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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-03-05 Finance Committee Minutes' ~o`y OFR£a pi fsJB'~xc°ne°~r Finance Committee Meeting k~ h SS. March 5, 20080- r1 The meeting convened at 7:05 p.m. in the Conference Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Vice Chairman Marsie West, Finance Committee members Tom White, George Hines, David Greenfield, Hal Torman, Barry Berman and Matt Wilson, Also present were, Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, Town Accountant Gail LaPointe, Fire Chief Greg Burns, Board of Assessors members Robert Nordstrand and Ralph Colorusso and School Committ ee members Elaine Webb, Karen Janowski and Chuck Robinson. Marsie West called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM. Bob LeLacheur reviewed tonight's agenda and had the members of the Board of Assessors begin the meeting. Assessors Board of Assessors members Robert Nordstrand and Ralph Colorusso spoke to the Finance Committee regarding the departure of Town Appraiser Dave Billard. They reported that they are actively looking for a replacement but there is not too much of a response. They feel the salary being offered fails in comparison with other communities; they also mentioned that the appraisal software (CAMA) is not widely used in this area. Dave Billard was recruited by the Town of Andover with a 20% increase in pay. The Board of Assessors' feels they need a salary in the high $80,000s to be competitive. At this time the position is graded at $62,000 - $72,000. A counter offer was considered but 1 that entailed going to the Board of Selectman for a classification change. Mr. Billard did not want to go through that process. Any increase in pay is not included in the FY09 budget, but the Board wanted to give the Finance Committee a heads up to what is happening at this time because they foresee coming back to the Finance Committee to get an increase in salary. Bob LeLacheur referred the members to the section. of the Assessor's budget. Robert Nordstrand outlined the quality of work Dave Billard had performed for the Town. A question was asked regarding the uniqueness of the CAMA software. Ralph Colorusso stated that the software is not outdated but perhaps there is better software. The upkeep of this software was relatively inexpensive for the Town because Mr. Billard was an intricate part of the software. Ralph Colorusso gave an explanation to the Board as to how the CAMA software and the other available software deal with data collection. The software is used mostly in the western part of the state malting it harder to hire someone in this area. Peter Hechenbleikner stated that the Town can not look into another system at this time; they need to find an assessor first. There are a lot of variables involved. Robert Nordstrand feels we may be forced to change if we can not find a person who can use CAMA. The Board of Assessor's are looking for someone with at least 3 years of experience with assessing and also someone who has been before the Appellate Tax Board. Peter Hechenbleikner informed the Finance Committee that they are about to enter a contract for a pay classification study. Robert Nordstrand reported to the Finance Committee that Dave Billard left them in a good working position and will be available to them for consulting. Fire Department Budget Fire Chief Burns reviewed the Fire Dept. Budget. He reported that the fire department is responsible for fire suppression, fire prevention, emergency medical service and management. Last year brought in $590,000 in ambulance fees. One significant change in this year's budget has been a firefighter position has been added to address the increase demand in emergency service. On average every ten years ambulance calls have gone up 10%. In the FY09 budget there have been increases in Captain and Lieutenants line items due to contractual changes, new firefighters going to through the step systems, firefighter clothing and flag maintenance. Chief Burns spoke about replacing a 1986 fire engine. They have received the new fire engine that was authorized last year and will be in service at the end of this month. They will be able to take out a 1986 engine and put in a 1995 engine in reserve. The last 1986 engine is having repairs right now and the trade in value is $1,000. Peter Hechenbleikner stated that the intent is to have a warrant article in the fall 2008 Town Meeting to replace the last 1986 .engine. Peter commented on the new firefighter position which is considered part of the base budget. This will decrease the overtime. George Hines mentioned that the revenue has gone down; Chief Burns explained that Medicare is introducing a.fee schedule. Chief Burns explained the fees charged to outside carriers. Peter stated that Reading is unusual in the level of support that we supply to the community. We supply