Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin of fin com 03272008 Town of Mansfield Finance Committee Minutes of March 27, 2008 rr-~ECE'VEO f:)',\i ' r\ ERt\,S OFF lCE lUllS M~Y -q A 1: Sb Attending: James Lazzara Charlene Lavin Jess Aptowitz Greg Arnold Jack Goldberg _.., , 'J C' t:" \r. Lf'\ i If.\, ",JI L U '" ,; rr' !' ,.....!,..It iC,ETTS ~..i ,..:t"\\....'.~j..."'-- Motion: To Open at 7:15pm (Lazzara - Arnold) 5-0 Passes Schools Mr. Lazzara said that the Finance Committee should focus on going through the things required for the schools. He would like to do a presentation on salary and expenses for the schools. However, prior to that presentation he would like to see a breakdown of salaries which would detail the following: superintendent, assistant superintendent, administrative positions, high school principal, high school assistant principal and so on. He did note that some salaries are paid from other areas such as grants or stipends. He used a 2005 sample of this breakdown as a basis for his request. Mr. Arnold said that the Finance Committee should request a current printout of this. Mr. Lazzara agreed, however, he suggested that it be only for specific information and not the entire breakdown of all town salaries. Mr. Lazzara brought up the point that the Finance Committee will need this information to back up requests for overrides as well as salary increases on particular levels. Mr. Aptowitz brought up Mr. Lazzara's point that grants and not part of the operating budget and may skew the total picture. He also said that the Finance Committee should prepare a PowerPoint presentation showing the average cost of living increase and then showing the salary increases. This will provide a clear visual to show how the school salaries have had significant increases where as the town salaries have a much lower overall increase. He said that the current schools salaries are higher than can be sustained with the current budget. Mr. Arnold said that the Finance Committee needs to have a full understanding of the details in order to back up any visual presentation. Mr. Lazzara said that this visual would assist the Finance Committee when they are presented with an override request. Ms. Lavin said that any information should include a footnote about grant salaries and how they are not part of the budget. Mr. Arnold said that the Finance Committee should have a general FTE of school employees and that it would be bad to have a decrease in the number of employees and a salary increase of 24% over the previous year. Ms. Lavin requested not only the number of FTEs but also the categories that they fall into. Also, how many positions have been added or cut from those categories. She said that the Finance Committee would also benefit from having a breakdown like this for the town and not just the schools. She also said that the town is paying benefits to the employees whether they are on a grant or not, and that this is an added cost to the town. Mr. Goldberg said that it is more important to show the rate of increase than the rate of growth. Mr. Lazzara said that the Finance Committee needs to reexamine the draft analysis and then recalculate. Mr. Goldberg said that it would be beneficial to use two columns, one for the town and one for the schools, to show the real cost to run both. Mr. Lazzara said that the cost to educate students from Mansfield can't be controlled. Mr. Goldberg wanted to look at the total of all school costs to determine the cost to educate each student, whether or not they attend a Mansfield Public School. Mr. Lazzara suggested that the Finance Committee make a template to work off of. Mr. Arnold said that the will compile a broken down spreadsheet for the Finance Committee to use. The spreadsheet will include 2007 Actual Costs, 2008 Projected Costs and 2009 Requests. He planned to leave the 2008 column blank. Mr. Lazzara also said that the Committee should look at the positions themselves (not the people in them). Mr. Lazzara said that the total number of students if off, that there are fewer than the foundation number; and that the foundation number might include charter and regional schools which is not included in their number. Mr. Lazzara and Mr. Goldberg both said that the town is ahead on school net spending. Mr. Goldberg said that he had seen that Mansfield was the 311th municipality in the state in per pupil expenditure, and that did not seem correct to him. The Finance Committee did some calculations based on the numbers that they had and came up with a per pupil expenditure of $8,893, which is over the required amount. Mr. Arnold said that the salary problem should be presented at the Town Meeting. Mr. Lazzara said that the Finance Committee should plan a presentation to the School Committee to tell them where they are financially right now, why they are where they are, and were they