Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-03-25 Finance Committee Minutes Finance Committee Meeting March 25, 2009 Conference Room, Reading Town Hall The meeting convened at 7:30 PM in the Conference Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, MA. Members Present : George Hines, Barry Berman, David Greenfield, Marsie West, Hal Torman, Thomas White, Andrew Grimes, and Bryan Walsh. Members absent : Matthew Wilson Also present : Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, Public Works Director Ted McIntire, DPW Business Administrator Jane Kinsella, School Superintendent Pat Schettini, School Committee member Chuck Robinson, Fire Chief Greg Burns, Police Department Andrew Scribner-MacLean, Board of Selectmen Chair Stephen Goldy, Cemetery Board of Trustee Bill Brown, Library Director Ruth Urell, Town Engineer George Zambouras, Board of Library Trustee member Suzy Axelson, and recording secretary Abby McCabe. There being a quorum the Chair called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. 1.Budget Summary Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur directed the committee to page 2 of the provided report which listed the snow and ice budgets from 2007-2010 for other municipalities for comparison with Readings snow and ice budget shown on page 3. Bob noted that these are the amounts originally budgeted in other town’s not necessarily what was actual used. Pages 6 – 9 are further information about the Reading Public Library including Sunday hours, room rentals and staffing costs. The Town Manager’s and School Superintendent’s budget discussions are shown on page 10. Pages 11-13 are what the Finance Committee will be voting on tonight. The Town Meeting warrant articles begin on page 14 and will also need to be voted upon tonight or continued to next week’s meeting th planned for March 30. 2.Vote on Budget The Town Manager recommended FINCOM start the meeting by approving the budget line items and then move onto the warrant articles. Benefits: Bob LeLacheur reviewed the benefits budget, with health insurance being the largest single component. MIIA member communities had a range of 2% to 9% increases for FY10; Reading’s increase was 2.1%. On a motion by Marsie West to approve the recommended Benefits budget (line B99 = $11,126,082) seconded by Hal Torman; FINCOM voted 7-0-1 to approve with Bryan Walsh abstaining. Vocational Schools: The Town Manager recommends that the Committee vote the minimum amount required for Northeast Vocational which is less than their proposed +4.5%. The Town Manager recommends voting a 1 decrease for the vocational schools because the Town needs to make adjustments across the board and the vocational schools should address the spending situation by cutting back just as the Reading Municipal Government and School Department have done. David Greenfield asked what the net change would be if the 4.5% increase was approved. Hechenbleikner answered that it would amount to an additional $45,000, and also noted that the free cash proposed for FY2010 budget in front of FINCOM is $306,357. On a motion by Andrew Grimes to approve the recommended Vocational School budgets (lines H97 = $291,100 and H98 = $65,000) seconded by Hal Torman; FINCOM voted 7-0-1 to approve with Bryan Walsh abstaining. Capital & Debt: School Committee Chair Chuck Robinson distributed the priority list of school capital improvement project items. Superintendent Pat Schettini explained that the list was based on broader new criteria and also that some of these items may be included in the performance contracting. The Chair asked what had remained the same priority on the new capital list. Bob explained that the Town Manager will have to review the new priority capital list for comparison to the original capital plan and recommends combining it all in one motion at Town Meeting. One member asked about the replacement of the fire panel at Killam School and Fire Chief Greg Burns replied that it was not an emergency, but that this fire panel was older and heat detected as opposed to the newer ones that are smoke detected also with different audio visual capabilities. David Greenfield asked for further clarification on the capital priority list provided by the school department. Peter explained that the town would not be adding money but wants to make sure everything is included in the capital plan and will review if for further recommendation but right now the FINCOM is only voting on the total amount of the capital budget. Tom White asked what would happen to the projects that are substituted