Alders Weigh Bonding For Carmon Settlement

by Laura Glesby

The Board of Alders Finance Committee advanced a $17.5 million bonding proposal to fund a settlement for the wrongful conviction of Adam Carmon, after debating how the city should obtain the money for that settlement and a growing number of others like it.

City Controller Michael Gormany and Acting Budget Director Ron Gizzi presented the bonding plan before the committee on Monday night.

Carmon, who spent 28 years in prison before his murder conviction was overturned, first filed suit in 2023 against the city as well as six former police officers responsible for his conviction.

On Oct. 22, the city announced that the parties had reached a $16.5 million settlement. Now, city leaders have to figure out how to pay for it.

The Elicker administration’s plan is to issue bonds to cover the cost of the settlement — the same strategy that the city is using to pay for the recent wrongful conviction settlements of Vernon Horn and Marquis Jackson. In early October, alders authorized the bonding of $27 million to pay the city’s share of a total of $30.5 million owed to Jackson and Horn.

According to Gormany and Gizzi, the city is considering whether to bond via a public offering or directly through a bank in order to pay for the Carmon settlement. The former approach may come with higher interest rates, while the latter could come with issuance costs reaching up to $1 million. As the city explores these options, Gormany asked alders to authorize the bonding of an amount “not to exceed $17,500,000,” to account for the possible added cost of bonding via a bank.

As part of this proposal, the Elicker administration submitted a Debt Service Impact Statement to alders indicating that an estimated $8.75 million in interest over the next 20 years could bring the long-term cost of the bonds to $26.25 million.

Westville Alder and Finance Committee Chair Adam Marchand expressed concerns on Monday about the impact of bonding on the city’s debt service. “What other options did you explore?” he asked Gormany. “So for example, using our fund balance. Or for example, a special levy to ask the taxpayers to pay for it” up front.

Committee Chair Adam Marchand (right), with Annex Alder Sal Punzo: What about a special levy?

“Maybe we can do a special levy for any future litigation settlements… I don’t know how well that would be received by taxpayers,” said Gizzi. Either way, he added, “using our debt service, it’s increasing the budget. It’s increasing people’s taxes anyway.”

Gormany added that a special levy would be easiest to time “during the budget process,” attaching it to pre-existing tax structures to minimize administrative costs. He said that an effort to pay the settlement from the city’s fund balance would “certainly hinder the city from a cash flow perspective.” Click here to read about how the city is reaching into its fund balance to cover last fiscal year’s $8.5 million deficit.

Marchand also brought up the city’s capital funds, which are bonded out every other year to finance one-time infrastructure investments. The coming budget cycle for Fiscal Year 2027-28 (FY28) is a capital bonding year.

“We could decide, well, let’s just put it off a year or two, and deal with the fact that we’re not able to borrow from these other infrastructural needs,” said Marchand, “because we simply have to pay for these settlements, and we can’t have our debts or schedule go crazy in the outer years. Have you thought about that?”

“I don’t think we could wait on improvements,” said Gizzi, noting that many capital funds will impact school facilities — “a big issue.”

Gormany noted that the capital budget includes necessary upgrades and allows the city to contribute matching funds for external grants. “We do have some infrastructure projects that we could wait a year or so on,” he said. “It’s a conversation to be had… It would depend on how critical the situation becomes.”

East Rock Alder Anna Festa asked about the potential impact of bonding on the city’s fiscal ratings, which impact interest rates. “So if agencies see us borrowing, borrowing, borrowing, what could happen?” she asked.

“Yes, it would be detrimental, eventually, to our credit ratings,” said Gizzi. He added that rating agencies may take into account the merits of each case and interpret the settlements to be different from “irresponsible spending.”

Festa echoed Marchand’s concerns about the long-term impact of bonding on the city’s finances. “We do have a rainy day fund. The state has a rainy day fund,” she said.

Still, the committee unanimously voted on Monday to advance the bonding authorization, teeing up the proposal for further review and a final vote by the full Board of Alders.

The $16.5 million will go to a man who spent 28 years in prison on a conviction that was ultimately overturned due to police and prosecutorial misconduct, as well as new scientific context.

Carmon was convicted for a 1994 shooting that murdered seven-month-old baby Danielle Taft and paralyzed her grandmother, Charlene Troutman.

He maintained his innocence throughout his 28 years in prison, arguing that police and prosecutors rigged the case against him. In 2022, state Superior Court Judge Jon Alander overturned his conviction, concluding that a constellation of suppressed evidence could have cleared Carmon’s name — including the confession of another man, who subsequently recanted his admission of guilt.

In a forceful ruling that would allow Carmon to walk free after nearly three decades, Alander wrote, “How could anyone have confidence in a verdict of guilty in a case such as this?”

He told Carmon at a subsequent hearing: “The criminal justice system failed you.”

While Carmon, Jackson, and Horn have settled their cases, the financial toll of wrongful conviction lawsuits against the city may grow even further.

The city is currently appealing a historic $38 million jury award for the wrongful conviction of Stefon Morant — while facing wrongful conviction lawsuits from George Gould, the surviving family of Ronald Taylor, and Dixwell/Newhallville Alder Troy Streater.