are going. Mr. Arnold said that there is no reason that the town can't project out over the existing union contracts. Budget Analysis Mr. Lazzara said that the claimed budget gap of 1.7 million is partially comprised of enhancements, such as a new HVAC person. Ms. Lavin said that Mr. D'Agostino told her that the Finance Committee gave him the wrong numbers and that he wasn't able to do his own calculations. Mr. Arnold suggested that an email should go out, to state the actual numbers, sending an email rather than just talking gives everyone the numbers in writing and should clear up any confusion. Mr. Arnold said that for fiscal year 2008 the town was at a deficit of $54,000 and that not everyone's calculations show this. Mr. Arnold said that the original amount that the town was given was 2.9 and now it is at 2.6. Mr. Goldberg said that the difference between the 2.6 and 2.9 is $275,000. He also said that the town can only spend what it actually has; they may think it is 4.5% over last year, but it is actually only 4.25% over last year. Ms. Lavin said that the modular classrooms for the schools will hit this budget cycle and the town is probably best to do a bond not debt exclusion for it. The schools won't be able to push for debt exclusion and an override; it will have to just be one. Mr. Goldberg suggested that the town add all of the expensive needs (modular classrooms, fire station, fire trucks and DPW trucks) into one debt exclusion. Ms. Lavin pointed out that the schools need modular classrooms now. Mr. Arnold said that it might be best to use regular debt and not debt exclusion for the schools. Mr. Lazzara did some calculations to breakdown the percentage of the total budget that is for the town and the schools separately, this would give the Finance Committee the ability to split the cost of debt exclusion between the two entities. Mr. Lazzara said that the cost of benefits and pensions are already broken down between the schools and the town. Mr. Lazzara and Mr. Goldberg had a discussion about the stabilization budget. Mr. Goldberg said that historically the town has used the stabilization budget to fund deficit. He wanted to look into when the town has borrowed from the stabilization budget what have the borrowed for. Mr. Goldberg said that it might be best to not allocate the $300,000 in the stabilization budget. If they do the traditional 65/35 split the schools may think they have another $200,000, which they don't actually have. Mr. Aptowitz asked about what would happen if the selectmen did not approve and override. Mr. Goldberg said that the town budget goes first and that they should not need an override to run the town; they will need to look to reallocation of expenses. Mr. Arnold said that it does not need to be stated that the town is going for an override before the town meeting. Mr. Aptowitz was concerned about the burden that would be placed on the town. Mr. Aptowitz said that the town should analyze the trend with salaries, and how instead of offering large salary increases the town has offered more benefits (457Bs and vacation packages) and how that still /" puts a restraint on the town's budget. Mr. Lazzara said that the salary increases across all town employees are unsustainable. Capital Improvement Plan Mr. Lazzara said that the zoning of the downtown area has 6,000 square feet of available commercial space and that if one business were to take a large portion of that the town might be short on space. Mr. Goldberg said that if there were more residential properties in the downtown area it would attract restaurants and bars. Mr. Lazzara said that currently there are three buildings that are planned for demolition to allow for new commercial space in the downtown area. Mr. Lazzara said that the Finance Committee should request a copy of the Town Meeting Warrant. Mr. Lazzara said that the article for the modular classrooms in the 2008 budget can be bonded for 20 years. He said that the town can request for a long term bond that will then go into the line of debt. He warned that the Finance Committee should be wary of putting unnecessary things into a bond; and that the town has had a problem with this in the past. Mr. Goldberg said that they should carefully look at the interest rate for a 10 year bond versus a 20 year bond. Additional Discussion/Information Mr. Goldberg said that he received a call from a citizen a few days earlier. The citizen was troubled over the finances of the town. Mr. Goldberg said that he invited the citizen to attend a Finance Committee meeting and that if the Committee had advance notice of their attendance they could block time out on the agenda for them to ask questions and raise concerns; all townspeople have a right to understand the financial workings of the town. Ms. Lavin left the meeting at 7:55pm. Motion: To Close at 8:45pm (Aptowitz - Lazzara) 4-0 P sses