Bloomfield Did Not Record $1.35 Million State Grant; Credit Rating at Risk
With Moody's rating withdrawn and S&P deadline 51 days away, missing education funding highlights financial reporting crisis
BLOOMFIELD — The State of Connecticut disbursed a scheduled Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant payment of approximately $1.35 million to the Town of Bloomfield in October 2025. Three months later, the Town’s own financial records—including its general ledger data displayed on the public Socrata transparency portal—show no trace of that deposit.
When presented with evidence of the discrepancy and asked to explain why the funds remain unrecorded in the Town’s General Ledger, Town Manager Alvin D. Schwapp, Jr. and Finance Director Darrell Hill declined to offer an explanation.
The refusal to address the discrepancy comes as the Town faces mounting pressure from credit rating agencies. Moody's Investors Service withdrew Bloomfield's credit rating entirely on September 19, 2025, citing the town's inability to produce audited financial statements. S&P Global, the town's last remaining rating agency, has given Bloomfield until March 30, 2026 to submit its overdue FY2024 audit—or face the same fate.
A town without a credit rating cannot borrow money through the municipal bond market. That means no financing for road repairs, school renovations, or emergency infrastructure projects. The town would be forced to pay cash for capital projects or defer them indefinitely.
The Unrecorded Grant
According to state disbursement records, the State of Connecticut issued its first quarterly Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant payment to municipalities in October 2025. For Bloomfield, this payment totaled approximately $1.35 million. These funds are typically transferred via Automated Clearing House (ACH) directly into municipal accounts.
These payments follow a standard schedule—October, January, and April—and are a budgeted component of Bloomfield’s annual revenue. By mid-year, financial reports typically show at least the first payment. However, the December 2025 Monthly Financial Report, presented to the Town Council on January 20, 2026, lists the Year-to-Date (YTD) revenue for the "State Education Grants" line item as $0.00.
Town officials have not suggested that the October payment was coded to a different line item or recorded after the cut-off date. If the funds were posted under a different account, the Administration has not identified where they appear in the general ledger so that Council members can reconcile the state’s records with the Town’s books.
The missing revenue represents approximately 1.2% of Bloomfield's $113.6 million annual operating budget. While the town projects an unassigned fund balance of $16.9 million as of June 30, 2026, that projection relies on the same financial reporting system that failed to record the state grant—raising questions about how much confidence residents can place in the town's unaudited estimates.
The last verified financial statement available for Bloomfield is from Fiscal Year 2023. The town has now missed two consecutive annual audit deadlines: FY2024 is more than 18 months overdue, and FY2025 is officially late as of this month.
The Dispatch independently verified this figure by downloading transaction-level data from the town's Socrata financial transparency portal on February 7, 2026. A review of all entries containing the term "education" showed total actual revenue of $1,260,427.33 for the fiscal year to date. No single revenue entry approximates the $1.35 million October ECS payment.
The failure to record the October deposit directly contradicts written assurances Finance Director Hill provided to state officials just two months earlier. In an August 4, 2025 letter to the State Office of Policy & Management—obtained by The Dispatch through a public records request—Hill stated the Finance Department had "issued townwide directive that requires financial activity to be entered in MUNIS within 3 business days of transaction/activity."
Under Hill's own 3-day standard, the October ECS grant should have been recorded in the general ledger no later than mid-October. As of early February—120 days later—the entry remains missing.
In a January 24, 2026 correspondence obtained by The Dispatch, former Deputy Mayor Rickford Kirton formally notified the Town's independent auditors, CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA), of the discrepancy.
"The continued reporting of $0 received raises questions regarding the timeliness of revenue recognition," Kirton wrote to Lead Auditor Leslie Zoll, noting that the error suggests the Town's bank reconciliations—a basic accounting safeguard—may not be current.
CLA did not respond to The Dispatch's request for comment on whether the firm had received Kirton's letter or whether the discrepancy would affect the audit timeline.
Implausible Projections
The irregularities extend beyond the unrecorded grant. The same December 2025 financial report projects a $0.00 variance for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026. This indicates the Administration expects the Town to finish the year exactly on budget, to the penny, across all departments.
This projection appears highly unlikely given current spending trends, especially as this zero-variance forecast contradicts the department-level data presented in the same report.
