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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-09-23 Finance Committee Minutes10/20/92 13:10 0617 253 4656 CSDL-BID 6 MINUTES: Appointing Sub-committee to Capital Improvement Advisory Committee Meeting called to order at 7:05 pm on September 23, 1992. Appointing subcommittee members present were: R. Coco Chairman, FINCdM; F. Van Magness Vice Chairman, FINCOM; G. MacDonald, Member, Fincom. Applicants present were: Mark Huber, William Murphy and James Kiegley. Not present though invited by letter from the Town Clerk was Michael Walker. Each applicant was interviewed by the members of the appointing sub-committee. Motion made by F. Van Magness, second by G. MacDonald to appoint Mark Huber for a three (3) year term. Passed 2-0-1 Motion made to appoint J. Kiegly for a two (2) year term. Motion made by F. Van Magness, second by G. MacDonald. r-used 2-0-1 Motion to appoint W. Murphy for a one (1) year term. Motion made by F. Van Magness, second by G. MacDonald. Passed 3-0--0 Motion to adjourn made by G. MacDonald, second by F. Van Magness. Massed 3-0-0. Meeting adjourned at 7:28pm. Respectively submitted, F. Van Magness, Appointment sub-committee secretary M I N U T E S R E A D I N G F I N A N C E C 0 M M I T T E F S E P T E M B E R 2 3 1 9 9 2 O lryH This meeting of the Reading Finance Committee was held at the Town Hall in the Conference Room. MEMBERS PRESENT: Dick Coco, Chairman Fred VanMagness, Vice Chairman Liz Greene Bill Murphy Jim Kiegly Gerry MacDonald Carroll MacMillan Nate White Bill Albro OTHERS PRESENT: Peter Hechenbleikner, Town Manager Richard Foley, Town Accountant Matt Cummings, Chairman, School Committee Dr. Robert Munnally, Superintendent of Schools Mark Haber Bea Kiernan, Reading Taxpayers Association Dick Delong, Reading Taxpayers Association Annette Flanagan, Reading Taxpayers Association Mary J. Andreola, Reading Taxpayers Association Gail Wood, Reading Taxpayers Association Ted McIntyre, Reading Department of Public Works I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chairman Dick Coco called this meeting of the Reading Finance Committee to order at 7:33 PM. I II. NEW BUSINESS A. New Finance Committee List *Chairman Dick Coco distributed the new Finance Committee Lists. B. Audit Committee/Peter Hechenbleikner j *Peter discussed the Audit Committee and formalizing such a Committee. Discussion suggested that perhaps the Finance Committee would select the Audit Committee, along with Selectmen. *Richard Foley, Town Account, took the floor in discussion of an Audit-Commime . -1- *Peter Hechenbleikner discussed how the Committee works and designations and how they got there. *Fred Van Magness joined in the discussion and questioned whether or not this Audit Committee could have a member of.the Board of Select- men and Peter answered that this could happen with one who would be knowledgeable to the process and how things work. *Nate White had a question at this juncture on the General Bylaws. *Dick Coco had a question on reporting to the Town Manager. Dick indicated that he felt that perhaps some language to the effect that the Audit Committee would present a report in time for the Fall Town Meeting. *Dick Foley, Town Accountant talked of auditors and time-frames for the Audit Committee meeting with Auditors. *Dick Coco would like to have a formal motion on the audit.. *Bill Murphy would like a chance to discuss this before voting on this. *Peter indicated that there would be two weeks for putting this on the Warrant. MOTION: Nate White moved to approve that the Finance Committee favor the Audit Committee as presented, with the addition that the annual audit will be completed and that the report of the Audit Committee will be in the hands of the Selectmen, Finance Committee, School Committee by the end of the calendar year. Fred Van Magness