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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-09-12 Finance Committee Minutes Finance Committee Meeting September 12, 2012 The meeting convened at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Conference Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Chairman David Greenfield, Vice Chairman Barry Berman, FINCOM members Jeanne Borawski, Mark Dockser and Hal Torman; Karen Herrick arrived 7:50pm. Member absent was Paula Perry. Also present were Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, Fire Chief Greg Burns, Police Chief Jim Cormier and Police Business Administrator Andrew Scribner. Appraiser Victor Santaniello joined the meeting at 8:15pm. Mr. Greenfield called the meeting to order. Fire Department Chief Burns presented an overview of the services offered by the Fire Department, including Advanced Life Support and Emergency Management. Mr. Torman asked how reimbursement grants (eg. FEMA or MEMA) flowed back to the Town? Mr. LeLacheur replied that when the funds come back in the same fiscal year as the original expenses, it is applied as an offset to those costs. However the reimbursement process can take several months and therefore funds usually flow back to cash reserves. Mr. Greenfield asked in non-ALS communities what the process was. Chief Burns replied that usually those locations contract with a private provider. That unit would then join the local fire department at a scene, for example. Reading started ALS in 2003, and sometimes gives and receives mutual ALS aid. He described that there are four groups of firefighters that cover the th 24/7 shifts. Each group is staffed with 11 FF, and a 45 FF is available to cover for injuries. Staffing from a group is used 3 in each of two fire engines; 2 in the ladder truck; and 2 in the ambulance. He added that Reading’s ladder truck was returned today and the warranty would likely cover the damage from an engine fire, and he again thanked the City of Boston and the Boston Fire Department for the loan of a ladder truck for several weeks. Chief Burns reviewed OT figures from his department, and compared it to over a dozen other communities that Reading typically uses for other comparisons. Mr. Greenfield asked if other Fire departments combine full time employees with volunteers. Chief Burns said that presents a problem in attracting, training and retaining quality employees. Ms. Herrick joined the meeting. Chief Burns stated that the department returned about $27,000 in wages that were surplus in the FY12 budget – after the two additional transfers he had requested earlier in the spring. He described how he used six specific months of OT data that spanned high and low time-off periods during the past year in order to determine the causes of OT. He added that with the new software system added last spring (identical to that used by the Police department) future OT discussions and comparisons would be much easier. The leading cause was time-off benefits, especially due to long-term injuries. Mr. Berman asked about Stoneham that showed as having an insurance policy for injuries. Chief Burns explained that policy paid $1,000 per week if a firefighter were injured on duty. Mr. Hechenbleikner stated that the town had looked at such disability policies in the past, but in the long run the premiums would be expected to exceed the benefits. Chief Burns explained to FINCOM that hiring another ‘floater’ FF to be available to fill in for injuries would reduce OT, but he could not state that the salary cost could be paid for by th OT savings. The 45 FF was a clear savings in his analysis done a few years ago. Mr. Berman reminded FINCOM that hiring an extra FF would not be wasted funding even if OT savings did not pay the full cost. Ms. Herrick asked if OT was a way of doing business. Chief Burns described that FF average regular hours were 42/week. Mr. Berman noted that even while calls for service were increasing, ambulance revenues had declined. Chief Burns explained this was due to lower reimbursement rates, especially at the federal level and due to MA Health. The Town had forecast this decline during the annual revenue forecast process for a few years. Mr. Torman asked about using third party billing, and Chief Burns said this was on his to-do list as he has gathered RFQs from other communities. Police Department Chief Cormier directed FINCOM to page 10 of tonight’s packet to a chart that showed Reading versus those same dozen or so similar communities. By any measure, the OT in Police is comparatively low, indicating that the department is efficient. A discussion ensued about specific communities and their OT policies. Chief Cormier referenced a chart that depicted 5,000 OT hours per year for the past several years. For a staff of 39 that worked out to be about 128 hours each. He said when there is staff turnover a wage surplus often will help cover some OT expenses. He noted that of the $25k transfer request requested last spring about $15k turned out to be surplus and was returned to cash reserves at year end. He also noted the significant long- term concessions gained through collective bargaining in reducing time off benefits, including both vacation and sick time available, and how that would put downward pressure on OT. Mr. Greenfield asked about moving employees’ schedules around, and Chief Cormier said he was not allowed to engage in a practice known as ‘bouncing’ from week to week. However he is able to make a schedule change for a long-term injury. Mr. Berman asked if other Police departments use bouncing, and Chief Cormier stated he was not aware of an agency that did that any more. Mr. Hechenbleikner updated FINCOM on the recent exam where nearly 400 candidates applied for an opening in the department, and contrasted the hiring process with that under civil service. In response to a question Chief Cormier stressed that education was the top criteria in the hiring process. He finished his review of OT and Ms. Herrick asked why Lynnfield was not included. Both Chiefs agreed it was a much smaller community and not comparable to Reading. Assessing Appraiser Victor Santaniello described his background in Chelsea, Melrose and Wakefield to FINCOM. Currently he is shared between Wakefield and Reading. His background includes using Patriot software for over ten years – the new system that Reading is installing. He described his approach to budgeting and handed out a worksheet for FY13 to FY17. He prefers to spend funds evenly as often as possible in order to avoid large expenses in a given year. Mr. Greenfield asked if the Wakefield Board of Assessors (BOA) were elected or appointed. Mr. Santaniello replied that issue came up two years ago in a Town meeting and the BOA remains elected. He reports to the Town Administrator on a day-to-day basis but to the BOA on matters pertaining to assessing. Mr. Hechenbleikner reminded FINCOM the Reading/Wakefield agreement was an 18-month trial period which would last through next year’s revaluation. If the arrangement was successful, then Town Meeting in each community would be asked to formalize it under laws specific to the regionalizing the assessing function. Mr. Greenfield said he met with state officials to discuss the Reading assessing function, and his conclusion was that the BOA should be appointed by the Board of Selectmen because they would be able to staff the BOA with the proper balance of financial expertise. This is in contrast to the current voting process. He stated that he does not vote for Assessor because he does not understand the qualifications of candidates relative to the needs of the BOA. Mr. Berman said clearly there have been communication issues in the past. He sees the larger problem as the BOA’s ability to appoint and direct staff that should be working in harmony with other Town staff. He said it doesn’t matter as much how the BOA members are selected. Mr. Hechenbleikner asked Mr. Santaniello for an update, and the reply was high praise of Pat Sullivan and the rest of the office. The inspections are going along well and nearly complete, and the conversion to Patriot is effectively complete. Mr. Hechenbleikner mentioned the scheduled October tax classification preview and November hearing and said that FINCOM should have a couple of members attend. Liaison Assignments Mr. LeLacheur reviewed the FINCOM assignments and an overview of the purpose of the liaison role. FINCOM asked to change a couple of the assignments. Mr. Greenfield reminded everyone that the Committee was currently short by two members and if anyone had suggestions to please pass them along. October Financial Forum Mr. Dockser asked that all reserve funds, revolving funds and enterprise funds be added to the discussion of the general fund. FINCOM agreed to email Town Meeting about the upcoming October Financial Forum, as well as the two openings on FINCOM. Mr. LeLacheur will prepare the correspondence. On a motion by Mr. Torman seconded by Mr. Dockser, FINCOM approved the minutes of August 8, 2012 by a vote of 5-0-1 (Dockser abstaining). On motion by Mr. Greenfield seconded by Mr. Torman the Finance Committee voted to adjourn it’s meeting at 10:15 p.m. by a vote of 6-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Secretary