Author Archives: jim lampos

Letter to the Editor: Old Lyme Selectman Thanks Board of Finance for ‘a Job Well Done’ at Tuesday’s Budget Meeting

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Editor’s Note: This letter was published April 17, after the Board of Finance meeting held April 15.

To the Editor:

I’d like to thank the Old Lyme Board of Finance for a job well done, completing work begun jointly with the Board of Selectmen in December to produce a prudent, fiscally-sound budget.  Through good compromise and the identification of additional savings, the budget for our upcoming fiscal year maintains a healthy surplus while keeping our taxes as low as possible. 

Our new proposed mill rate of 16.2 is among the lowest in the state, and holding taxes to a modest 4.52% increase is quite an accomplishment in this inflationary environment.   

Two voter-approved projects:  renovation of schools and Senior Center expansion, both hit the budget this year, presenting a special challenge.  Over the course of several hours-long, publicly-held budget workshops through January and into early February, the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance met together with the heads of all departments, boards, commissions and committees to discuss, analyze and justify each expenditure.   These joint meetings were conducted with mutual respect and fair-mindedness from all parties.   

The Board of Finance continued their deliberations through April, culminating in a contentious meeting this past Tuesday night.   At the 11th hour, a compromise was reached:   $800,000 from the surplus would be dedicated to mill rate reduction, which along with over $170,000 in additional savings identified by First Selectwoman Shoemaker, would bring us close to the $1,000,000 in tax relief we were seeking for our townspeople.   The budget now goes to the voters for a public hearing on April 28th at 6:30pm at Town Hall.   The final vote by town residents will take place at a May 19th town meeting at the LOL Middle School.  I believe we are presenting a solid budget that meets the needs of our citizens while keeping taxes as low as possible, and I appreciate the effort of all those involved.

Sincerely,

Jim Lampos,
Old Lyme.

Letter to the Editor: Old Lyme Selectman Recommends Transferring $1.3M from Town’s Surplus to Reduce Residents’ Tax Burden

Editor’s Note: This letter was published April 13, prior to the Board of Finance meeting held April 15.

To the Editor:

An Open Letter to the Residents of Old Lyme

On Tuesday, the Board of Finance will meet to set the mill rate which will determine Old Lyme residents’ property tax burden.  Over the past two years, the Board of Selectmen has worked cooperatively with the Board of Finance to craft fiscally-prudent budgets that have resulted in hefty surpluses. Indeed, this year through the concerted efforts of not only these two boards but also all town staff and volunteers, we have a record surplus of nearly $15 million, or 33% of next year’s budget.

This surplus is not an accident. Knowing that the next two fiscal years would present challenges due to expenses incurred by voter-approved projects such as the school renovation and Senior Center expansion, the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance concurred that we would need to have a hefty surplus going into this period in order to have the ability to provide some tax relief when setting the mill rate.

Most towns are expected to have a surplus of 15%. Being a shoreline community with exposure to potential loss of revenue due to hurricanes, Old Lyme has maintained a higher surplus. A 30% surplus is extraordinary and ideal for bond rating agencies to maintain Old Lyme’s AAA rating. With this year’s very healthy surplus, we can afford to move $1.3 million from surplus to tax relief and still maintain a 30% surplus.   

Doing so would also allow the town to set a mill rate of 16.09. This is substantially lower than our current mill rate of 24.4, but due to this year’s state mandated revaluation, many people’s property values have also increased significantly. In real terms, a mill rate of 16.09 would reflect a very modest 3.81% tax increase from last year.   This modest increase fully accounts for all burdens, including the school budget.

Surveying other towns in our regions, this is very good news indeed. We are faring far better than towns that are experiencing 10% tax hikes or more.  While it has been common practice to use surplus to offset tax increases in the past ($600,000-$800,000 was common two or three years ago), at the most recent Board of Finance meeting there were members who were reluctant to approve anything over $600,000.   Settling for this would only allow us to cut the rate to 16.38, and would reflect a 5.65% real increase.  This is still not bad in terms of what we are seeing in neighboring towns, but since revaluation has doubled some homeowner’s property values, we need to provide as much tax relief as we possibly can while maintaining services and fiscal prudence.

