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Meriden finance director reports preliminary fiscal surplus and stable rating ahead of FY2026 budget
Summary
Finance Director reported a preliminary, unaudited favorable first‑quarter result driven by strong investment income (~$3.3M) and an estimated $4.5M favorable revenue variance; he noted expense pressures, especially fire overtime, and outlined the proposed FY2026 budget and capital plan.
Finance Director Kevin gave the Finance Committee an unaudited, preliminary update Oct. 9 showing Meriden on track for a sixth consecutive year of budget surplus.
Kevin said investment income was strong, reporting roughly $3.3 million compared with a $1 million budget assumption, and projected general fund revenues to be favorable by about $4.5 million on a preliminary basis. He attributed strong results to prior‑year tax collections, state intergovernmental revenue, and robust building permit and fee activity.
On the expense side, he said the fire department was roughly $750,000 over budget and overtime pressures remain material; he noted recent hires aimed at reducing overtime going forward. Kevin summarized recent borrowing and refunding activity, noting a $36.3 million bond issuance and a $38.2 million refunding that generated approximately $2.2 million of bond premium used to offset debt service. He also noted Standard & Poor's reaffirmed the city's AA rating.
Kevin presented the proposed FY2026 general fund near $233 million with a capital improvement plan of about $37.3 million and discussed fund balance targets (current audited unassigned fund balance ~12.4%). He described options for using surplus, including pension and OPEB contributions.
The presentation was preliminary and the auditors will return in November to close the fiscal year; the committee asked follow‑up budget and reserve strategy questions ahead of final budget adoption.