seconded this move to approve this motion. DISCUSSION: Bill Murphy had a question on the cost of the audit. VOTE: 9 - 0 - 0 UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED C. Water and Sewer *Peter Hechenbleikner distributed information on the investigation of the Water and Sewer Department. *Dick Coco talked about the invoice of Mahoney's Rocky Ledge and the reasons why the water and Sewer Department funds were spent for this paid invoice. i *Peter Hechenbleikner answered that this invoice was for new pumping station and landscaping. *Dick Coco asked questions about hiring outside labor instead of . inside-hires -2- *Peter Hechenbleikner and Dick Coco held a discussion regarding the hiring of employees and not staffing for out of the ordinary work. *Bill Murphy asked a question as to why no one on the Town payroll could not do the work. *There was a reimbursement question at this time from the Chairman, Mr. Coco. *Dick Coco talked of timesheets and verifications and corrections and the processes. *Peter indicated to the Committee how things work in the system currently. On a daily basis, the Department of Public Works workers prepare a daily timesheet. A dispatcher fills out the sheet from the information of the Supervisors assignment sheet. . *Dick Coco asked that a list of the sessions visitors tonight at this Finance.Committee be placed on a list, and the Recording Secretary passed around a sheet of paper for the audience to fill out accordingly and this was presently to the Chairman. *Fred Van Magness interjected that the concern here is not for record-keeping, but the concern is that when a person works out of the area, appropriate recording of time is necessary. Here, Fred asked if , when.a person works outside of the area, is there any prepared documentation of such. What Fred further asked was if control mechanisms 1 were in place, and stated that balance is very important. Fred indicated taking some of the beaurocracy out of the Government. *Fred discussed the Forestry Division doing some lawns and not billing Water and Sewer Department. Enterprise systems must be accounted for more accurately according to Mr. Van Magness. *Nate White indicated that reasonable effort to allocate costs seems to have been done. *Fred Van Magness stated that he was not asking for any further investigations. *Liz Greene mentioned that "tightening" is all that may be necessary. *Fred Van Magness cited a major event in a hurricane, and the accounting of this incident. *Dick Coco talked of an audit trail for Finance Committee review. *Fred Van Magness is withdrawing from this discussion at this time before inclusion of talk of General Electric Corporation. *Peter Hechenbleikner discussed Town Meeting of 19$$ and the General Electric settlement. *Carroll MacMillan has a question on aerators and the funds used. *Town Manager added that he can arrange tours of the Water Treatment Plant. Peter explained the project at this time. -3- *Carroll MacMillan asked where the money is? *Richard Foley, Town Accountant, explained the pooling of the Operating Funds of the Town. Trust Funds must stay with Trust Funds, but other Funds do not have to stay. *Dick Coco talked of Water and Sewer services and how they are tracked. *Here, The Chairman requested a list of total vendors. *Peter presented a list and distributed 'this to the Board. *Peter asks the Committee about having a single electric bill and also having a single telephone bill for the Town. *Richard Foley claried things from an efficiency standpoint. *Dick Coco had a computer equipment 1991 question on the invoices. *Mr. Hechenbleikner explained this for the Finance Committee. *Richard Foley clarified line items for the Committee. *Dick Coco discussed the invoice at P and S Variety. *Fred Van Magness mentioned page 34 and splitting invoices. *Fred McIntyre of Department of Public