Harp Leaves City $14 Million Short. Meter Money Missing

The November monthly financial report published by the City shows the City spending $12 million more than budgeted, and revenue falling short by nearly $2 million. That equates to a $14 million shortfall.

We knew last years budget was an election year charade, so none of this comes as a surprise. On the spending side it’s the usual suspects - the Board of Education and the Fire Department.

During December’s FRAC meeting we inquired as to the reasons for the deficit, but no details were forthcoming - apparently the BOE provides no details when it transmits its forecast to the city. One line item of note in this months report is that the BOE ‘Administration and Management Salary’ line is $3.5 million over budget. The total budget is $15 million. So that budget item is 23% over budget. That’s a really big miss on the budget. I suggest we begin to furlough our friends on Meadow Street.

Speaking of friends, the NHFD Overtime costs are again breaking records. Again, no surprise. We knew the recent NHFD contract was agreed to out of political expediency and the deficits would increase. I suggest we bring all the contract players back to the table. We need to understand what really happened to all the estimates of multi-million dollar savings.

On the revenue side there is an item that has bothered me for quite some time: Parking Meter Revenue. You see, parking meter revenue is actually DOWN from $2.7 million in FY ‘17-’18 to $2.1 million in ‘19 - ’20. This despite what appears to be many new parking meters added across the city, and an increase in the meter rates. This is surprising. I’ve been asking City Finance and the City BOA for an explanation for 9 months but nobody seems to have an answer. This is not surprising.

Anyone interested in reading the entire 56 page monthly report may do so by going to the link at the bottom of this post. The report includes some very good information, but also some rather useless data. At the same time, it omits key statistics. For example, until I raised the issue last month, the report compared 2019 crime statistics to 2016. It now compares 2019 to 2018. I have asked he City, FRAC, and BOA to work together with residents (hint!) to overhaul the report.

Happy New Year!

https://www.newhavenct.gov/gov/depts/mgmt_budget/monthly_reports.htm

Lots of Red Ink!