Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-03-03 Finance Committee Minutes0 FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING March 3, 1987 The meeting was called to order by Chairman O'Leary at 7:45 p.m. in Room 16 of the Town Hall. Members present were Allen, Burditt, Catalfamo, Harrison, Lynch & McMenamin. Also present was Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner. Chairman O'Leary reviewed the budget hearing schedule with the Committee. On Thursday, March 5, Police and Fire will have their budget hearings, with the Finance Dept. (including the Fin Com's budget and the Reserve Fund) if time allows. On Tuesday, March 10, the School Committee and other sectors of the Finance Dept. not covered previously. On Thursday, March 12, Public Works and the CPDC will be present for their budget hearings. On Thursday, 3/19 warrant articles, not previously voted on at the time of the appropriate department's budget hearing, will be acted upon. Chairman O'Leary informed the Committee that he intends to limit discussion for each budget hearing to 45 minutes, .with the exception of the School Dept, who will be allowed 1 hour for discussion. The Chairman would like to see the budgets thoroughly, but expeditiously, reviewed. The warrant for the Annual Town Meeting has 38 articles and the Chairman pointed out that the Committee will be voting on 32 or 33 of those which • may have a financial impact on the town. The topic of the meeting turned to the Voke School budget. Chairman O'Leary attended a Voke School budget meeting on Thursday, 2/26. He reported that the Voke School Committee has not reached an agreement on the budget. At least 5 of the members stated they will not vote to pass the budget unless further cuts are made. The FY 87 budget for Reading was $249,540 and proposed for FY 88 is $249,753. The Chairman feels that due to decreasing student enrollment from Reading (down 158) that a de- crease in Reading's share of the budget would be appropriate. Reading currently has 69 students enrolled at the Voke. The per pupil cost for FY 88 is expected to be $3,619 vs. FY 87 $2,970 which is up 17.88. The total school enrollment is down 3..31 in FY 87 (1329 students vs. 1374). Another issue of concern is the high teacher/student ratio. There are currently 142 teachers at the school. Many of the School Board members feel it is over staffed. The Voke School public budget hearing is not scheduled until 3/27, and thus the vote will not be in until after Reading's deadline of 3/20. Member Reandy Harrison asked what could be done to put the reins on this budget. Chairman O'Leary said that the Committee could vote a lower amount. It was the Chairman's opinion that a 158 reduction in the budget would be appropriate, proportionate to Reading's enrollment reduction. The business of the meeting then turned to its major purpose of reviewing the £Y 88 budget. Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner handed out compre- hensive budget packages. He explained that the package was complete except • for the Police salary & wage budget. School Dept. budgets were also made available to Committee members. Mr. Hechenbleikner then reviewed the Fin Com page two March 3, 1987 changes made by the Board of Selectmen on Monday, March 2: DPW request 40 for HVAC technician was eliminated; one-half position of custodian for the new DPW garage eliminated; Fin Com budget was accepted with the pro- vision that the auditors fees be held at $35,000 vs, the $45,000 re- quested by the auditors; and the town counsel fee be adjusted to $85,000 vs. request of $90,000. There was a brief discussion on the legal retainer fee and to...what services the Town is entitled . The Town Manager explained that the retainer covers all legal services except: labor relations, legal services for the MLD, and out-of-pocket expenses (i.e., printing costs, filing fees, etc.) Chairman O'Leary then went thru the budgets to get a sense of the Committee as to what department heads they might want to have present for hearings to answer specific questions. It was determined that the following depart- ment heads, in addition to Fire, Police, and School, wouldbe asked to be present for a budget hearing during the next two weeks: Community Planning and Development Commission, Board of Appeals, DPW, and possibly Data Processing. Regarding other budgetary concerns/changes, the Town Manager pointed out that the Board of Selectmen had eliminated his salary adjustment account in which he had provided for increases for the clerical union. They didAwant to appropriate funds which are undetermined in amount and time of use. Also the Animal Control account has been adjusted to reflect that the bid for the new minivan was lower than should have been the case (up from $8k to $llk). Regarding the Data Processing account, Chairman O'Leary stated that he wouldrtncomfortable voting for $50,000 unless a plan is put into effect governing the direction of the Town's EDP systems. He read an auditing letter from Arthur Andersen which stated that they clearly see the need for the Town to have such a plan in effect to guide in the planning and development of an EDP system. Member Reandy Harrison indicated that he would like to see a listing of all grants received by the Town's Council on Aging prior to voting on their budget. Regarding Capital Expenditures for FY 88, the Town Manager should have listing ready by next Tuesday (3/10) which,in addition to the expenses, willshow where the revenues will come from. A copy of a draft of policy guidelines for the Auditing Committee was pro- vided to members for their review and subsequent vote. Prior to voting Com- h(ittee members would like to have a legal opinion on whether or not the auditing Committee is considered a standing committee under the new Charter, which would effect the make-up of the members of the Committee. Chairman O'Leary encouraged members to contact him with any questions for department heads on their budgets at least 48 hours prior to the budget hearings, particularly if the nature of question made it likely that the answer would not be readily available the night of the hearing. There was a brief discussion of the Special Needs budget of the School Committee. It was moved and seconded to adjourn at 10:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 2 Z,"/') /- � - ,& - Ann D. Hale, Clerk