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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFCMeetingMinutes_03.28.16_PublicHearing TOWN OF NORTH ANDOVER School Administration Building Meeting Minutes Public Hearing Meeting Date March 28, 2016 Bill Callahan, Chairman BC X Susan Almono, SA Donald Elliot, DE Vice Chair Timothy Tschirhart, TT X Karin Blake, KB X Liz Gerron, LG X Thomas Ringler, TR X Angela Ciofolo, AC X Chris Nobile, CN X Jennifer Goldman, JG X Note: All FINCOM votes are subject to change upon receipt of new information. Note: Documents used in this meeting are listed in Document Table, herein. Call to order 6:45 Public Hearing BC: Called the public hearing to order, and went on to say that we are here to take any questions or comments that the public has. BC: We have been crunching numbers for the past 5 months and have heard from many of the people in this room and have asked them many questions with regards to the budget. We are pretty well satisfied with the budget TT: Most important and most impressive is all the communication that we received from every member of the town, department managers and the school department. I also want to pay special attention to Lyne Savage, since she is behind a lot of the leg work. TT: Went on to say that as a result of the leadership, North Andover is one of the lowest Tax increases. That is a compliment to the T Discussion starts on or about 6:48/00:02:56 on video time BC: Mr. Novak we will be happy to hear from you and specifically on Warrant Article 15. Novak: Stated that the town implemented the town meal tax back in 2011 during a financial crisis and I think that now is the time to get rid of it. TT: Responded that the Town has made great strides in creating reserves (with regards to this tax) and not just for a rainy day and it also helps to ensure our cost of borrowing is kept low. 1 March 28, 2016 (Public Hearing) Novak: Responded and stated that this meal tax is just a small portion of the budget and it seems like it will be fairly painless to get rid of. KB: This little bit allows us to put something away. Those reserves will come later when interest rates climb. CN: Spoke of the revenue that the town has received over the years. That money represents real services that our town has. Out o Many of the Board members gave their reasoning to Novak on why the meal tax should remain and all of the benefits to the budget and to the Town. The Town is much better with this meal tax than without. Novak: Expressed his disagreement with the Board, and there support with wanting to keep the meal tax in place. He felt the Town is doing well enough, and should get rid of the meal tax. JG: Stated that there is no such thing as surplus in this town, also stated in her opinion we are running very lean. BC: Mr. Novak I appreciate you making the time to come down here, and also your interest in the Thank you. Adjourn 7:10 TT: Made a motion to adjourn KB: Second the motion All in favor Document Table SUBJECT FROM TO * 1. Draft 2016 Annual Town Meeting Warrant Maylor Fincom --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * located in the DropBox Note all videos of meetings can be reviewed on the Home page of the North Andover Website Directions: 1. 2. Click on Check Schedule 3. Click on the appropriate date of meeting on the calendar 4. Click on Finance Committee ( in middle under calendar) 5. Click on Streaming Video (on right) 6. Video should appear 2 March 28, 2016 (Public Hearing)