Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutFCMeetingMinutes_04.12.06 Finance Committee ("FinCom") Meeting Minutes April 12, 2006 Attendance: Vice Chairman Mike Batsimm and Mark Nichols were the only Finance Committee members not .n attendance. Also present was Town Finance Director Linda Casey and a number of citizens sat in observance. Town Manager Mark Rees arrived at 7:41pm. I. Call to Order: Chairman Mitchell ("CM") called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. II. Minutes: A)April 4, 2006: Jack Watkins motioned to approve the minutes as provided in the handout. Melinda Coppa seconded the motion which passes unanimously. B) April 6, 2006: Paul Stewart motioned to approve the minutes as provided in the handout. Steve Dawe seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Ill. Old Business: A. Interest Income Analysis Update: Linda Casey, with Mark Rees's approval, made a recommendation to increase the General Fund Interest Income for FY06. The latest estimate for FY06 is set for$700,000, up from $350,000 and includes FY05 audit adjustments. Interest for FY07 could also increase to $700,000, a $275,000 increase over the$425,000 previously estimated. Linda stated the reluctance to go higher over concerns with changes already made by the FinCom to New Growth and the small amount of Free Cash remaining. Mike Giarratano passed out a number of charts with historical trend data. In discussion with Century Bank, where the Town has a$10 million cash balance, he learned that interest rates are expected to increase from 4.25%to 4.75% this month. A discussion ensued about New Growth and interest income adjustments combined. Mike told the members he was comfortable increasing this line item up to $850,000 to $900,000. Linda Casey raised concern over the stabilization fund reserves and not having any room for error. The members reiterated the -)osition of using no Stabilization Fund monies in the budget. Paul Stewart ("PPS") added his comfort in increasing to $850,000 and the need to keep looking at lines individually,not collectively. Mike Giarratano made a motion to increase the General Fund Interest Income from $425,000 to $850,000. Jack Watkins gave the motion a second. All members voted unanimously to increase the amount. B. SpEd Budget Request Update: Melinda Coppa("MC"), based on a discussion with Town Accountant Lyne Savage, told the members the additional information requested should be forthcoming tomorrow. Jack Watkins ("JW") questioned the process to reconcile the FY05 to determine where the money actually went and why it was off. MC reiterated a statement made by Dr. Harutunian, when asked the same question, stating it was the first time he was able to budget SpEd for what he actually thought it would be. Looking back, MC concluded that the expenses in the General Fund represented the total cost of SpEd and did not include any form of reimbursements which totaled roughly$1.5 million; coincidentally, close to the amount the accounting system shows as being under budget. Steve Dawe ("SD") distributed Dr. Harutunian's response to the very same question asked previously. SD then went on to discuss the single worst meeting of his life, the School Committee held the previous night. He added some School Committee members, including Barbara Whidden, still support the existing$2.7 million shortfall estimate. CM was shocked to learn of Ms. Whidden's position. He told members that this goes against what she said to both MC and himself after the meeting on SpEd. KM will ask the School Department to answer this question when they meet next. Newly Elected Board of Selectman, Dan Lanen, arrived to introduce himself and to thank the members for all the work they do. The members went around and introduced themselves to Mr. Lanen. C. Town Meeting Update: CM informed the members of the intent to adjourn the meeting on May 8, to June 5. A discussion ensued on the mechanics to ensure those present agree to adjourn the meeting. PPS told the group that the motion takes precedence over other motions and cited the 3rd edition of"Town Meeting Time, A Handbook of Parliamentary Law", a publication of the Massachusetts Moderator's Association, as source of the rules. CM reminded members that there was sufficient money in the FinCom Reserve account to mail the budget recommendations out prior to the new date. PPS then proceeded to highlight the minor changes made to the warrant, including the date change,prior to final printing. A brief discussion ensued over the changes to Article 11, Elected Official Stipends. He noted the State has two laws which required the wording change to Finance Committee Meeting Minutes of April 12, 2006 Page 2 C. Town Meeting Update (continued): use"no salary and compensation". Article 24, the Capital Improvement Appropriation, reflected the removal of the Library project and a reduction to leasehold improvements from $75,000 to $48,000. PPS noted the Library project is now included in the CPA Appropriation Article. D. Budget Communication Group ("SCG") Update: Eva Hamori gave a quick overview of the three hour meeting she attended with Vice Chairman Mike Batsimm, Board of Selectmen members Rosemary Smedile and Tom Licciardello., School Committee members Bill Kelly and Tim Pybus and Town Manager Mark Rees. Items discussed included the recommendation for$0 stipend and removal of elected official's health insurance. Tom Licciardello discussed a proposed employee health insurance plan that he suggested could save approximately$650,000. In addition, the BCG talked about conducting a Forensic Audit on the School Department, prior to Town Meeting, in an effort to get the public more comfortable with the numbers. The FinCom then went into a brief discussion on what constitutes a Forensic Audit. Citizen Lisa Torbin-Shaw, a CPA and member of Taxpayers Unified for the Future, added that this type of audit would include an audit of the budget. MC informed the members of information she received which, if accurate, shows salaries charged against Community Programs for individuals that do not participate in the program. MC then suggested the audit may just ensure these charges are legitimate. She added that in the past the Department of Revenue notified the School Department that the balance in the Lunch Program was too large and now it is currently operating in a deficit position. Eva stated the BCG did not reach any conclusion but