Town Assuming 29 Million of Debt to Increase Our Environmental Resilience

Town Council Meeting

Monday, December 9th in Council Chambers
Public Forum at 6 PM
Regular Town Council Meeting at 7 PM

The Stratford Town Council will conduct a regular meeting on December 9, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. On the agenda for the meeting are five projects that the Town Council is being asked to take out bonds to finance.

These projects appear to be requesting over $29 million. How do these bonds impact our town budget?

According to Christopher Tymniak, Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Stratford “at this point in time it is not known what the bonding will be, and how it will impact our budget.”

Tymniak noted that the first round of bonding will be how much money Stratford will receive from the State’s clean water fund, which has a pay back at 2%.  If Stratford is not accepted by the clean water fund the request for bonding would go at regular bonding rate that is set by the market, municipal bonds at this time are at 3 ½ %.  We are looking at all of the grants and government programs that subsidizes resiliency.

“Right now these proposals is the Town of Stratford demonstrating “ready to go” projects.  As for the actual boning it probably will not go out for bonding for some months,” Tymniak said,”The last month and in half “ready to go” projects went to the front of the funding line.”

Questioned on the impact on our budget, and especially how it would affect our schools, he said he has no way of answering that question, as it is not budget season, we don’t know what the Board of Education is going to ask for.  This is a hypothetical question that I cannot answer at this time.

The projects are:

• AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF $16,730,000 BONDS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE TOWN TO MEET THE APPROPRIATION FOR THE WPCF (Water Pollution Control Facility) PERIMETER FLOODWALL PROJECT, AND PENDING ISSUANCE THEREOF THE MAKING OF TEMPORARY BORROWINGS FOR SUCH PURPOSE (#24-08)

• AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF $1,378,541 BONDS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE TOWN TO MEET THE APPROPRIATION FOR THE WPCF STORMWATER PROJECT, AND PENDING ISSUANCE THEREOF THE MAKING OF TEMPORARY BORROWINGS FOR SUCH PURPOSE (#24-10)

• AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF $2,500,000 BONDS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE TOWN TO MEET THE APPROPRIATION FOR THE SURF AVENUE CULVERT AND FLOODWALL PROJECT, AND PENDING ISSUANCE THEREOF THE MAKING OF TEMPORARY BORROWINGS FOR SUCH PURPOSE (#24-12)

• AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF $5,770,000 BONDS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE TOWN TO MEET THE APPROPRIATION FOR THE WASHINGTON PARKWAY DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT, AND PENDING ISSUANCE THEREOF THE MAKING OF TEMPORARY BORROWINGS FOR SUCH PURPOSE (#24-14)

• AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF $3,000,000 BONDS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE TOWN TO MEET THE APPROPRIATION FOR THE HAMILTON AVENUE PUMP STATION UPGRADE PROJECT, AND PENDING ISSUANCE THEREOF THE MAKING OF TEMPORARY BORROWINGS FOR SUCH PURPOSE (#24-16)

How Does Bonding Work:

The Mayor and Director of Finance are authorized to determine the aggregate principal amount of the Bonds of each series to be issued, the annual installments of principal, date, maturity, prices, interest rates whether fixed or floating, form, redemption provisions, if any, the certifying registrar and transfer agent, the manner of sale or other terms and conditions of the Bonds, including the terms of any reserve that might be established and whether any of the Bonds issued will be issued as taxable bonds, all in such a manner as the Mayor and Director of Finance shall determine to be in the best interests of the Town and in accordance with the General Statutes of Connecticut, Revision of 1958, as amended (the “Connecticut General Statutes”), and to take such actions and to execute such documents, or designate other officials or employees of the Town to take such actions and to execute such documents, as deemed to be necessary or advisable and in the best interests of the Town by the Mayor and Director of Finance in order to issue, sell and deliver the Bonds.

The Bonds are sold by the Mayor and the Director of Finance in a competitive offering or by negotiation at their discretion. If sold in a competitive offering, the Bonds shall be sold at not less than par and accrued interest based on the lowest net or true interest cost to the Town. If the Bonds are sold by negotiation, the provisions of the bond purchase agreement shall be approved by the Mayor and Director of Finance.

In addition, the Mayor and the Director of Finance are authorized to make temporary borrowings in anticipation of the receipt of the proceeds of the Bonds. Notes evidencing such borrowings shall be signed by the Mayor and the Director of Finance, have the seal of the Town affixed, be payable at a bank or trust company designated by the Mayor and the Director of Finance, be approved as to their legality by Pullman & Comley, LLC, Attorneys-at-Law, and be certified by a bank or trust company designated by the Mayor and the Director of Finance pursuant to Section 7-373 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

The Notes shall be issued with maturity dates, which comply with the provisions of the Connecticut General Statutes governing the issuance of such notes, as the same may be amended from time to time. The notes shall be general obligations of the Town and each of the notes shall recite that every requirement of law relating to its issue has been duly complied with, that such note is within every debt and other limit prescribed by law, and that the full faith and credit of the Town are pledged to the payment of the principal thereof and the interest thereon. The net interest cost on such notes, including renewals thereof, and the expense of preparing, issuing and marketing, to the extent paid from the proceeds of such renewals or the Bonds, may be included as a cost of the Project. Upon the sale of the Bonds, the proceeds thereof, to the extent required, shall be applied forthwith to the payment of the principal of and the interest on any such notes then outstanding or shall be deposited with a bank or trust company in trust for such purpose.

The above information is directly from the Town Council agenda.