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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-09-22 Finance Committee Minutes Finance Committee Minutes of September 22, 2020 Present: Chairman Sasha Weinreich, Edward MacMillan, Jennifer Burns-Luz (arrived 7:35PM), Christine Allen, Kevin Foley, Dustin Silk, Regina Kean, Thomas Ringler, Denevan O’Connell Absent: None Non-Finance Committee Members: Finance Director Lyne Savage Ms. Weinreich read a quick statement before the meeting started “Pursuant to Governor Baker’s March 12, 2020 Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law, G.L.c 30A, Section 18 and the Governor’s March 15, 2020 Order imposing strict limitation on the number of people that may gather in one place, this meeting of the North Andover Finance Committee will be conducted via remote participation to the greatest extent possible.” Ms. Weinreich called the meeting to order at 7:00PM via conference call. Ms. Weinreich did a roll call. Ms. Weinreich welcomed the newest members to the Finance Committee: Denevan O’Connell, Regina Kean and Dustin Silk. Ms. Weinreich led the Pledge of Allegiance. Public Comment No public comment. Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman MOTION: Mr. O’Connell motioned to vote for Sasha Weinreich as Chairman. Ms. Allen seconded. Roll Call- MacMillan- yes, Allen- yes, O’Connell- yes, Ringler- yes, Silk- yes, Foley- yes, Kean- yes, Weinreich- yes. MOTION PASSED 8-0. MOTION: Mr. Ringler motioned to vote for Christine Allen as Vice Chairman. Mr. Foley seconded. Roll Call- MacMillan- yes, Allen- yes, O’Connell- yes, Ringler- yes, Silk- yes, Foley- yes, Kean- yes, Weinreich- yes. MOTION PASSED 8-0. Review of Town Revenues for FY21 to date Ms. Savage reported the Town Revenues for FY21 through August 31, 2020 as follows: -Property tax is 24% which is in line with last year - Motor vehicle tax is down about 2-3% below last year due to a software conversion which put a hold on payments coming in through the website. - Meals tax will not be reported until October due to COVID-19. Ms. Weinreich asked Ms. Savage to explain what it means to not be collected on. Ms. Savage explained that it is collected quarterly but since COVID-19 it has not been reported. Ms. Savage stated she will report the meals tax at the next meeting. Ms. Kean asked what the target is. Ms. Savage explained is it $150,000.00-$154,000.00 per quarter. - Ambulance is up 3.3% - Building inspections are at 13.7% which is down slightly from last year Overall revenues are on target even though there are fluctuation in different categories. Water/sewer are on target. Stevens Estate is at 6.74% since the events have been small due to restrictions due to COVID-19 that are in place for large events. Ms. Savage stated retained earnings will be depleted by the end of fiscal year. Mr. Ringler asked Ms. Savage if there are any delays in payments due to COVID-19 and stated his concerns about the impact it will have. Ms. Savage mentioned funds in escrow are paying property taxes on time. Ms. Savage stated that she and Ms. Rodrigues feel that an impact will be seem more in FY22 or FY23 and that the budget will be conservative in FY22. Ms. Savage stated it could be possible to receive additional state aid. Mr. Ringler asked if there will be a loss at the Stevens Estate. Ms. Savage stated that once the $40,000.00 is depleted there will have to be a discussion how to build the budget for FY22. Ms. Kean asked about the ambulance rates. Ms. Savage explained that it is difficult to tell the effect the rates have had and the rates will be raised again. Review of CARES Act Spending Ms. Savage presented a review of the CARES act spending. Ms. Savage explained that FY20 North Andover was awarded $592,000.00 based on estimates submitted of $850,000.00 of that which $260,684.00 has been spent. The breakdown is as follows: $191,000.00 for Town and $68,000.00 for School. Remaining balance will roll into FY21. Ms. Savage explained that $857,057.00 has already been spent in FY21 with Town spending $33,000.00 and the School at $823,000.00. Ms. Savage explained that the shift was that the School wasn’t prepared in FY20 to know what was needed. There are also $285,000.00 in purchase orders for the school department. $1.4 million has been spent out of the $2.7 million. Ms. Allen asked Ms. Savage about a line item for technology. Ms. Savage explained that with the CARES Act everything needs to be spent and received by 12/31/202. Ms. Savage explained that extra teachers will be financially covered and Town Manager Rodrigues is working on financial coverage now for January 2021 through June 2021. Ms. Weinreich asked Ms. Savage if all of technology costs will be covered by CARES Act. Ms. Savage explained that it will be covered by either CARES or FEMA, FEMA will cover 75% and CARES will give the other 25%. Ms. Savage stated she will send the breakdown to Ms. Weinreich to share with the Committee. Ms. Kean asked about the differential between supplies and infostructure. Ms. Savage stated she will keep the Committee updated. Ms. Weinreich stated Jennifer Burns-Luz joined the meeting at 7:35PM. Update on Stevens Estate Long Term Advisory Committee Ms. Luz presented the recommendations of the Stevens Estate Long Term Advisory Committee. Ms. Luz explained the recommendation of the Committee is that the Town finds a non-profit partner to help run the Estate, the final report recommended to the Board of Selectmen is to partner with the Trustees of Reservations. Mr. Ringler asked Ms. Luz about the turnaround time on this. Ms. Luz explained the role of the Stevens Estate Long Term Advisory Committee was to provide a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen and from there the Board of Selectmen will make the decision as to the next step. Ms. Luz explained that the Town Manager received a legal opinion and they are not sure of the timeline since that report came in. Mr. Ringler expressed his concern with operating loss weakening the Town and that outside of the Estate needs repairs. Ms. Weinreich mentioned that the Stevens Estate Long Term Advisory Committee is now finished and it is out of their hands. Ms. Kean asked if an analysis had been down with any other potential non-profits. Ms. Luz explained several were met with and it was explained to discuss those non-profits that did not have an endowment requirement. Ms. Luz explained that they also discussed looking into CPC funds and other ways to pay for capital improvements that will be needed. Ms. Allen responded to Mr. Ringler stating that an RFP needs to be developed and it will take time to do so. Ms. Kean asked Ms. Savage what would happen if the Enterprise Fund is depleted at the Stevens Estate. Ms. Savage stated that the General Fund money will need to be used as it cannot be run in a deficit. Schedule & Committee Discussion Ms. Weinreich explained that scheduling future meetings will be held off until the next meeting when the budget calendar is available. Appoint Members to the Revenue & Cost Committee Ms. Weinreich asked if anyone would want to volunteer to be on the Revenue & Cost Committee. Mr. O’Connell expressed his interest. Ms. Weinreich stated she will take the second seat until someone steps up and would like to do so. Old Business None Approval of June 15, 2020 Minutes Ms. Allen motioned to approve minutes of June 15, 2020. Mr. Ringler seconded. Roll Call- MacMillan- yes, Allen- yes, Ringler- yes, Luz- yes, Foley- yes, Weinreich- yes. Motion approved 6-0. Ms. Allen made a motion to adjourn at 7:56PM, seconded by Mr. Ringler. Motion approved 9- 0. Respectfully submitted, Jillian A. Brothers Executive Assistant