Friends and the Capital Fund

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The original Capital Policy Sheila drafted read in part: The Selectboard will adopt a five-year Capital Improvement Plan for the Town of Guilford. This plan will include the Town's plan of capital projects proposed to be undertaken during each of the following five years, the estimated cost of those projects, and the proposed method of financing. The Selectboard will review and update the CIP annually.

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In 2018 the selectboard hired a company to perform a Capital Needs Assessment of every asset Guilford maintains. This company did an amazing job assessing items like water heaters, windows, roofs and even plow equipment, etc. If Guilford followed that assessment, we could maintain our capital assets (buildings and equipment) for $225,000 a year.

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Based on the Capital Needs Assessment Report the Selectboard convinced the residents of Guilford to transfer $225,000 into the Capitol Improvement Fund, but the plan Morse helped draft was never followed by the selectboard.

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Tammy Sargent (See Appointment of Auditor) asked Sheila Morse for the five-year CIP including the Selectboard’s annual updates. Sheila was Guilford’s Finance Advisory Committee Chair and the selectboards appointed Town Administrator because Peder Rude was diagnosed with a “Grave Health Issue” and later Resigned to "explore other opportunities."

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Sheila should have handed over the reports but instead responded to Tammy’s request:

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“We need to create that report. It doesn't exist. (…) Believe me, if I could print and post such a report, I would. The Finance Advisory Committee has also been seeking this information for quite some time as well. (…)

Best, Sheila”

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Every project that was leveraged with the Capital Fund came at the expense of something identified in the capital needs assessment report. If the CIP had been completed and accurate, it would have shown the gross neglect of those funds. The Library Expansion was the most obvious example of that neglect.

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All the exploration work surrounding the Library Expansion was being leveraged with the Capital Fund. However, when the residents of Guilford voted NO to the Library Expansion, there would be no Capital Improved so those costs could not come from the Capital Fund. Instead it came at the behest of the Friends and the Reserve Fund. 

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After Eastes and Morse were confronted about not adhering to the Capital Program and Budget Policy, the selectboard eliminated the old policy entirely and created a new one.

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The renamed Asset Management Program Policy now reads: the Select board may annually project an Asset Project Plan for the Town of Guilford. Such a plan could include proposed capital projects, the estimated cost of those projects, the proposed sources of funds, and any impacts on the annual operating budget. It will also take into consideration unanticipated or emergency project expenses.

 

The number one reason for changing this fund is explained in the PRIORITY CRITERIA section of the new policy where it states that: Asset projects may receive a higher priority if they meet certain criteria, such as:

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1. The project meets a policy goal or fulfills a strategic objective of the Selectboard and the Town Plan. When the strategic objectives of the  Friends of Algiers Village didn't lign up with the former 9-member Planning Commission, they were all fired. 

 

The selectboard changed the fundamental purpose of the Capital Program and Budget Policy. The fund was intended to ensure all of Guilford's current capital assets are maintained adequately.

 

Now, the selectboard can use this fund for leveraging grant opportunities, to “meet a policy goal” of their newly appointed Planning Commission at the expense of our equipment and building infrastructures.