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He's been playing the part for six months, but Jul ...
July 9, 2003
He's been playing the part for six months, but July 1st was Robert M. Curry's first day as the city's director of finance. A 22-year veteran of the finance department, Curry was named its acting director in January, after the retirement of Edward F. Murphy. Murphy had worked for the city for 36 years and became Meriden's first finance director in 1980. Curry had been the director of accounting, a position that has stayed vacant since the beginning of the year.As acting finance director, Curry worked on the city's budget in a very tough year, said City Council Finance Committee Chairman Brian F. Kogut. "He's really done a good job so far, and we're expecting more of the same," Kogut said. While working with the budget, Curry alerted city councilors to two trust funds, the Bradley and Hubbard trusts, which had been managed by Director of Parks and Public Works Mark G. Zebora. The trusts contained $1.7 million in total and had never been included in the city's budget. By alerting the councilors, Curry helped increase city revenue and prevent a larger tax increase for residents.
Curry also developed a preliminary formula to more accurately gauge the cost of operating the city's enterprise funds. No such formula existed previously. He oversaw the refunding of $9.6 million worth of bonds, a process similar to refinancing the mortgage on one's house. The city will save $240,000 over two years as a result. Kogut also credited Curry with rescinding several outstanding bond issues for projects that had been completed. Clearing these off city books helps improve the city's credit rating.
"Unpredictable," Curry said in summing up the budget process and the lack of information about financial aid from the state. In fact, in these first days of the new fiscal year, the city still does not know how much to expect in state aid because the legislature and governor have not approved a budget. Another complication is that the Finance Department has two vacant positions: director of accounting (Curry's former post) and an accountant position.
A Meriden native, Curry comes from a family of 10 children. After graduating from Platt High School, he earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Central Connecticut State University and a master's in business administration from the University of New Haven. He is also certified by the Municipal Finance Officers Association. Before returning to his hometown to work, Curry, 49, worked for the state, in the Department of Housing and the Department of Education, overseeing the grant department. He has a 21-year-old son who will be a senior at Tufts University. He lives in Meriden with his wife Sue Agustyn.
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