It is important to remember that the surplus is excess money that the town has collected from taxpayers.  We need to provide our taxpayers a dividend.   As we speak, numbers are still not completely finalized and we are still working to identify further budget cuts as well.  And while I understand that, even though we would still maintain a very robust 30% surplus, some may find moving $1.3 million to tax relief to be too much.  But I think many would agree that $600,000 is far too little.   I encourage those who are interested in this question to attend this Tuesday’s Board of Finance meeting.

Sincerely,

Jim Lampos,
Old Lyme.

Editor’s Note: The author serves on the Old Lyme Board Selectmen.

Op-Ed: Lampos Makes His Case, ‘I’m Not Running “Against” Anyone, But Rather “For” Old Lyme’

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Jim Lampos

Editor’s Note: This op-ed was submitted by Jim Lampos, who is the Democratic-endorsed candidate for Old Lyme Selectman and also for one of the two seats on the Old Lyme Planning Commission.

I am honored to be on the ballot for Old Lyme’s Board of Selectmen this November 2nd.  The Board of Selectmen has been meeting since our town’s founding over three hundred years ago, and our democratic institutions predate the founding of our nation by over a century.   Indeed, Old Lyme has one of the oldest continuous forms of democratic government in the world.  As a historian, when I read meeting records in our town hall archives I am struck by the degree to which decisions made long ago continue to resonate and influence our daily lives. From mundane tasks such as building roads and bridges to the pressing issues of the day, addressed in the Lyme Resolves of 1766 which outlined principles that still guide us, one thing is clear: Things we do and say in our civic life matter. And sometimes, it’s the things we don’t do or say that matter even more.  

Our times call for a broad perspective, and a willingness to listen, learn, and adapt.  As a small businessman who has successfully navigated the challenges of the Great Recession, the early days of the pandemic, and now the disruptions of the re-opening—I know that each day will present a new set of challenges that will call upon all of my skills and life experience. 

The education and training that has served me well as a businessman is even more applicable to the job of selectman. I received my B.A. in political sociology from Brandeis University, graduating Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. I was awarded a Kaplan Fellowship to attend the New School where I received my M.A. in policy analysis and was inducted into Pi Alpha Alpha, the national honor society for public affairs and administration. I worked on various urban renewal and planning projects in New York City, such as the successful redesign of Union Square Park, and served as Director of Development for Community Access, a nonprofit agency building housing for the homeless and mentally disabled. I am currently serving as an alternate on Old Lyme’s Planning Commission, and along with running for selectman I am also running for a full term on the Planning Commission.

I was born and raised here in Southeastern Connecticut, and have been living in Old Lyme for over 40 years—first as a summer resident, and since 2005 as a full-time resident with my wife Michaelle and our children Phoebe and Van. We chose to live in Old Lyme for the same reason so many others do: the transcendent beauty of our natural environment, our excellent school system, great institutions such as the Florence Griswold Museum and cultural events such as the Musical Masterworks concerts, and most of all, the proud tradition of our civic life. I’m not embarrassed to say that I love our town, and I’m not speaking rhetorically when I say that I’m not running “against” anyone, but rather “for” Old Lyme. In that spirit, I am reaching out to all residents regardless of party affiliation and asking for your vote.  

In the coming years, we will be facing challenges that we’ve never faced before. The “disruptive” technologies that have upended so much of our economy and daily lives will soon be transforming real estate and development. Climate change will be placing much of our low-lying coast in peril and testing our infrastructure. These challenges will require creative, forward-thinking solutions, backed by the support of informed and unified residents if we are to maintain our treasured small-town ambience and sense of place. We must look to the future, respect the past, and work to preserve our natural environment and natural resources. We must support our arts community and all of our businesses, including the farms which were so invaluable to us during the pandemic. We must continue to invest in our schools and find ways to develop new housing opportunities in neighborhood-appropriate ways so that our young families can stay here and our older residents can retire here in comfort and security, and we must do all of these things while being mindful of social equity and justice, because that is who we are as a community. I believe that my running mate, first selectwoman candidate Martha Shoemaker, and myself, along with the entire Democratic ticket, are uniquely qualified to guide us through the coming decade and make our town an even greater place to live. 