Works talked of transfers. *Bill A1bro had a vendor question at this time and asked how we deter- mine what we are going to pay and who we pay from. MOTION: Fred Van Magness moved to approve a conclusion of the audit of the Water and Sewer Department. A policy of the Town should be setup with regard to review of the Board of Selectmen and follow-up in the charging of employee time and cash discounts be taken. Gerry MacDonald seconded this motion. DISCUSSION: Bill Murphy had a purchase of computers question. MOTION: Fred Van Magness moved to approve a conclusion of. the Water and Sewer investigation in response to a petition by citizens of the town of reading. Write a memo to the Selectmen that concurs that the Finance Committee needs cash discounts taken. Gerry MacDonald seconded this reworded motion. Carroll MacMillan asked if the input of the Public should be heard this evening. Dick Delong indicated looking at the big-ticket items and riot-the-small=ticket-iit-ems. Acc-ountabl-kity-o-f-how-money is distributed was discussed. Dick suggested taking-a -4- look at "big bucks" and surplus accounts. *Here, Liz Greene points out that page 14-17 lists all of the monies of Water Treatment and General Electric monies spent and the vendors. VOTE: 9 - 0 = 0 UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED III. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING MOTION: Gerry MacDonald moved to approve the minutes of the last Finance Committee Meeting, that of September 2, 1992. Jim Kiegly seconded this move to approve minutes of Sept. 2, 1992. VOTE: 9 - 0 - 0 UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED IV. SCHOOL DEPARTMENT A. Audit Discussion MOTION: Carroll MacMillan moved to approve establishment of a subcommittee with Dr. Munnally, to gather data to save the Finance Committee time at future meetings. Bill Murphy seconded this move to approve this motion. VOTE: 1 - 7 - 1 FAILED (with Liz Greene abstained) DISCUSSION: Liz Greene indicated that this group needs to narrow down and define the focus of this subcommittee. Carroll MacMillan indicated that guidelines for summarization would accomplish a great deal in a shorter period of time. Jim Kiegly suggested continuing with the same procedure that has been in place. Nate White indicated that a subcommittee is not appropriate. Gerry MacMillan suggested that the Committee withdraw this motion until hearing from Dr. Munnally. Carroll MacMillan indicated that he wants his motion to stand. Dr. Munnally took the floor at this time to explain for the understanding of the public. Bill Albro mentioned that he would like to get a good flavor of budget by line and line item categories. Dr. Munnally discussed the budget for the School Committee. -5- MOTION: Fred Van Magness moved to approve addressing the concerns of letters of Carroll MacMillan, Kendra Cooper, and the unknown author to investigate data of the School Committee. Jim Kiegly seconded this move to approve this motion. AMENDMENT: Bill Murphy moved to give mechanisms to sift out the issues on the lists and talked of last year's budget. Liz Greene seconded this move to approve this motion. DISCUSSION: Fred Van Magness does not want to trash through the whole budget again, but he wants an understanding as to why such a large variance exists. VOTE: AMENDMENT: 3 - 5 - 1 FAILED (Liz Greene abstained) VOTE: MAIN MOTION: 7 - 1 - 1. APPROVED (Liz Greene abstained) MOTION: Fred Van Magness suggested a print-out of vendor codes of FY92 dispersements and Bill Murphy seconded this motion. DISCUSSION: Matt Cummings suggested looking at the big ticket items such as teachers. Carroll MacMillan indicated narrowing down list of vendors. Dick DeLong discussed Revolving Accounts, Stipends, Steps. Bill Murphy discussed the Special Town Meeting, 1991. Chairman Dick Coco suggested meeting in one week Liz Greene asked the