quicker and cheaper service to our residents. The new engine is designed to carry advanced life support supplies. Chief Burns reviewed why the training expense has decreased. Peter explained the hiring and training process. Chief Burns explained the increase of calls are due to people are going home from hospitals sooner, people call 911 more whether or not they need to be transported to a hospital. Overtime budget drivers are injuries, open positions or back filling for someone who is attending the academy and transfers. Another driver is paramedic training. Overtime expense is under 10% of the wage budget. Chief Burns thinks a transfer of at least $40,000 is needed this year. There are 2 firefighters going to the academy, 2 firefighters are out with knee injuries and 1 is out with a hand injury. Peter Hechenbleikner explained to the FINCOM that they are trying to budget as realistically as possible. They have had decent years without injuries and transfers and bad years like last year and this year. A question was asked regarding a wellness and loss prevention program in town. Peter explained that these programs are with Worker's Comp and that the Firefighters are not covered by Workers Comp, they are self insured. There are some programs not covered by Workers' Comp but scheduling is hard due to work demands. Moving on to maintenance repairs, it was explained that the $2,600 budgeted is for other repairs besides the fire engines. The fire engine repairs are done by the DPW. Chief Burns stated it is a tight budget. Accounting Budget Gail LaPointe reviewed the salary budget and the number of employees. Gail LaPointe mentioned to the board that the transfer back in October to hire a new person because of a pending retirement has worked out well. For FY09 overtime has changed, some of the overtime money is due to a part time person doing training on her off days. Also they are instituting a whole encumbrance system on how things are reported. She expects the clerks in her department to be the trainers for the other departments. Expenses are pretty simple, would like to send the new clerk to an accounting class. Finance Budget Bob LeLacheur began with the Elections & Registrations budget. This has increased because we are going from 1 election to 3 elections next year. The Town Clerk gave a summary of the cost of this year's election which was just under $26,000. A budget of $75,000 for 3 elections next year is reasonable. Peter explained the staffing at elections, which is required by the state. George Hines asked if the school is going to be opened during the elections. A decision has not been made but at the last election a late start for students was put in place relatively close to the election date. A question was asked regarding the Equipment and Supplies, money was budgeted in FY07 but there is nothing budgeted in FY09. It was explained that FY07 had expenses because the voting was done at different locations and residents needed to be notified. Also a trailer was purchased in anticipation of keeping it at the field house. Peter explained what the outsource expense comprised of... mailings, printing of ballots, advertising. Regarding equipment, in November Town Meeting approved $22,000 for new equipment so we should be set for a while. The only changes might be in the handicap accessible machines. The next item in the Finance Committee budget the driver is a bid that still has a couple years to run with the current auditor for $52,000. Professional development money, sometimes you spend. Tonight's handout has a copy of information that is distributed by the Association of Town Finance Committees. The Assessing budget has already been discussed. The HR is a fairly simple budget. Two most obvious changes are the pay in class study expense in FY08 is not repeated in FY09, and the Board of Selectman decided to put about $25,000 into professional development that will be split across the whole municipal government. A discussion ensued amongst the board regarding the distribution of this money. Bob LeLacheur will have more detail on all professional development. A question was asked why medical services are driven by employee turnover. Peter explained that pre-employment physicals for new employees cost. Fire and police department are more expensive. As of February the town has spent $5,600 on advertising and $5,000 on medical. Bob LeLacheur moved on to the Technology budget, expenses have gone down a bit, salaries are pretty straight forward. The overtime is mostly due to MUNIS. Bob LeLacheur and Peter Hechenbleikner discussed with the FINCOM the new data center, the wide area network and some features they would like to see in the future to make it easier for customers interface with Town Hall. The next area is the Town Clerk budget. He reported that the new Assistant Town clerk has worked out very well. The last section of the Finance