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Published by Citizens for a Better Granby a non-profit 501(c)3 organization
Volume LV, No. 1 • September 2024
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Laying the financial groundwork for tomorrow By Michael B. Guarco, Jr., Chairman, Board of Finance A primary focus of the Granby Board of Finance is to protect and strengthen, where reasonable, the town’s short and long-term financial position. Over the past 30 years, Granby has steadily done so as reflected in the steady increase in its credit ranking while building and improving its asset base. These things don’t happen on their own. They reflect a strong commitment by the selectmen and education boards, the steady leadership by the financial board and the continued support of the voters and taxpayers. As Granby’s credit rating improves, projected interest costs on any anticipated bonded debt would decline. That is an important consideration as a town looks over the capital needs it may face. The regimen of long-term planning and fiscal discipline are hallmarks of the town’s long-term fiscal management as we look ahead at operational and infrastructure challenges. We are well prepared to meet the future needs
of our community in a reasoned and balanced manner. The fiscal 2024 year ended on June 30 and showed the General Fund reserve at some 15 percent of that budget. This is within the target zone for maintaining Granby’s current Standard and Poor’s (S&P) credit rating of AA+ for funding small and midsized capital items. It also serves as a funding source each year for already banked dollars that will help carry the cost of the next year’s expenditures, with an eye toward stabilizing the mill rate. Already netted out of the remaining 15+ percent General Fund reserve are $2.16 million to balance the FY25 budget equation and $2.6 million for funding for the emergency communications project. In addition there is a transfer of $500,000 into the small capital (infrastructure) fund for future use. These plans come from recommended conservative budget practices, healthier tax collections and higher than normal interest rates earned on
Guarco, BOF cont’d. on p. 3
The Granby Racial Unity Festival in June entertained and enlightened Bharatanatyam Indian Classical Dance Group captivated all with their beautiful dance storytelling of Indian Hindu history, culture and spirituality. Photo by Don Shaw Please see story on p. 17.
Protecting the town and its assets: That’s called risk management
When our police department responds to a call, when our public works department plows snow, when our teachers educate students and when the town building inspector inspects buildings bout to ensure they comply with the building own code, the Town of Granby is exposed to liability. The way the town protects its employees, its buildings and infrastructure and its taxpayers from everyday exposures to with liability is to practice Mike risk management. Walsh Town Manager Risk management is a broad term and can encompass many strategies for limiting liability. For this discussion, I’d like to highlight three layers that the Town of Granby regularly practices limiting exposure to liability that occurs every day delivering town services to residents. The first layer is through administering policies that promote safety. Those policies are carried out by department heads, supervisors and all employees. It may be something as simple as “no texting while driving a town vehicle.” The second layer is how much risk do
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Granby residents view the KCE exhibits in the senior center. Photo by Shirley Murtha
Key Capture Energy proposes battery energy storage plan By Shirley Murtha At the Aug. 5 Granby Board of Selectmen meeting, Paul Williamson from Key Capture Energy (KCE) presented information about the company’s proposal to install a battery energy storage facility at 100 Salmon Brook Street. On Aug. 7, Williamson and a team from KCE conducted an open house in the senior center to answer questions from residents regarding the proposal.
Headquartered in Albany, N.Y., KCE was founded in 2016 with the mission to develop and install battery storage energy. It has made 16 installations so far. Battery storage keeps the electric grid stable by storing intermittent renewable energy that it can provide to the grid regardless of whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. It has a very low noise emission, no chemical emissions and requires just over an acre of land. Williamson explained that the peak
KCE cont’d. on p. 2
Pollworkers Needed! The Registrars of Voters invite Granby residents to volunteer for poll working classes. Please see the Registrars’ article on p. 14 for details.
we self-insure? Self-insure means that, based on our exposure to risk, which is sometimes out of our control, what is an acceptable balance between the first dollar of loss that we pay compared to the cost of insurance for the whole value? Just like most drivers carry a $500 deductible if their car is damaged in an accident, the town may carry a $10,000 or a $50,000 deductible to balance the cost of insurance compared to what we decide we can pay in the event of a loss. If the town assumes more first-dollar risk, the cost of insurance is lower. The last layer is deciding when to buy outside insurance and pay insurance premiums to limit the total loss exposure to the Town of Granby. Back in April, I mentioned that the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) does good work representing all 169 cities and towns on legislative issues. I also explained that CCM has an insurance arm called the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Association (CIRMA) that underwrites the non-medical insurance risk for about 90 percent of the cities and towns in Connecticut. CIRMA was created in 1980 in response to an insurance crisis whereby Connecticut municipalities had virtually no alternatives to securing insurance for
About Town cont’d. on p. 2
Photo by Peter Dinella
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