Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-10-14 Finance Committee Minutes Finance Committee Meeting October 14, 2009 Reading Senior Center The meeting convened at 7:30 PM in the Senior Center. FINCOM Members Present : Committee Chair George Hines, Vice Chair David Greenfield, Barry Berman, Kevin Leyne, Hal Torman, Bryan Walsh, Marsie West, Tom White and Matthew Wilson. Also Present: Board of Selectmen Chair Ben Tafoya and members Steven Goldy, James Bonazoli, and Camille Anthony; School Committee members Chuck Robinson, Karen Janowski, David Michaud and Elaine Webb; Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, Town Accountant Gail LaPointe, Fire Chief Greg Burns, Police Chief Jim Cormier, Library Director Ruth Urell, Library Assistant Director Doreta Socha, DPW Director Jeff Zagar, DPW Business Manager Jane Kinsella, Interim School Superintendent John Doherty, School Director of Finance & Operations Mary DeLai, Vocational School Committee member Marie Ferrari, Richard Curtis, Bill Brown and Stephen Hagan from the Reading Advocate. There being a quorum the Chair called the meeting to order at 7:36 PM. FY09 Revenues Town Accountant Gail LaPointe reviewed the Town’s revenues for FY09. The net total for FY09 was $400,000 over what was budgeted from various revenues sources such as building permits and health permits and all other revenue sources. FY09 experienced a $1 million dollar cut in state aid but it was offset by the SFSF grant. The Town also experienced $150,000 loss in Motor Vehicle excise tax than expected, $400,000 Federal Prescription Insurance Subsidy (this is a one time occurrence), and $250,000 in all other revenues. FY09 Expenditures The Town was a total of $910,000 under budgeted expenses for FY09. The FINCOM had unused Reserves of $100,000; the School department had a $218,000 surplus to off set the 9-C cuts from January, and the municipal government had $385,000 in surplus above and beyond their April 9c cuts done at Town Meeting. The reserves as of September 2009 include $5,100,000 in free cash, $1,490,300 in the General Stabilization Fund, and $150,000 in FINCOM reserves to make a total of $6,740,300 total in reserves. The total excludes stabilization funds designated for specific purposes such as the Gateway Smart Growth District adopted in 2007. Projected FY11 Revenues: Ms. LaPointe discussed the projected revenues for FY11 and how they will change from FY10. Property taxes are projected to increase by $1.5 million, local revenues are expected to decrease by $0.4 million, intergovernmental revenues are assumed to stay level because state aid is unknown at this time, and total transfers and available are expected to decrease by $0.6 million resulting in a total change of half a million dollars or a 0.7% decrease from FY10 to FY11. Mr. Berman asked why the Town is budgeting for the same level of funding rather than less for FY11? Mr. Hines asked if the federal stimulus funds will be available next year and the Town Manager responded that it all depends on how the state decides to spend that money. Ms. Anthony asked why the federal stimulus money is 1 in the projected budget if we are not sure if any funds will be available. The Town Manager explained that if we do get some federal stimulus money the Town can’t spend it until it is appropriated and therefore it should be included in the budget. Accommodated Costs Update for FY11 Mr. LeLacheur reviewed the accommodated costs and explained that the health benefits are the biggest unknown at this point in time because we won’t have the exact numbers until January. The total projected FY11 accommodated costs is $25.7 million. A November financial forum may not be necessary but if there is one we will know the results of the local meals tax vote, the status of the 9-C cuts in FY10, and we will know the Governor’s FY10 revised budget by then. Local Meals Tax Discussion The FINCOM Chair explained that the local meals tax option came up during the September financial forum and it was suggested to add this to the next financial forum’s agenda. The FINCOM has discussed this at their last meeting but have not voted on the issue and would like to hear from the Selectmen, the School Committee and anyone else wishing to comment. The Town Manager directed everyone to pages 6-8 of the provided handout which lists all the establishments in Town that hold a common victualler’s license and all would be subject to the tax if implemented. A few others may be also be subject to the tax that is not included in the list. The packet also includes Town Counsel’s explanation of what constitutes a meal and what is and isn’t taxable. To address the FINCOM’s question from their last meeting, a sunset clause for the tax is not allowed during the time of adoption but the Town can certainly rescind at any time. The rough estimate of a full year’s value is between $125,000 and $150,000. Board of Selectman Chair Ben Tafoya