out and if they would be subject to substantial price increases. Peter answered that at first glance this is not likely with the proposed items. Barry Berman asked when the Killam school fire panel was slated to be in the Capital Improvement Plan. Bob LeLacheur indicated that the Killam fire panel was included in the FY2012 with the originally more stringent criteria. Barry Berman made a motion to accept the Capital Budget Line Item C99 in the amount of $1,005,725, Seconded by David Greenfield. Vote: (8-0-0 to approve). Marsie West made a motion to approve the Debt Services budget line D99 for $5,705,113, seconded by Hal Torman (Vote: 7-0-1 to approve with Bryan Walsh abstaining). Town Administrative Wages and Expenses: Bob noted that the P&C insurance for $335,000 is included. Andrew Grimes made a motion to approve line TA91 and TA92 for $209,845 and $489,000, seconded by Barry Berman. Vote: 8-0-0 to approve. The Chair asked if there was any discussion on this item. David Greenfield asked what makes up the $489,000. Bob answered that the property and casualty on the page 17 is the largest single component. 2 Hal Torman made a motion to approve the budget line item TB91 and TB92 in the amounts of $155,770 and $1,550 respectively, seconded by Tom White. Vote: 8-0-0 to approve. David Greenfield asked where to find TB92. Bob answered that it is shown in detail on page 26 of the budget book. George Hines asked if the audits were included in this item and Bob indicated that they were not included in the Accounting but in the Finance. Financial Wages & Expenses TC91 & TC91: Bob explained that there is a $40,000 item for MUNIS licensing. The cost of the old license financial systems is also included in the total amount because there is an overlap with the two systems for another year or two. Tom White asked why we need to pay maintenance fees for the old license and Bob replied that we are still using some modules of the old system; if it is not paid our access can be turned off. Marsie West made a motion to accept TC91 in the amount of $1,125,155 and TC92 for $517,300, Seconded by David Greenfield. Vote: 8-0-0. Finance Committee Reserve Fund: Bob recommended this item to be in a separate line item; historically it has been in the Finance department budget. Bryan Walsh asked what this budget was for. Bob explained that is was mainly for emergencies as decided by FINCOM. Hal Torman made a motion to accept TC99 for $150,000, seconded by Marsie West. Vote: 8-0-0. Community Services Wages and Expenses: Bob noted the reduction in services for the Community Services budget and that the largest expense is for the Veteran’s Assistance program which received $100,000. David Greenfield made a motion to accept line item TD91 & TD92 as presented, seconded by Hal Torman. Vote: 8-0-0 to approve. Library Wages & Expenses: Marsie West suggested the Committee review the requested material from the library department on pages 5 through 9. Library Director Ruth Urell explained that they recalculated the cost of the Sunday hours and the new number is $31,253 which is $12,718 less. George Hines indicated that he appreciated the clarification but still believes there is a discrepancy by paying time and half on Sunday for only a few hours. The Town Manager informed the Committee that he thought the revised number is reasonable for the Sunday hours. The Town, according to state law, must pay employees who work more than 37.5 hours overtime. Hechenbleikner further explained that if FINCOM wanted to look into a flat Sunday rate for employees that will not be working more than 37.5 hours with a Sunday shift than this will need to be taken up by the Board of Selectmen. He explained that a competitive rate was important to attract people to work on their day off. Ruth Urell reported that the Board of Library Trustees voted unanimously against reducing the custodian hours on Sundays and the Town Manager agreed that a custodian was needed for security and safety reasons. George Hines asked Ruth what are the optimal Sunday hours. Ruth and the Board of Library Trustee member replied that 4 hours on Sundays were ideal. Marsie West asked about the usage of the library on Sundays. Ruth reported that over 10 Sundays the website received over 1,704 hits mainly relative to 3 homework, over 1,200 visitors to the library on Sunday, and 648 books were checked out over the 10 Sundays. Essentially the Sunday hours have been popular in the community. Discussion about the importance of Sunday hours ensued. Barry Berman made a motion to amend line item TE91 Library