Superintendent of Schools for his opinion of the letters. Superintendent Munnally indicated that he wants to remove any clouds of the Revolving Fund, etc. Carroll MacMillan talked of not casting shadows on the Superintendent and the School Committee. Some of the contract decisions should be looked at by the Finance Committee members, according to Mr. MacMillan. Matt Cummings indicated an items of importance to be re- viewed is grants. VI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Nate White moved to approve adjournment of this meeting and Bill Murphy seconded this motion. Adjourned at 10:30 -h- Sued inn. Recorder OCT 6 7`2 TO: READING FINANCE COMMITTEE The key word in the minds of the Petitioners in asking for investigations of the School Department, Water & Sewer Departments, and the Electric Enterprise Fund is ACCOUNTABILITY. A group of people including Town Meeting Members and Reading Taxpayers Association Members met and reviewed the School Budget dated April 6, 1992. The following are some questions and concerns that came out of that meeting. 1. A name should be given for every position listed on budget. (A claim has been made that there are 17 Custodians; budget claims 19) 2. How are revenues received and accounted for? What is the history of actual revenues other than taxes? 3. Why are so many figures rounded off? 4. Why is there an increase in Principals budget? (2652) 5. Secretaries #r is Minus 11 Budget is Mint- $105. ----`I 6. Teacher Aides # is Minus 1; Budget is Plus $3000 What is the Job Description for a Teacher Aide; these people are working as Office Assistants, Guidance, Attendance, and Libraries according to the Budget. 7. We suggest a review of the Sick Day record keeping policies in lieu of the new contract of buy back of unused sick leave. We suggest a comparison of paid substitute days to recorded sick days, personal days, etc. 8. Special Needs Teacher Aides/ILAs shows an increase of $57,000 and Explanatory Information indicates 35 as a number and not 47. 9. Special Needs Tutors has an increase of $6500 14. The Bussing figure of $255,262 for FY 1991 was questioned. 11. All Revolving Accounts should be reviewed. 12. What is the actual cost of teachers? PERKS SICK DAYS PERSONAL DAYS VACATION DAYS ( 1 TUITION REIMBURSEMENT 13. How much has actually been spent of Textbooks during the past several years? 1 4.- Wh:a_t-i-s_the_coxx_e.c_t_B.u.dg_e t_f .g_une f r Fy 1 99_]_and_wha t are the Actual Expenditures? 19 Cl 1 ScH©0 L Ou;)G T AAONv6L Acs UAL ADm%tj,,sT2f1~ 390,R 30 GGVUi 1fl, OTO t0,'-7e1,4 3 -19'1 -5 -S Sl~izctt~~ LD~acl~ tah1 3.5-b ).0-1, 5-9 t -A 37, d'c'AC (~~KLC.TIC. any a-~~ t9~,~~~ C ~,a~~•~ C~JS~~~ta~N~tS'IAIPJT 1 0TAL- C13;Sa, OFFICE OF THE SUPERIL\1TENDENT ( READING PUBLIC SCHOOLS READING, MASSACHUSETTS SUMMARY OF CUSTODIAL OVERTIME ACCOUNT - FY92 ;(2l UC-. ~3(~ g S G+lvE J7f~ Y lac=/~ ( ?s f f; 'J. R.M . H . S . 1 /Vol/ Building Checks Uf Z j 2 54 days x 3 hrs. x $17.16 per hr. = 2,780.,' (2sv/~fS rti t4' 6 days x 3 hrs. x $22.88 per hr. = 412 Sub Total $ 3,192 School Functions 14 hrs. per wk. x 39 x $17..16 per hr.. _ 9,370 Coverage (sick days, vacation, etc.) 2 hrs. per wk. x 39 x $17.16 per hr. = 1,338 Total High School $13,900 Elementary and Middle Schools Building Checks _ 54 days x 2 hrs. x 6 schools a $17.16 111,120 J 7C r . 6 . days x 2 hrs. x 6 schools x $22.88 = -1 66 fT\ C sc r10.-L J Sub Total 12 , 7 67 School Functions -?.rot = 2 S "L N x G Sc'Gcc 5 2', X 10 hrs. x 39 wks. x $17.16 G,69 = _ Z ~3 Coverage (sick days, vacation days) 20 hrs. x 39 wks. x $17.16 = Total Elementary and Middle Schools 13,355 32,844 Maintenance Regular 12 hrs. per yr. at $19.54 = 235 Sumner 4 workers x 30 hrs. x 8 wits. $o.00 CilrE'J`~ .,Science (Vivarium) 1,000 1,000 2 workers x 10 hrs. x 10 wks. x $5.00 = "A-, ` Total Maintenance J_ 6, 995 Grand Total $53,7.39. RWH : lm s -3-/-1-3-/-9 -1