According to the Year-to-Date (YTD) actuals, the Department of Legal Services has already expended $292,415 of its $350,000 annual budget. This represents a burn rate of 83.5% in just six months—leaving the Town with less than $58,000 to cover all legal fees for the remaining half of the fiscal year.
Similarly, Finance Administration has expended $398,120 (62.0%) of its $642,130 annual budget, pacing significantly ahead of the calendar year.
Despite these visible overruns, the Finance Department has "straight-lined" its forecast, effectively telling the Council that no deficit will exist by year-end. For this projection to hold true, the Town would need to significantly reduce legal and administrative spending for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Without a narrative explanation or a request for supplemental appropriations, the report presents a financial picture that defies the Town's own spending data.
What This Means in Plain English
To understand why delayed audits and missing revenue entries matter, consider how banks evaluate mortgage applications.
If a Bloomfield homeowner applied to refinance their mortgage but told the bank, "I haven't balanced my checkbook in two years, and I might be missing a $1.35 million deposit somewhere, but trust me—I'm good for the payments," the loan would be denied immediately. The bank wouldn't assume fraud; it would simply refuse to lend money to someone who couldn't prove their financial condition.
Bloomfield is now that homeowner. The town is asking bond investors to lend millions of dollars based on financial reports that, as the December statement shows, may be missing significant revenue. Without completed audits to verify the numbers, investors have no way to know if the town's finances are sound or in crisis.
This uncertainty has consequences. On September 19, 2025, Moody's Investors Service withdrew Bloomfield's credit rating entirely—the financial equivalent of canceling the town's credit card. S&P Global, the only remaining rating agency still evaluating Bloomfield, has given the town until March 30, 2026 to submit its FY2024 audit. If that deadline is missed, Bloomfield will lose its last rating and its ability to borrow money for roads, schools, or emergency repairs.
The accounting errors documented in this article make that deadline increasingly difficult to meet. When auditors find missing transactions like the $1.35 million grant, they cannot rely on the town's accounting system. They must manually check thousands of entries, a process that can take months and could push the audit past S&P's March 30 deadline.
A Council Divided
While Town Manager Schwapp issued a "No Comment" on behalf of the administration, Councilor Suzette DeBeatham-Brown—who was copied on the inquiry along with the full Town Council—broke ranks to respond directly to The Dispatch.
In a written statement, DeBeatham-Brown expressed frustration with the lack of internal communication, noting that she was unaware of the discrepancy until receiving the press inquiry.
DeBeatham-Brown, who noted that she is "often kept on the outskirts of the town's business," stated that she intends to raise these specific questions on the record during the Special Meeting of the Town Council scheduled for Monday, February 9, 2026.
"The residents of Bloomfield deserve the truth, not silence," she added.
The Dispatch reached out to the remaining eight members of the Town Council, including Mayor Anthony Harrington and Deputy Mayor Cindi Lloyd, requesting comment on the missing revenue and the administration's refusal to explain it. As of press time, none have responded.
Official Silence
The Dispatch provided Town Manager Schwapp, Director Hill, and the Town Council with an opportunity to explain the discrepancies. We asked three specific questions:
- Why was the $1.35 million October receipt not recorded?
- Do these delays indicate that internal control weaknesses have returned?
- Does the Administration stand by its zero-variance forecast?
Town Manager Schwapp’s response was brief. By copying the Town Attorney on his refusal to comment, the Town Manager treated the inquiry as a legal matter as well as a public information request, but the Administration has not explained why it chose not to answer basic questions about the missing revenue.
The Dispatch filed a Freedom of Information Act request on February 6, 2026, seeking copies of all bank statements, deposit records, and general ledger entries related to the October ECS payment. Under Connecticut law, the town has four business days to acknowledge the request.
As of February 7, 2026, The Dispatch independently verified via the Town's Socrata open finance portal that the $1.35 million payment remains absent from public financial records. Town officials have not explained why.
The clock is ticking: 51 days until S&P's deadline. Whether Bloomfield can complete its audit in time may depend on how quickly officials can explain where the money went—and why no one recorded it when it arrived.
- December 2025 Monthly Financial Report (Town of Bloomfield)
- ECS Grant Payment Schedule (School and State Finance Project)
- Agenda: Feb 9, 2026 Special Council Meeting