Fiscal Responsibility

Branford is well-managed. We have always looked to the long-term financial stability of our Town. With the support of the Board of Finance and the RTM, we have been able to meet our short- and long-term obligations, take advantage of opportunities as they arise and maintain a healthy fund balance.

Our prudent management was recognized in a highly visible way in February of this year, when Standard & Poor’s raised its rating on Branford’s general obligation debt one notch to AAA from AA-plus. Standard & Poor’s cited the Town’s “low debt burden”, “strong financial management” and “consistently favorable financial performance”, as well as “management’s conservative budgeting practices and fiscal discipline”, “manageable capital needs” and a record of “proactively addressing liabilities.”

Branford is one of only ten municipalities out of Connecticut’s 169 cities and towns to have an AAA rating for its general obligation bonds. The Chairman of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors, Don Klepper-Smith, told the Branford Chamber of Commerce earlier this year that Branford is “really to be commended” for achieving the AAA rating. Klepper-Smith called Branford “a well-managed municipality” that has “planned well” and that now enjoys “relative economic strength.”

We are proud of this achievement, particularly during these difficult economic times. If re-elected, we will continue to promote wise decisions about development, make the investments that provide the foundation for a secure and prosperous future and strive to maintain services and to provide them more efficiently.