Wages to $960,861 and TE92 Library Expenses to $259,337, seconded by Bryan Walsh. Vote: 7-1-0 opposed by David Greenfield. Public Works Wages & Expenses: Hal Torman made a motion t accept TF91 & TF92 Public Works Wages and Expenses for $2,336,104 and $708,795, seconded by Marsie West. Vote: 7-0-1 to approve, abstained by Bryan Walsh. Marsie West made the motion to approve TF93 for Public Works Street Lighting for $230,000 and TF94 for $1,524,627, and TF95 for $500,000 seconded by Barry Berman. Vote 8-0-0 to approve. Public Safety Wages & Expenses: Bob reminded the Committee that this item combines police and fire wages and expenses. Andrew Grimes move to accept TG91 for $7,346,960 and TG92 for $353,854, seconded by Marsie West. Vote 7-0-1 abstained by Bryan Walsh. School Department: Marsie West made a motion to accept SD99 in the amount of $35,996,247, seconded by Hal Torman. Vote: 8-0-0. Town Facilities (amended for Sunday Library hours): Andrew Grimes made a motion to amend line ST99 Town Facilities to the amount of $740,693, seconded by Hal Torman. Vote 8-0-0. Enterprise Funds: Bob informed the group that there is about a 5% increases for next year. He explained that the offsets for the general fund needed to be backed out of these budgets, as the general fund budgets now include these amounts. David Greenfield asked about the storm water litigation and what will happen if the Town lost. Peter answered that the worst case scenario would be to pay the money back and the best case would be told not to do it again. David Greenfield made the motion to accept W99 for $4,794,671, seconded by Marsie West. Vote 7-0-1, Bryan Walsh abstained. Hal Torman made a motion to accept the Sewer Fund line X99 for $4,896,257, seconded by David Greenfield. Vote: 7-0-1, Bryan Walsh abstained. Marsie West made the motion to accept Y99 Storm Water Fund for $291,391, Barry Berman seconded. Vote 7-0-1, Bryan Walsh abstained. 4 Any discussion? George Hines asked a question to clarify this item and Peter Hechenbleikner answered that it included two laborers and some other minor expenses in addition to capital projects. Barry Berman asked about grant funding for this item and Peter answered that he has researched grants but has not found one. 3. Vote on Warrant Articles Peter Hechenbleikner briefly summarized the Warrant articles before leaving at 9pm. He informed the Committee that no action has been taken yet and the Town has reached a settlement and has received $709,987 to date in regards to Article 13. Peter summarized the revolving funds on page 9 and 10 indicating which ones were new. Article 12 is a stabilization fund to buyback vacation time from employees in free cash to fund this article and to add to it in the upcoming years. Article 4: Bob LeLacheur explained that all items have been pushed out to FY2011 if not included in the performance contracting and if they can wait. Andrew Grimes moved to recommend Article 4 as presented including all school capital improvement projects on the recent list, seconded by David Greenfield. Vote 8-0-0 to recommend to Town Meeting. Hal Torman to prepare report for Article 4. All reports should be emailed to George Hines and George will send reports to Bob. Article 5: Bob LeLacheur reviewed the provided outline with the Committee. $269,500 is going into free cash. The Municipal Government’s portion of this amount is $169,500; and $100,000 comes from the shared health insurance costs due to lack of increased enrollment in FY09. The school committee has targeted $200,000 to be given back to free cash to match $100,000 by the Municipal side (the other $69,500 is pushed into FY10), but not at this time. Marsie West asked about the $200,000 from the school and if that could be changed later in time. Tom White asked why the school department can’t take the money out now as opposed to later in the year and what the underlying motives were. Bob told the Committee that they school had not received some fourth quarter payments and indicated that there are just too many unknowns at this point in time. Bob explained that we will know who turned back what in July or August and can make adjustments next year if needed. Discussion about the $200,000 from the school department ensued. Hal Torman moved to recommend Article 5 as presented, Barry Berman seconded. Vote 8-0-0 to recommend to Town Meeting. Bob LeLacheur to write the report for Article 5 and Andrew Grimes to give the presentation. Article 6: Tom White volunteered to prepare the report for Article 6. Bob explained that there was a past fuel billing error and that the Town does in fact have to pay the $9,277.34 to the vendor. 