budget is the `catch- all' which is the general finance budget. There is an expected reduction in overtime. Bob and Peter discussed with the FINCOM how the steps and grades work. A question was asked regarding the postage. Peter explained that this is just for the Finance department. The majority of the cost is the mailings for the bills, water & sewer and real estate. There is interest among residents in increasing the frequency of real estate tax bills from twice/year to four times, which will be possible when MUNIS is fully operational. Town Manager's Budget Peter Hechenbleikner reviewed the Town Manager's Budget. The total budget is up 3.5%. The Town Managers salary was approved by the Board of Selectman. The office includes the Office Manager, a part time assistant, and a High School assistant. Overtime is for the Office Manager to attend the Board of Selectman meetings. Photocopy Equipment is for all departments and it includes paper. Maintenance of Equipment is for the typewriters. Postage is down. Printing and Stationary are envelopes for all of Town Hall (excluding Finance). Professional Development - MMA dues & ICMA dues. The Department Head Retreat includes all department heads in Town & Schools. The Flexible Account - used to be capital - is for departments to do unanticipated things that no one has in their budget, ex. Flag pole for West Street Fire Station, chairs for the office. The Selectman budget - 0% increase. The Law budgets include Town Counsel, Finance Tax Title, and Schools for special needs. Labor counsel is going up due to negotiations. A question was asked what happens if the Town is sued. Peter explained that would be a reserve fund transfer. Property & Casualty Insurance - This has increased due to an error in the FY08 budget, an item was misclassified. The Town receives a discount for having health, workers and Property & Casualty insurance with MIAA. This is estimated the actual numbers will be out the end of April early May. Community Services Budget Peter continued reviewing the Community Service Budget. Planning Division - 2 positions will be filled, a new staff planner to help the Town Planner and a junior, planner funded by the inspection revolving fund. Permits Coordinator Conservation Zoning Board of Appeals - we do not fund anything. This is used for a recording secretary. Inspections- full time bldg inspector, full time assistant inspector, part time gas, wiring inspector and a replacement inspector to fill in. The assistant inspector's salary and benefits are paid out of the inspection revolving fund. Health - Health Service Admin salary is down due to a new employee; public health nurse has increased hours. Health inspector was increased last year to 1.1 FTE; is okay for this year may change next year. Sealer of weights and measure no change. Nurses are part of the clinic revolving fund. On the expense side supplies has increased due to testing. Clinics no change. EMARC has increased. Mosquito Larvae control has increased. Elder/Human Services - Staff levels same, change is a nurse advocate that was hired in 2008. Small increase in van driver. Some offsets from MVES and Hospital Trust Fund. On the expense side things are pretty stable. Veterans - Part of a district with Wilmington. Frank salary is only shown on the budget. The unknown is the Veteran's assistance, budgeted $60,000. The Town will get back 75 cents on the dollar. in the cherry sheet from the state. Peter explained to the board how the assistance program works. He explained how they reached the $60,000 budget figure and how they will fund this budget if more money is needed. A discussion ensued at this time amongst the board members ( regarding how much should be budgeted, how this amount was reached and what will happen if it is underfunded. George Hines at this time wanted to make it clear he was not comparing Veterans with snow and ice and resents the implication. Tom White apologized because that was not his intent at all. General Department - overtime is related to the recording secretary for the planning, conservation and zoning appeal committees. On the expense side substance abuse is not in this budget. The Town is doing a lot of other things for substance abuse through the Coalition against Substance Abuse and grants. Bob LeLacheur reviewed with the FINCOM the answers to the questions that were asked at previous meetings from the Police, Library, RMLD Pension Fund, and Town Accountant regarding grants. Bob LeLacheur reviewed the upcoming meetings and wanted to discuss if this was an adequate number of meetings. FINCOM decided to also meet Thursday, March 27. Chuck Robinson and Elaine Webb told the board if they have any questions for next weeks' meeting to get them in by Friday, March 7. On motion by Hall Torman seconded by George Hines the meeting was adjourned at 10:10 PM on a vote of 7-0-0 Respectfully submitted, Secretary