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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-10-09 Finance Committee Minutes Ory OFNFgO Town of Reading Meeting Minutes RECEIVED OWN CLERK :.DING. MASS. Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Finance Committee 21114 NOV 13 P 1: Ob Date: 2014-10-09 Time: 7:30 Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Conference Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: General Business Attendees: Members - Present: Chairman Mark Dockser, Vice Chair Paula Perry, members Peter Lydecker, Anne Landry, Craig Merry, and Marc Moll Members - Not Present: Members Karen Herrick and Paul McNeice Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Superintendent of Schools John Doherty, School Committee Chair Chris Caruso, School Committee member Chuck Robinson, Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom, and Martha Sybert Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Chairman Mark Dockser called the meeting to order at 7:50pm. Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom started the meeting off by going over FY14 revenues saying we had some pleasant surprises this year including motor vehicle excise taxes and property taxes. She mentioned Smart Growth reimbursement and FEMA storm reimbursements were a nice surprise because we don't always get those so we can't budget for them. Mr. LeLacheur stated the projected revenues for FY16-17 is just under three percent and a few things we need to watch for is State Aid being higher or lower and RMLD wants to reduce or eliminate their $2.3 million payment to the town. The biggest accommodated cost this year will be health insurance as we are in the middle of the RFP. It is typically a one year negotiation and we have asked for a plan similar to the one we have now and the carriers will offer the closest match plus other money saving options. The town has considered joining the GIC however the only problem with that is we won't know any numbers when we sign up. Mr. LeLacheur noted the Reading 2020 working groups have a lot of ideas in the works for revenue however they are more long term. He said the casino vote will have an effect on revenues but we are not sure when we would see those changes. ® Dr. Doherty was asked to give the committee a look at the accounts the school Is dealing with. Dr. Doherty explained the school department programs have revolving funds which means what money gets put into an account must be used for what the account was made for. Page 1 FINCOM Minutes 2014/10/09 page 2 Ms. Perry asked if there was a general amount that needs to be in the funds and Dr. Doherty stated they try to keep a years' worth in the account as a cushion but sometimes that is just not doable. Dr. Doherty explained the special education tuition is for bringing in students from outside communities. Special education kids do not pay tuition but Rise students do and that's why the gain/loss numbers Fluctuate so much. If they do the lottery system with the full day kindergarten again, it will bring in less revenue and they will have to adjust the budget for that. Dr. Doherty said they need to build up the account so if they want to offer free full day kindergarten to everyone, they can, but if they put money into the full day kindergarten account they can only use that money for that program. Dr. Doherty explained there is more In Chapter 70 funding if more kids are in free full day kindergarten which would bring up revenues for the budget. He said we would get more in Chapter 70 funding if we offered the free full day kindergarten than we get from the tuition so that's why they want to offer the free full day kindergarten. He also noted the more kids in free full day, the more money we would receive from Chapter 70. Mr. Dockser reminded the committee that they will have to make a recommended use of free cash soon and at some point we will need some sort of an override to not shrink the funds. Health insurance is the biggest question right now in the budget but it is estimated to go up between 11-16% this year. Nationally, between 8-11% and then another 3-6% on the Federal side. One percent is equivalent to $100,000 increase. The committee decided to build the budget on an 8% increase and let free cash handle the over, If need be, when we find out the real number. If by some miracle it is less than 8% increase, FINCOM will then decide if they want to put that money back into free cash or somewhere else depending on how much it is. Mr. Dockser made a motion to accept Article 3. second by Mr. Lydecker and passed with a 6-0-0 vote. Ms. Landry will report on this Article to Town Meeting. Ms. Perry made a motion to accept Article S. second by Mr. Moll and Passed with a 6-0-0 vote. Mr. Lydecker will report on this Article to Town Meeting. Ms. Landry made a motion to declare a short list of five items as surolus. second by Ms. Perry and passed with a 6-0-0 vote. Ms. Angstrom shared with the board her final report on the disposition of surplus trucks at the RMLD. She stated an anonymous letter informed her of the situation. Upon further investigation she found multiple areas of concern. She received a second anonymous letter stating the town has also sold to employees in the past. She looked into that incident which was in October of 2013 but did not find anything too concerning. She stated the violation will fall on the employee not the town if the employee purchases equipment from the same division and does not fill out a disclosure form. Ms. Angstrom stated she also looked back 3-4 years and did not see anything else that stood out. The Finance Committee formed a subcommittee at their last meeting for their investigation into the RMLD matters. They will hold open and public meetings and the members of that subcommittee will be Mark Dockser, Paul McNeice, Peter Lydecker, and Craig Merry. Page 1 2 FINCOM Minutes 2014110109 page 3 Ms. Perry made a motion to accept the minutes as written from the September SO`h Financial Forum, second by Ms. Landry and passed with a 6-0-0 vote. Ms Perry made a motion to accept the minutes as written from the September 29`h meeting, second by Mr. Lydecker and passed with a 6-0-0 vote. Ms. Perry made a motion to adiourn at 10:10 pm, second by Mr. Moll and approved with a 6-0-0 vote, Respectfully submitted, " Secretary Page 13