expressed support for this opportunity to generate some money for the Town. School Committee Chair Chuck Robinson expressed support emphasizing that the money it would generate could be helpful to the schools especially since they have already had to lay- off several positions and doesn’t think the 1% tax will deter people from eating out. Mr. Hechenbleikner explained that this is a local tax that is collected by the state but then returned to the localities. Mr. White did not believe this tax should be adopted and pointed out that the costs of various items are increases along with other taxes. A few other members of the FINCOM and School Committee also offered comments in support of the tax. th Mr. Tafoya announced that the Selectmen will be discussing the meals tax on their October 20 meeting agenda at 8:30 PM. Ms. Ferrari from the Northeast Vocational School Committee presented information about the school’s budget. Town Meeting will be voting on changes to the vocational school’s budget in Article 4 in November. Ms. Ferrari distributed the school’s FY10 operating budget and a comparison between Reading Memorial High School and the Northeast Vocational school showing the breakdown of per pupil costs. FINCOM will need to make a recommendation to Town Meeting because the vocational school’s budget has changed since the Annual Town Meeting approval. Article 4: On a motion by Mr. Greenfield and seconded by Ms. West, FINCOM voted to approve line B99 as written in the amount of $175,000 by a vote of 9-0-0. 2 On a motion by Ms. West and seconded by Mr. Torman, FINCOM voted to approve line D99 as written in the amount of $60,000 for the Performance Contracting by a vote of 9-0-0. On a motion by Mr. Torman and seconded by Mr. Greenfield, FINCOM voted to accept line E97 in the amount of $28,257 for the Northeast Vocational School by a vote of 0-8-1 (Mr. White abstained). The vote does not carry. Mr. Hechenbleikner and Mr. LeLacheur recommended that FINCOM wait to approve this budget item until more information is available and more work has been done by the vocational school on their budget. On a motion by Ms. West, seconded by Mr. Greenfield, FINCOM voted to approve line K91 in the amount of $12,000 for the Community Services Wages by a vote of 9-0-0. On a motion by Ms. West, seconded by Mr. Walsh, FINCOM voted to approve line K92 in the amount of $50,000 for Community Services Expenses for Veteran’s Benefits by a vote of 9-0-0. On a motion by Mr. Berman, seconded Mr. Torman, FINCOM voted to accept line V99 as written in the amount of $842,443 for the School Department by a vote of 9-0-0. On a motion by Mr. Berman, seconded by Mr. Torman, FINCOM voted to approve line C7 in the amount of $75,000 for the Finance Department by a vote of 9-0-0. The Board of Assessor’s have requested to change the existing assessing software system and also includes the costs of training the new person hired for the position. The Town’s existing software is very dated and not used by many other communities and therefore it will be very hard to find a new assessor who is familiar with it. Only a handful of people applied two years ago when the position was last vacant so they intend to replace the software and then hire someone with experience using the new program. Article 3: On a motion made by Mr. Greenfield, seconded by Ms. West, FINCOM voted to accept as written Article 3 on the amendment to the Capital Improvements Plan by a vote of 8-0-0 (Mr. Leyne was absent for this vote). Article 6: On a motion by Mr. White, seconded by Mr. Greenfield, FINCOM voted to approve Article 6 as written by a vote of 9-0-0. Mr. Leyne will make the report to Town Meeting. Article 7: Article 7 was postponed to Annual Town Meeting in April. 3 Article 8: On a motion made by Ms. West, seconded by Mr. Greenfield, FINCOM voted to accept Article 8 as written by a vote of 9-0-0. Mr. White will make the report to Town Meeting on Article 8. Article 9: On a motion by Mr. Greenfield, seconded by Mr. Torman, FINCOM voted to accept Article 9 as written by a vote of 9-0-0. Mr. Torman to make the report to Town Meeting on Article 9. Article 10: Article 10 was indefinitely postponed by the Cemetery Board of Trustees. Article 11: On a motion by Ms. West, seconded by Mr. Berman, FINCOM voted to approve the local meals tax in Article 12 as written by a vote of 8-1-0 (Mr. White voted to disapprove). Mr. Wilson will make the report to Town Meeting on Article 12. Other Business: One FINCOM meeting member reminded the committee of the open meeting law. Mr. LeLacheur reminded the Committee that Town Meeting is scheduled to begin on Monday th November 9 and there are not meetings planned before then but email him if anything comes up. th The brief write ups for each Warrant Article should be sent to Bob by Monday October 19. On a motion by Mr. Berman, seconded by Ms. West, the FINCOM meeting was adjourned at 10:07 pm by a vote of 9-0-0. 4