5 Tom White moved to recommend Article 6 in the Town Meeting Warrant, seconded by Andrew Grimes. Vote 8-0-0 to recommend to Town Meeting. Article 7: Bob explained that the Capital Improvement Plan will be a summary page in the warrant and with all the details in the back Appendix for Town Meeting. Andrew Grimes asked what we don’t know about the capital improvement plan. Bob answered that we don’t know what year projects are actually funded. Marsie West suggested that FINCOM all abstain so that the vote is included in the warrant. Andrew Grimes moved to recommend Article 7 of the Town Meeting Warrant, seconded by Barry Berman. Vote 0-0-8, all abstained, not recommend to Town Meeting. Marsie West was assigned to report on Article 7. Article 8: Andrew Grimes moved to recommend Article 8, seconded by Hal Torman. Vote 8-0-0 to recommend to Town Meeting. David Greenfield to prepare Article 8 report. Article 9: Marsie West made a motion to recommend Article 9 as written, seconded by Hal Torman. Vote 8-0-0 to recommend to Town Meeting. Bryan Walsh to prepare Article 9 report. Article 10: Cemetery Board member Bill Brown spoke about the plans for the new facility and how it would greatly increase productivity with the $125,000 from the real estate fund for building designs. Members of FINCOM asked why this was such a priority item for this year but felt that it ultimately was not the best use of money to be spent on design plans unless the building is to be constructed in the next couple of years. Bill Brown encouraged FINCOM members to support this article for safety reasons related to the original design of the building did not take into account the cemetery division. Andrew Grimes made a motion to recommend Article 10 as presented, David Greenfield seconded the motion. Vote 0-6-2 not recommend to Town Meeting. George Hines to prepare report on Article 10. Article 11: Bob summarized the revolving funds previously discussed by Peter detailing the changes to the Inspections Revolving Fund. Marsie West made the motion to recommend Article 11 with the amended amount of $125,672 in the Inspections Revolving fund, seconded by Barry Berman. Barry Berman to prepare the report on Article 11. 6 Article 12: Bob explained that this is a broad free cash fund possibly to be joined by funds from the School Committee next year. The purpose is to pay for all sick leave and vacation buyback. The goal is to be large enough to pay for unexpected instances. Barry Berman asked if Town Meeting can vote to take money out of this stabilization fund. Bob answered yes it is the only way, by a 2/3rds vote at Town Meeting. Marsie West made the motion to recommend Article 12 as written, seconded by David Greenfield.Vote 1-4-3, approved by Barry Berman. George Hines asked why a separate stabilization fund needed to be created as opposed to a general stabilization fund. Bob answered that you could but Town Counsel recommended a separate fund so in the future it would be clear where the money came from because it always needs a Town Meeting vote. Barry Berman volunteered to prepare the report for Article 12. Article 13: The MTBE litigation money came in. Marsie West asked why the money was specifically for the Water Enterprise Fund. Bob explained that the Town joined MWRA and it is related, but this action is not required. Ted McIntire agreed that it is related. Discussion about why the litigation money was being transferred into the Water Enterprise Fund proceeded. The question was raised by David Greenfield whether funds would be better applied to capital projects or operating challenges. In the Enterprise fund it helps reduce water fees but if applied to free cash it would be available as a funding resource for tax based projects. Tom White made a motion to recommend Article 13 as written, seconded by Hal Torman. Vote: 5-0-3. David Greenfield to prepare the Article 13 report. Article 15: th The FINCOM will get an update on Performance Contracting at their April 15 meeting. Marsie West made a motion to recommend Article 15, seconded by Barry Berman. Vote 0-0-8. George Hines to report on Article 15. Bob LeLacheur asked a member of the committee to email him the mission statement. The meeting on thth Monday March 30 will be cancelled. The April 8 meeting is cancelled and it was decided to be held th on Wednesday April 15 to better prepare and have more information for Town Meeting. On a motion made by Marsie West, seconded by Barry Berman the meeting was adjourned at 10:21 PM (8-0-0). 7