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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-03-07 Finance Committee Minutes Finance Committee Meeting March 7, 2012 The meeting convened at 7:30 p.m. at the Reading Municipal Light Department, 230 Ash Street, FinCom members David Greenfield, Barry Berman, Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Hal Torman, Marie Ferrari, Jeanne Borawski, Mark Dockser, and Paula Perry , Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, Police Chief James Cormier, Fire Chief Greg Burns, Public Works Director Jeff Zager, Community Services Director Jean Delios, Library Director Ruth Urell, DPW Business Administrator Jane Kinsella, Office Manager Paula Schena and the following list of interested persons: Bill Brown, Library Trustees Vicky Yablonsky and Cherrie Dubois. Reorganization – Mr. Greenfield noted that the Committee needed to reorganize due to Marsie West being elected to the Light Board and John Arena being elected as a Selectman. Ms. Ferrari moved and Mr. Torman seconded to place the name of David Greenfield into nomination as Chairman of the Finance Committee. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-1 with Mr. Greenfield abstaining and Mr. Greenfield was appointed Chairman. Mr. Torman moved and Mr. Dockser seconded to place the name of Barry Berman into nomination as Vice Chairman of the Finance Committee. The motion was approved by a vote of 6-0-0 and Mr. Berman was appointed Vice Chairman. FY13 Town Manager’s Budget The Town Manager noted that the Town did a bond sale today to refinance debt and it is good news for the Town. Mr. LeLacheur noted that we save $4.4 million in interest and we eliminate $130,000 off of debt service. The Town’s outstanding debt has gone from $53 million to $40 million. We are no longer dealing with the MSBA and that greatly simplifies our work. The Town Manager noted that the reduction for the schools will be effective in 2014. The Finance Committee congratulated Mr. LeLacheur and suggested that the Town Manager do a press release with this very good news. Library – Library Director Ruth Urell and Library Trustees Vicky Yablonsky and Cherrie Dubois were present. Ms. Urell noted that the FY13 budget restores to the FY11 levels. It includes a 2% COLA, a new operating system for Noble, the book budget is increased 20%, and she is asking for $7,161 in additional items as listed on page 2 of her handout. The Town Manager noted that the big issue with the Library is the facility. We are next in line for funding and once we receive notification we need a Town Meeting for $7 million in funding. Mr. Berman asked if this budget keeps Sunday hours and asked if we lend through Kindle. Ms. Urell noted this budget does include Sunday hours and noted that the Library residents can borrow content and devices and they will be holding classes. Mr. Berman asked what the cost of E version is versus a hardcopy and Ms. Urell indicated she did not know because we buy as a consortium plus we get some free. Finance Committee Meeting – March 7, 2012 – page 2 Mr. LeLacheur noted that $15K has been added to the FY12 budget to cover new PC’s and monitors to join the operating system. Fire Department – Fire Chief Greg Burns noted that he applied for storm reimbursement in the amount of approximately $20,700 for Irene and $41,000 for the October storm. He hopes to see the money in several months, but the Fire and DPW budgets will have to be amended if we don’t recover the money before July 1, 2012. Mr. Greenfield asked how likely we are to get reimbursed and Chief Burns noted sometimes the figures change but it is very likely we will get reimbursed. Chief Burns noted the Fire budget retains current staffing; covers contract increases and COLA. The overtime budget has been increased to a more realistic level. ALS license fees, equipment supplies for medications and syringes and software licenses are also included in the budget. Mr. Greenfield asked what the drivers are behind the overtime. Chief Burns noted that the FY12 overtime budget is short approximately $95,000. He has had a fire fighter out with a knee injury, a fire fighter out with a cardiac issue, one out with a shoulder injury, another with a wrist injury and yet another with a knee injury. He noted that the concurring injuries are more costly especially around vacation time. Chief Burns also noted that he is down one Fire Fighter due to a retirement. He needs to hire and train a new Fire Fighter and the academy is 13 weeks long. Chief Burns showed a chart of overtime comparison with Metro Fire communities and noted that th Reading ranks the 4 lowest out of 10 communities. Ms. Perry asked if a Fire Fighter is out if they draw on their salary. The Town Manager noted that the Fire