“World's Most Complete Neighborpedia”
Explore:   What's happening in your neck of the woods?

Mike Tetreau - Sales Vice President ABR, CRS, GRI

Fairfield Board of Eduction Budget Referendum

After talking with the Fairfield Town Clerk's Office, here is the latest update -

Apparently a series of Referendum petitions have been turned into the Town Clerk's Office. So it won't be until sometime tomorrow (Tuesday) that we know if there are enough certified signatures to force a Referendum....stay tuned!

The Petition must have 1833 certified signers.....so the Town Clerk's office has to first count the number and verify that the signers are registered voters before a determination can be made about the Referendum.

Mom and the Coach - Time to Celebrate

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

Easton - Now has a AAA Bond Rating!

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.

$8,000 for Down Payment - Now Available!

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.....

Fairfield and the State ECS Grants - the Numbers Revised

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