Simsbury Board of Finance Meeting November 18, 2025

Board of Finance Meeting November 18, 2025

I would like to express my concern with the appropriation of additional funds for the Simsbury Meadows Bandshell expansion.

It appears that the project is going forward without the completed funding.

The land is being prepared for the building with backhoes and heavy equipment in place.

Why are we having hearings on the viability of the project, if it appears to be full speed ahead?

This charade must stop of asking the public for input for funding when the project has already been started.

There should be a taxpayer’s revolt when our elected officials approve a project that is underfunded and will only benefit a private organization, the Simsbury Performing Arts.

In May of 2024 the Simsbury Performing Arts Center Bandshell Expansion “Next Act’ Project was approved at a referendum.

Promises were made by the Simsbury Performing Arts organization that once the Grant money of $900,000, the Referendum with an appropriation of $2,782,881 that they would collect additional funding to the completed project.

They raised $1,032,881 in donations and stated that they would pay for all additional costs.

$500,000 in capital reserve was used to complete the project as presented.

The costs have increased.

Now that there is a shortfall in the costs, the Simsbury Performing Arts organization is asking the taxpayers to appropriate an additional $388,000.

This appears to be a blatant mismanagement of the General Fund.

Special appropriations should be used for catastrophic events, not for a private organization on Town land for their personnel benefit.

The Simsbury Performing Arts organization should pay to play or the project should not go forward.

At the November7, 2025 meeting of the Board of Selectmen there was a 4-2 vote to move the project forward.

The Democrats voted in favor; the Republicans voted against.

There is a contingency plan if the project is denied for lack of funding to reinstall the trailers that have been used for many years.

Simsbury Performing Arts personnel are on record that they will pay for overruns once the town taxpayers approve a $2,782,881 expenditure.

Has the Town received a cost analysis on the long-term costs of maintaining the building, all other costs associated with the building and who is responsible for the costs?

Will this become another shell game of incumbering the taxpayers for costs hidden in the project.

There is also additional costs associated with a referendum vote.

What is the cost? According to AI it’s between $20,000 to $35,000.

If the Board of Finance approves this project for Referendum vote in December, it will probably pass with all the lobbyists and special interest groups voting for the project while the taxpayers will foot the bill.

There will probably be more overruns with change orders and cost increases.

Who will be expected to pay?

Our elected officials are using the Referendum as cover for their failure to deny the political project while increasing the taxes on hard-working residents for a private Performing Arts building.

Our elected officials are using the Referendum as a mechanism to “kick the can down the road”, knowing the “Next Act” building is a political gift to a small active group of activists for the Simsbury Performing Arts and refuse to admit that this project is a gross misuse of public funds.

The Board of Finance can reject this project now and should not continue with this charade that this is a viable and beneficial project.

The Board of Finance are the gatekeepers of the purse.

Do what is fiscally responsible and deny the project as presented.