and Police are covered by indemnification that pays their medical bills but the salary is paid out of the Department budget. If it is a career ending disability, then they try to get the employee to retire. Non work related injuries use sick time which accumulates with no limit. Ms. Perry asked if that was typical and the Town Manager indicated it is for municipalities because the employees are not eligible for social security disability and there is also no state disability program. Mr. Dockser noted that there was discussion last year about additional staffing versus overtime and he asked if that was the same. Chief Burns indicated he could not guarantee a significant savings if he hired additional fire fighters. Mr. Berman asked if there was a consortium of floaters to use and Chief Burns indicated he was not aware of any. Mr. Greenfield noted that might be worth a discussion but the Town Manager noted that the only problem could be that our Fire Fighters are paramedics and EMT’s and the other towns do not have paramedics and EMT’s. Ms. Ferrari asked how consistent the overtime budget has been over the past four years and Mr. LeLacheur noted that is the only item in the budget that could be underfunded. Chief Burns noted that for ALS requires each paramedic to have 60 hours of training each year. The cities of Woburn, Stoneham, etc. don’t have that expense. Chief Burns noted that the cost of Finance Committee Meeting – March 7, 2012 – page 3 contracting out ambulance billing is approximately $18,000 which is the same as what we bring in doing it ourselves. Police Department – Chief Cormier noted that his department is working with the schools and RCASA to deal with community priorities. The Town is currently in negotiations with the Police Unions and close to settling. The Town Manager noted that the major area of negotiations is to remove the entire department from Civil Service. The Town Manager noted that no civil service decision has been upheld when it was appealed and gone to court. Mr. Berman asked if there would be ramification from the state for leaving civil service and the Town Manager indicated there is not and more and more communities are leaving civil service. The Town Manager noted that many towns are waiting to see our results. Chief Cormier noted the budget includes a 2% COLA. The salary line has increased 9% to absorb the RCASA staff because the grant ends in September. There will also be an additional officer. Overtime has been increased by 12.3% to try to right size this line because it is always underfunded. Money has been added for uniforms and academy for new officers. The Crown Victoria is being discontinued so a lot of equipment will need to be changed because we won’t be able to swap out equipment anymore. Traffic control repair is being moved to DPW because Engineering is more understanding of how the new traffic signals work. Chief Cormier noted that they are changing the rotation of scheduling and it will be easier to monitor. The officers need stability in their life. Overtime this year is approximately $250,000 which is lower than last year. Mr. Greenfield asked how much the detail overtime is and Chief Cormier indicated it is $500,000 but they have been working with DPW and Engineering to help save by having DPW close streets off instead of paying for a detail. Unfortunately, we no longer have the Community Policing Grant which helped offset some of the detail work and paid for RAD classes. Mr. Dockser asked if there are any private grants available and the Town Manager noted that the RCASA applies for smaller grants. Chief Cormier noted that they received a grant for compliance checks and will explore any grant that is available. Mr. Berman asked if there will be a need for more staff when new developments come online. The Town Manager indicated there probably will in Public Safety, Fire and School departments. Two modular classrooms were proposed possibly for all day kindergarten depending on the outcome of the study. He anticipates coming back in the fall for an additional police officer. Mr. Berman asked if there are any numbers for a ratio and Chief Cormier noted that the standard is 2 officers per 1000 residents which would equal 48 officers. Reading has approximately 1.34 officers per 1000 residents equaling 42 officers. Dispatch – Chief Cormier noted that the budget includes a 2% COLA, the state grant has been reduced; the cost for the software license has been moved to the Finance Technology line. There is a small professional development expense – the state is now requiring dispatch certification, but our Dispatchers have already been certified. We are still pursuing regional dispatch but won’t participate unless there is a benefit for Reading. Finance Committee Meeting – March 7, 2012 – page 4 Department of Public Works – Public Works Director Jeff Zager noted that the budget abides by the negotiated contracts and 2% COLA. It restores a seasonal Parks position. It took weeks to clean up the Town after Irene and the Halloween storms and he hopes to get reimbursed for that. Equipment repair is level funded. A hot box was purchased last year and is working great. The overall budget has increased 1% across the board. There is some money for professional development training to get people ready to step up when retirements take place. There have been 25 personnel actions over the past 3 years. The snow and ice budget has been increased to get to the average. Mr. LeLacheur noted that he wants to budget approximately 75% of the average. Mr. Zager noted that recycling has been a huge success and there are four or five communities who are mimicking our program. Mr. Greenfield asked about gas prices. Mr. LeLacheur noted that they budgeted $3.75 per gallon and are paying around $3.18 right now so it will probably end up being a wash. It is a three year contract and we pay a certain percentage over the delivery price. Mr. Greenfield noted that other states use other means for details i.e. flagmen and would like to see that happen in Reading. Mr. Torman asked if the street sign program is complete and Mr. Zager noted it is but now the state is coming up with new regulations for other signs such as stop signs. The Town Manager noted that we received $50,000 from Pulte to design the Hopkins Street intersection. The state will pay for the construction and we pay for the design. Debt and Capital – Mr. LeLacheur noted the projected revenues are $77.12 million. Excluding debt leaves us with net available revenue of $73.87 million. The target for capital is $1.29 million and the capital funding is $1.87 million. Mr. Greenfield asked how much is added due to the refinancing and Mr. LeLacheur indicated he added $120,000. Mr. LeLacheur noted that the CIP requests and funding is pretty even. Our facilities are in great shape and we’re running out of capital projects. Road improvements is an area that needs money. We will probably add a new bulldozer and fire floor replacement to the CIP. Mr. Greenfield asked about the technology wireless access in the capital plan. Mr. LeLacheur noted that the Superintendent wants to do large scale projects that are one time expenses. The Town Manager noted there are two technology pools for schools – replace equipment on a regular basis and infrastructure. Mr. Bill Brown noted that the cemetery building is in deplorable shape and they need a new building. Mr. LeLacheur noted there is $100,000 in FY13 for design and debt in FY14 and FY15. The Town Manager noted that the location has been narrowed down to two and now we need to do the design and make a decision. Mr. Berman asked how much debt service there is now and how much with the proposed Library and Killam projects added in. Bob LeLacheur indicated approximately $40 million now and the projects will add about $1 million - $1.50 million/year. Finance Committee Meeting – March 7, 2012 – page 5 Enterprise Fund – Mr. LeLacheur recommended maintaining the $40 residential annual rate. Wages are up due to overtime. The design work for the Saugus and Aberjona Rivers will begin in FY15. The Town Manager noted that the rivers are drainage ditches and haven’t had any maintenance. The river banks are eroding and affecting the abutting properties. Studies are being done now. Mr. LeLacheur noted that the water retirement went from $27,000 to $73,000 with an additional $47,000 for water OPEB. We will be paying water treatment plant debt up to FY2016. Also, he suggests a statement on water reserves. The Town Manager noted that should be a Selectmen’s policy because they set the rates. Mr. LeLacheur noted the sewer budget increased 7% due mostly to capital. A series of sewer stations need rehab and the MWRA says to expect an 8% increase from FY14 and beyond. Debt Refinancing – S & P’s Rating Report Mr. LeLacheur noted that page 11 of the handout had the write up from Standard and Poor’s on our bond rating. They were impressed with our budget and like our policies. th Board of Health Public Hearing on March 15 The Town Manager noted that the Board of Health is having a hearing on standardization of policies and fees. The Bylaws require the Finance Committee to be notified. No action is th necessary. The hearing is March 15. Minutes A motion by Mr. Torman seconded by Mr. Dockser to approve the minutes of February 29, 2012 as amended was approved by a vote of 7-0-0. A motion by Mr. Dockser seconded by Ms. Ferrari to adjourn the meeting at 10:50 p.m. was approved by a vote of 7-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Secretary