Peter's Place

The Offline Government (Part 1): The Blind Checkbook On January 3rd, they boasted of "Strong Finances." On that same day, internal logs show the Town didn't know how much money was in the bank. By Peter C. Frank The Bloomfield Dispatch  (Read Part 4.5 ) BLOOMFIELD, CT — On January 3, 2025, the political leadership of Bloomfield took a victory lap. In a public post, Town Council leadership boasted of the Town’s "AA+ Bond Rating" and "Strong Finances," explicitly crediting the "Mayor, Town Manager, and CFO Hill" for their stewardship. They told residents that the ship was steady and the course was true. But internal correspondence obtained by The Bloomfield Dispatch reveals a stark contradiction: On the very same day leadership was publicly celebrating fiscal stability, the Finance Department’s own internal logs showed they had ceased reconciling t...

The Tax Reality Check – Why Your Bill Will Likely Rise By Peter C. Frank, The Bloomfield Dispatch  (Read Part 2 ) BLOOMFIELD, Connecticut, November 30, 2025 – Following the publication of Part 2 of this investigative series, a debate emerged in a private Facebook group about the town's property tax phase-in. Some suggested that, as assessments rise during the four-year phase-in, the mill rate will "naturally drop" to keep tax bills stable. This is a comforting theory. Unfortunately, historical data and math strongly suggest it is a common misconception. To clear the air, I have analyzed the past decade of budget data for Bloomfield and our peer communities. The numbers tell a clear story: Budgets do not  stay the same. The "Static Budget" Misconception: The theory your tax bill will stay the same is founded on a single assumption: the Town Budget will remain "Revenue Neutral" ( i.e. ...