus of $439,068, despite line-item shortages inherited from the prior administration.

"Upon coming into office, my team and I uncovered several budget irregularities and quickly concluded that serious spending cuts needed to be implemented to ensure that this budget closed with a surplus," Maturo said. "Thanks to the spending freeze which we initiated just eleven days after taking office, and which continued for seven months through June of 2012, I am happy to report that my team and I closed this budget with a surplus."

In March 2012, Paul Rizza, the Town's Finance Director, discovered that expenses in certain accounts had been grossly underestimated during the last budget process. The accounts for water, natural gas, sewer use, unemployment, and retirement payouts were shortened by about $556,000 during the last budget process and the Town still managed to produce a budget surplus.

"The spending freeze, along with increased delinquent tax collection efforts, were significant factors which allowed us to overcome the shortages in several accounts and balance this budget," Maturo said.

According to the Town's Finance Dept., the Town took in about $85.5 million in revenue and spent around $85.1 million.

"Depending on the final audit numbers which come out in December, the surplus could rise as high as $480,000 or $500,000," Rizza explained.

The surplus from this budget will be added to the Town's fund balance, raising it to approximately $640,000.

East Haven's recommended fund balance is about $4.25 million, a recommended fund balance equal to 5% of yearly expenditures.

"In my previous 10 years as Mayor, we fought to get East Haven off of the State's distressed municipalities list and restored the fund balance to over $8 million dollars at one point," Maturo explained. "I'm proud to have ended the ugly cycle of deficit spending that the Town had engaged in during the past four years and promise that we will continue to utilize common sense budget practices to ensure that our Town continues to grow its savings."