May 18, 2009
Update on Mom and Dad
Hi! It seems I get asked every day how Mom and the Coach are doing. I thought I should take a moment and give everyone an update. They are celebrating some very big milestones this week.
On May 21st, Mom and Dad will celebrate the 60th Wedding Anniversary! As you might expect, the Coach came up with a very ingenious way to never forget his anniversary. He got married on his birthday! So on this very same day, Dad turns 88.
Mom and Dad moved out of their home on Nutmeg Lane a few years back. They are now enjoying the easy life in a Condo. You can also reach Dad on email at CoachTetreau@aol.com. We are still trying to get Mom on the computer so if you want to email her, please send it by way of the Coach.
Hope this finds you and your family enjoying this beautiful Spring.
All the best, Mike
Congratulations to the Town of Easton. S&P has now been awarded the valuable AAA (Triple a) Bond Rating to the Town of Easton. This is the best indicator of their financial stability and sound management practices by the Town. The citizens and voters should appreciate the hard work from the Town's elected leaders as well as the vision it took to achieve this recognition. It also translates in to lower interest rates on Bonds that save the town money in the future.
Change in Fed Regulations - Use your $8,000 Now!
In keeping up with the latest news, there was been a significant change in one of the Administrations tax credit programs. Yesterday, the Secretary of HUD announced that FHA is going to permit it's lenders to allow home buyers to use the $8,000 tax credit as a down payment when obtaining a government insured mortgage. This is a change in the way that the program had been setup when it arrived as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The law states that qualifying homebuyers may claim up to $8,000 (or $4,000 for married individuals filing separately) on either their 2008 or 2009 tax returns. Before this change, homebuyers would have to wait until they filed their 2008 or 2009 returns to receive the credit. Now, FHA consumers can access the homebuyer tax credit fund when they close on their home loan so that the cash can be used as a down payment.
Stay tuned for more updates coming next week.....
From the First Selectman and Paul Hiller, we have the following as numbers....
FY 2009 (aka this year) - $3,597,485 for ECS Grants (including both what we have received and what we expect to receive by yearend)
FY 2010 (aka the budget) - $3,575,407 - the amount includes the $502k and change that we reduced the Town Revenue by because it is going directly to the BOE but is still counted as ECS Grant money by the State
So if these two numbers are accurate, then we are approx $20,000 lower in ECS Grants for FY2010 than the prior year....so no penalty situation is involved.
The difference in these two numbers compared to Revenue line 4100 is that there are two smaller State Aid Grants that are included in our Town's Revenue but not part of the ECS Calculation.
If anyone knows of any facts that make the above not correct, please let me know.
Thanks to all for their help and patience in getting this a little more clear. And again, we still must make an assumption about whether we will get all the ECS money that the State has promised - otherwise, this year's number could easily change to a lower number.
And once more, we must make an assumption as to whether we think the Minimum Budget Requirement will be extended past June 30th. S
o maybe we know where we stand and maybe we don't....but hopefully we are a little clearer on the assumptions that we are making.... All the best, Mike
Here is an explanation from the CT Assoc of Boards of Education or CABE that Cathy Albin passed along... This seems to have us covered....there is no penalty to the Town if the BOE funding is less than the prior year. Now we can discuss what is really the most important issue - What quality of Education do we want to fund for our town? Also - the one big caveat to what you are about to read - this assumes the State actually funds the remaining balance on the FY09 ECS Grant. If that amount is cut more than $20,000 and the regulation is renewed, we could be back to facing penalties. Of course, the State won't make that decision until after we vote on the Referendum if that is approved. Here is what Ms. Albin sent along...
| May 8, 2009 |
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| Patrice McCarthy, Deputy Director and General Counsel |
| Sheila McKay, Senior Staff Associate for Government Relations |
Action Needed to Maintain Local Education Support Many questions have arisen about the status of the minimum budget requirement for education appropriations in the upcoming year. The minimum budget requirement provision in Conn. Gen. Stat. 10-262i applies to towns receiving an increase in ECS funds. Since it is anticipated that the legislature will flat fund ECS in 2009-10, there is no requirement in existing legislation that municipalities appropriate at least the same level of funding as in 2008-09. The MBR provision needs to be revised to provide districts a guarantee of minimum funding not linked to ECS funding increases and to account for the stimulus funds coming to boards of education via the state fiscal stabilization fund monies - for which boards will be held accountable. Legislative leadership of both parities are aware of this issue and will be discussing it as part of the budget deliberations. You can help by bringing this issue to the attention of your legislators.
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