On Friday, Feb. 14, Mayor Curt Leng announced in a press release that former New York fiscal director, Curtis Eatman, has been hired as Hamden’s new Finance Director.
Eatman was a former deputy director of finance for the city of Schenectady, New York.
Additionally, Rick Galarza will be returning as the town’s Deputy Finance Director.
Galarza served as deputy finance director in late 2017 and took over the department for two years following the departure of the finance director, Salvatore DeCola.
The hiring of a financial director and deputy financial director has been on the agenda for some time.
Curtis Eatman – Finance Director
(Courtesy: Schenectady, New York’s website)
The previous audit for the 2017-2018 financial year noted that the report, along with important financial information, had not been released on time and delayed several days. This was due to the two senior positions in the town’s finance office becoming vacant after the fiscal year ended.
With the recent release of the 2018-2019 audit, Mayor Leng stated he felt the results were “excellent,” as he stated in the most recent town of Hamden newsletter.
He additionally noted that the budget was balanced and even came with a surplus of $500,000.
“This is great news for Hamden,” Leng said.
Despite his optimism, some residents feel as though the mayor is only putting the problem off further.
“The problem with this analysis is that the budget was balanced by underfunding the pension by $6.7 million,” said Christian McNamara, a Yale lecturer in management.
“That is, our actuarially determined contribution was $22.6 million, but we contributed only $15.9 million.”
McNamara is one of several residents to host a series of community discussions about the budget across Hamden.
Hamden’s finance department took the money for the pension fund, and instead, put it toward balancing the year’s budget.
“This is the equivalent of kicking the can down the road, and [it] increases our future financial burden,” McNamara said.
A graphic of Hamden’s employer pension plan for the last ten fiscal years. There is a $6,679,996 difference between the actual contribution into the pension fund and the estimated contribution.
Mayor Leng and the new hirees have met earlier this week to begin planning for the years ahead.
Meanwhile, Hamden residents are meeting amongst themselves to discuss their financial stake in the town’s financial progression.
“Mr. Eatman must start on the right foot,” says Stockton Clark, a Hamden resident deeply involved within the community discussion.
Since the role of the Finance Director became vacant, a disconnect became apparent between the mayor’s office and the Hamden legislative council. With the hiring of Eatman, Clark and other residents hope the council will now be clued in.
“The legislative council should have monthly reports on financial status. Secondly, there should be a clear three to five-year financial plan going forward,” McNamara said.
Hamden’s next hire is likely to be for chief assessor, a position vacant since November.