The following is a statement from Jack Perry, candidate for Connecticut State Senate in the 16th District, on the Town of Prospect’s finances and the Council’s move toward an independent audit.

Every family in Prospect knows the basic rule of a household budget. You keep an honest accounting of what comes in and what goes out, and you do not quietly spend down the savings your family is counting on.

This is not about party. It is about a principle every taxpayer shares: when it is your money, you have the right to see exactly where it goes. Open books. Budgets written in plain language that any person can understand. Independent audits the public can trust. These are not Democratic or Republican ideas. They are the difference between a government that answers to the people and one that does not.

The Town Council has now voted to begin the process of bringing in an independent auditor to review the town’s books. That is the right call, and the residents and officials who pushed for it deserve credit. But let’s be honest about the road ahead: forming a committee, putting out a request for proposals, choosing a firm, and then completing the audit will take months.

Families are being asked to weigh this year’s budget now, long before those answers arrive, and when the audit is done, its findings have to be shared openly and in plain view, not quietly filed away.

I served my own neighbors on the Southington Council, and I have always believed that public dollars carry a public duty to be honest about them. A real audit is a good start. Following through, in the open, is how Prospect rebuilds trust, and that is the standard I will bring to the State Senate.

Jack Perry
Candidate for Connecticut State Senate, 16th District

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