State will borrow to fund road aid

LAKEVILLE — Northwest Corner towns struggling with their budgets received welcome news last week as the state Bond Commission approved borrowing $30 million dollars for Town Aid Road grants.

Until the fiscal year 2008-09, the grants were part of the state’s budget, but in that year, when state deficits soared, some $8 million of the annual $30 million was bonded, according to state Sen. Andrew Roraback (R-30) who, as ranking member of the state Senate’s Environment, Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, sits on the Bonding Commission.

This year, with the state’s finances  still in disarray, the entire amount was borrowed.

In the past, Town Aid Road payments were made in two installments — one in July and one the following January. Roraback said the checks for the lump sums should be arriving in towns shortly.

The Bond Commission has been postponing meetings for months, making town officials who are trying to create budgets nervous. Roraback said the delay was in part due to the state “trying to be chintzy� and noted that this week state officials are going to New York City to meet with representatives of bond rating entities.

“They’re trying to look disciplined,� he said.

At a recent meeting of the Board of Finance in Falls Village, co-chairman Louis Timolat observed that, in essence, “the state is borrowing to cover operating costs.� First Selectman Pat Mechare told the finance board that the town had prepared a Plan B should the grants never materialize.

State Rep. Roberta Willis (D-64) commented by e-mail, “I do not think we should incur long-term debt to pay for ongoing operating and maintenance costs. It should be part of the budget.�

The Town Aid Road grants in Region One, by town:

• Town of Canaan (Falls Village), $83,124

• Cornwall, $111,355

• Kent, $132,248

• North Canaan, $94,872

• Salisbury, $144,407

• Sharon, $172,597

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