I look forward to seeing everyone on the campaign trail, and to serving our town on the Board of Selectmen and Planning Commission. 

Letter to the Editor: If Elected to Planning Commission, Lampos Will Balance Old Lyme’s ‘Special Beauty’ With Town’s Housing, Commercial Needs

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To the Editor:

I am honored to be on the Democratic ticket in Old Lyme as a candidate for the Planning Commission.  I have a deep love and respect for our town’s history, quality of life, and natural environment, and want to contribute to its healthy future.

My graduate degree is in urban affairs and policy analysis, and I have worked on various municipal and non-profit development projects in New York City.   As the owner-operator of Groton Pizza Palace, my family’s restaurant of 54 years, I also have a practical business perspective.   My enthusiasm for innovative planning solutions combined with respect for the economic drivers necessary for a healthy community will guide me in helping our town navigate the cross-currents of development and preservation.   I want to encourage smart solutions to planning issues, to help us avoid the unfortunate choices other towns have made whereby landscape and quality of life have degraded with little net economic benefit.

Old Lyme’s special beauty and culture are irreplaceable. They must be balanced with our need to maintain a full range of housing and commercial enterprises that will preserve and promote our town’s vibrancy.  I am running for Planning Commission to join a team making positive, informed decisions. I would greatly appreciate your vote on November 5.

Sincerely,

Jim Lampos,
Old Lyme.

Editor’s Note: The writer is a 2019 candidate for the Old Lyme Planning Commission.

Letter to the Editor: Sound View Residents’ Sewer Cost Concerns are Justified

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To the Editor:

Thank you for your coverage of the Sound View sewer project.  Property owners in Sound View should be aware of their potential obligation for the construction, operation, and maintenance of this system.

According to the WPCA slide presentation, the “typical average house of 1 EDU (1,242 square feet)” would be charged a “$6,000 connection fee plus a $25,007 betterment assessment” for a total of $31,007.

The per EDU assessment will be calculated on a sliding scale.  Thus a 2,500 square foot house would be charged for 2 EDUs.   In my case, my house was built in 2009, with a compliant septic system that cost me $30,000.  My home did not need any zoning variances to be built, and the town limited me to a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath house based on the septic capacity of the lot.  The EDUs however are based on square footage of the home, not bathrooms or typical occupancy, which are also metrics allowed by state guidelines.  My EDU calculation comes to 2.5, thus my betterment assessment comes to $62,500.  Along with the $6,000 connection fee, my total assessment comes to $68,500.   This doesn’t include the actual cost of connecting to the main, which estimated at $100 per linear foot brings me into the neighborhood of $80,000.

All this for a newly built home with a state of the art septic system.

Furthermore, these per EDU cost estimates have been quickly escalating, and there is no assurance that they will not go higher.  The referendum is for the bond issue only–the cost per homeowner is not fixed by the current agreement.  As the town has made it clear that 100% of the town’s share of the sewer project will be paid by the residents of Sound View only, and all future costs will also be passed on in full to these homeowners, the exposure of Sound View property owners is unlimited.

Finally, in the likelihood that other beach communities down the line such as White Sands require sewers, or the potential Halls Road developments, Sound View homeowners have received no assurance that they will not also be on the hook for those.  We have been told that these will be considered on a “project by project” basis, and the costs for those potential sewer projects may be paid by the town as a whole, thus obligating Sound View property owners not only to pay 100% of the town’s share at Sound View, but also a share of the costs for projects elsewhere in town.

The concern of Sound View residents is well founded.

Sincerely,

Jim Lampos,
Old Lyme.