To the Editor:
I am the chair of the Old Lyme Board of Finance and a member of the Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee. I write in response to a letter from Tom Grant posted in LymeLine on April 26, 2024, opposing the town’s referendum seeking authorization to bond the town’s financial obligation for the Senior Center renovation and expansion project (the “Project”).
Mr. Grant alleges that Old Lyme budgeted $1 million for this project. That is false. On June 23, 2023, town voters approved an appropriation of $5,263,541 for the project. (This sum reflected the then-anticipated total cost of the project. Old Lyme’s share would be reduced by Lyme’s 25% contribution and any grants received, which to date total $500,000.) At a Town Meeting on April 15 of this year, after construction bids had been solicited and received, an appropriation increase was explained to, and approved by, town voters in the amount of $880,000. This increased the project budget to $6,143,541, an increase over the initial budget of 16.7%, not the 88% claimed by Mr. Grant.
Mr. Grant further alleges that the town is seeking approval for a $6,143,541 bond issue. This, too, is false. The resolution seeking bond authorization specifies “bonds and/or notes in an amount not to exceed $6,143,541 (or so much thereof as may be necessary after deducting grants for the Project or amounts paid by the Town of Lyme as reimbursement for Lyme’s share of the total costs of the Project).” Old Lyme has received a STEAP Grant for the project in the amount of $500,000. Lyme’s share of the Project costs is 25% of the new budget, or $1,535,885. Deducting those sums results in a net bonding maximum of $4,107,656. (Because Old Lyme pays the bills and is then reimbursed by Lyme and the state, it must “appropriate” the full Project cost.)
Finally, Mr. Grant urges town voters to oppose the referendum. If it is defeated, then Old Lyme will not have the option to issue bonds for all or part of its $4,107,656 obligation. Instead, it will have to draw funds from its undesignated surplus, thereby substantially reducing the sums that would be available to mitigate the tax impact from the Region 18 renovations coming down the pike in a year or two. This would be a serious mistake.
Sincerely,
Bennett J. Bernblum,
Old Lyme.