had a good exchange of ideas. Also discussed at the BCG meeting was the: shift of the crossing guards from the School Department back to the Police Department in exchange for transferring the School trucks to the DPW, releasing the Bradstreet School to the Town for a Police Station, relocating the Superintendent's office to the High School, redefining the municipal fee distributions, consolidation between Municipal and School Department payroll and grounds keeping functions and trash fees. MC questioned whether the movement of the Superintendent's office to the High School would jeopardize the SBA reimbursements. JW answered that there is a five year wait period before we could move the office into the school. The FinCom briefly discussed the School Master Building Plan, which includes Bradstreet, due out April 13. A brief interchange between MC and PPS ensued on the safety of reopening Bradstreet as a school. MC noted the recent capital expenditures for increased security and the sprinkler system while PPS sited the single stairwell as problematic. The members then went back to discuss more in detail the proposed changes to Health Care. CM noted this plan does not have any financial implications to FY07 but rather FY08 and has been previously presented to the unions last year during negotiations. Mike Giarratano queried whether there was any discussion of increased deductibles and co- payments and added his belief that these type of increases (in first dollars by the insured) are needed to reduce claims (which the Town pays directly as a result the self insurance component of the health insurance plan). F. Fire Department Personnel Budget: With the arrival of Chief Dolan and Deputy Chief William Martineau, CM took this item out of order. JW recapped the salary shortfall issue and trying to determine if there is an issue not managing the allocation within the department or lack of funding. He added his concern over discussions to reduce the existing overtime/manning line items in order to restore the fire prevention officer in FY07, especially when looking over historical data. Chief Dolan then took the members through the mechanics of the overtime and manning requirements and described an interpretation difference in the contract between the Assistant Town Manager and himself. In addition, a series of injuries has plagued the department; Deputy Chief Martinueau distributed an Extended Leave Report. Chief Dolan added that the minimum manning requirements in the union contracts only allow him to shut down the second ambulance. However, the Board of Selectman has instructed him to keep the ambulance service running. The Chief then explained in further details the variables which will allow him to reallocate funds to restore the lost position. Mark Rees also informed the members of a$120,000 error which did not allocate raises for the union members. SD asked the Chief his opinion on the use of Bradstreet School as a Police Station with vehicles speeding out onto roads or the safety as a school. Chief Dolan added that the Police respond from the road so there should not be an issue with vehicle traffic as with the Fire Department starting from a stationary place. As a school, the Chief added that while this is not an ideal structure, it is much safer, with the new sprinkler system, and could reopen as a school with no problems. He then discussed the use of brick and wood construction which poses a hazard due to duct shaft ventilation that produces air currents. In addition,the Chief noted that the sprinkler system was Finance Committee Meeting Minutes of April 12, 2006 Page 3 F. Fire Department Personnel Budget (continued): designed to address this specific problem and that loss of life in a building like this with a sprinkler system is rare; although he did describe a past fire in Chicago with i building of similar construction but no sprinkler system. His concern with Bradstreet is the configuration of the stairs and entering the building at mid floor which adds to the time to get children out of the building. Mike Giarratano then questioned Fire and Police Worker's Compensation. Town Manger Rees stated that 100% of the salaries and medical costs are paid by the Town for all on the job injuries as required by law, and insurance covers only a portion of it. E. General Fund Budget: PPS brought up the request from the Health Department and outlined his plan to meet with Susan Sawyer and Mark Rees to discuss more in detail. Mark Rees was asked about the status of updating fees. He told the members his plan to present changes, including the fees, all at one time. MC asked Mark to consider consolidating positions and to reinstate the Town Accountants staff for School reporting purposes. MC outlined the issue of having"non-accounting"personnel making accounting decisions and referred back to charges to Community Programs. PPS asked the Town Manager to give the members an idea of the general government's needs to perform their service. The members agreed to lend credibility not to increase or decrease the school budget until they have further information. SD added his belief that the School Department is over budgeting four or five line items that add up to roughly$2.7 million while eliminating up to 65 teaching positions. By adjusting these items, SD believes the School Department can operate under the amount allocated by the Town Manager without eliminating any teaching positions. JW strongly took issue with SD's statement and distributed a per pupil spending report,by town, to support his belief that the School Department isn't receiving adequate funding. SD countered this by stating that per pupil spending was a different piece of the equation. He added that his proposed$2.7 million restoration of teachers still provides an inadequate education and that he never made reference to the type of education; he only presented a proposal to save teachers. W.Adjournment: The Board of Selectmen invited all Committee members to the Rededication of the Town Clock on Monday, April 24 at 6pm. CM asked the members to develop a list of priorities for the upcoming meeting. With the SpEd issue still unresolved, the start of school vacation, town meeting date change and the extensive work already done, the members agreed to take a week off. At 8:25pm Melinda Coppa made a motion, seconded by Eva Hamori, to adjourn. The members unanimously voted to adjourn. Approved: Vote: X: