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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin of fin com 04242008 Town of Mansfield Finance Committee Minutes of April 24, 2008 \\~11~~:~~%ff \CE fA 1:5b Ild\\\ '1\~1 - q .;::\r"'.O ". '. ;,..V '1"S n ; \ i ,-~ r" l' \ . "'~ [. (' K ..1 ~ C. t'l~\ ;s ;;) ~-.. l-'.~, 'j' ' , Attending: James Lazzara Charlene Lavin Jess Aptowitz Jack Goldberg Andres Gazzolo Budget Reviews The budget review schedule for the meeting was DPW at 5:00, Police at 7:30 and Fire at 8:15. The Fire budget review had to be rescheduled to another day. DPW Highway Mr. Cook presented the budget for the highway department with input from Mr. Azinheira. Mr. Cook stated that there are very minimal changes to the highway budget compared to the previous year's budget; the number of positions is the same. There are however a few differences in how specific line items are broken out on the budget analysis. Line 5212, electric, has now had line 5212A split from it to represent the streetlights separately. Line 5482, vehicle supplies, has now had line 5482A split from it to represent the highway fleet supplies only. Mr. Gazzolo commented on the 9% increase in unscheduled overtime and noted that he did not see anything for scheduled overtime. Mr. Aptowitz commented that many of the items that have not changed may be affected by the state of the economy. He also mentioned that Line 5533, construction materials, looks fairly low and does the highway department expect to stay within this budget. Mr. D'Agostino commented that there has been an alternate budget submitted for additional money in personnel and construction materials. Snow and Ice Mr. Cook presented the budget for snow and ice with input from Mr. Azinheira. Mr. Cook stated that the original budget for 2008 was $189,440 but that the actual budget is $448,089. Mr. Gazzolo thought that the large difference was troubling and wanted to know where else the town would be able to find the money. Mr. D'Agostino said that there is money in the overlay and that if the towns budgets an increase for snow and ice and then doesn't use the funds it ties them up when they could be used elsewhere. Mr. Gazzolo said that maybe the town should bump up the snow and ice budget to $300,000 since the town has always covered the difference with free cash and there is no way they could possibly pull $250,000 from free cash if the budget does not change. He said that this is a topic that they should plan to revisit at some point in the future. Parking Enterprise Mr. Cook presented on the enterprise budget with input from Mr. Azinheira. Mr. Gazzolo asked if this budget includes money for police details, to which Mr. Cook and Mr. Azinheira stated that the budget does cover the police details. Mr. D'Agostino pointed out that the parking costs do not just fall into the enterprise budget but that some of the cost is split with the town. Mr. Cook explained that some of the $13,000 on the public safety line includes guardrails and other safety measures. Ms. Lavin asked that line 5241 be explained. It was explained that for 2008 the cost of the new collection boxes was included in this total. Mr. Gazzolo commented that the only extra funding is the $16,000 in that line. Mr. Gazzolo then questioned the $20,000 being budgeted for a new vehicle. Mr. Cook and Mr. Azinheira suggested that the Finance Committee question the police chief about that line item since it is police vehicle they are looking to purchase. Public Buildings Mr. Ahern presented on the public buildings budget with input from Mr. Azinheira. Mr. Ahern began by explaining the need for seasonal/temporary employment. He said that the department was looking to hire one person as summer help for 17 weeks at approximately $10 per hour. This person will be available to fill in for the janitor at the library when he is out. This budget will also fund the staff for the recycling park when it is open in May and November. Mr. Gazzolo asked how much the town in spending in this area. Mr. Ahern explained that the town is now running a positive balance in this area and that they are saving approximately $20,000 over what they were spending a few years ago. Mr. Ahern pointed out that line 5113, technical support, was reduced by $6,000 from last year. He did express the DPWs concern that there was not enough in the unscheduled overtime budget. He said that the employees receive a minimum of four hours and that it is double time on Sunday. If an alarm goes off at the library and someone has to respond the town has to pay them for four hours and double time if it is Sunday. Mr. Gazzolo asked about the public buildings capital cost of $7,000 and what that money was used for. Mr. Ahern said that the $7,000 is for cabinets at the police station. Mr. Gazzolo asked whether the public buildings do much for the schools, to which it was responded that the DPW does little with the schools with the exception of waste water. Mr. Aptowitz brought up the point that over the last eight months the town has spent $48,000 for a landscaper; is this something that the DPW could provide; it was suggested that that issue be brought up with the School Committee. Mr. Lazzara expressed concern that the budget was level on utilities from last year. He said that if the utilities were to go up even 5% it would make a significant difference to the budget. Sewer Mr. Hackett presented on the sewer budget with input from Mr. Azinheira. Ms. Lavin questioned the way that the billing is done for this department, and that the town is moving from quarterly statements to monthly. Mr. Gazzolo expressed interest in combining bills into one envelope, such as including the water, sewer and electric bills into one envelope to save on the cost of postage. Mr. Hackett pointed out that the ways these bills are handled varies. The electric bills are sent to the individuals at the address while water bills are sent to the property owners. They would like to get the monthly statements up and running before attempting to link statements; the point of going to monthly statements was to show potential problems more quickly, that way they could be handled in an efficient manner by the property owners. Ms. Lavin suggested that these bills be paid online to save on postage; she also said that maybe the town could offer an incentive to those people who pay their bills online. It was suggested that this be brought up with the town treasurer. Mr. Goldberg suggested that people should be allowed to sign up to receive their bill through an e-statement if they choose to pay their bills online. Line item 5115 was brought up by Mr. Hackett stated that there is a position that they have been keeping vacant. He said that when the highway department has an available operator they send them to assist with the sewer department. There has been a reduction of .6 FTE (40%) in the proposed budget. Mr. Hackett brought up line 5290, contract services, and said that the budget is for sludge hauling and that it is likely that none of it will be spent until next year. He also said that the plant permit is up for renewal and that there are stricter limits. Mr. Gazzolo asked how much of that can be capitalized; to which Mr. Hackett responded that it can't be, one third of the cost gets passed on to the other two communities involved, Norton and Foxboro. Mr. Lazzara asked what the department would like to keep in the waste water reserve fund; to which it was responded one million dollars or close to it. The budget for waste water is very fixed; there are only three line items that apply only to Mansfield; the others all include Norton and Foxboro with Mansfield. The other two towns are billed for what they use. Mr. Aptowitz brought up the proposed mall and asked if the sewer tie-ins would bring in any revenue for the town. Mr. Hackett said that they would need to pay connection fees, but since there is already an interceptor there they can't charge them to place one. Mr. Hackett and Mr. Azinheira brought up the current treatment plant and that it is approaching its capacity; they have been looking into their options for the future. Economically it is best to go into a regional plant with Foxboro and Norton, but that it will require special legislation for the town meeting. Mr. Gazzolo asked about expansion. Mr. Hackett responded that there are two articles, one is regional and the other is an inter-municipal agreement; the major difference between the two is that now Foxboro and Norton are customers of Mansfield with the regional plant it would require a three town permit which Mansfield would share with the other two towns. Water On lines 5112 and 5114 of the water budget it was explained that the town had gone from full time personnel to part time and that now they are planning to go back to the full time position. Line 5131, scheduled overtime, changed from the previous year's budget, and the Finance Committee questioned that change. It was pointed out that last year's budget was based on an old contract that is no longer in effect. With the new contract employees are on computers 24/7 and that the town can respond to call outs from their homes rather than need to go into work; this will save the town money on their overtime. It was pointed out that postage costs are up because of the new monthly billing that the town is putting in effect. Mr. Goldberg pointed out that in 2007 unscheduled overtime was approximately $46,000 and that this year they are only budgeting $35,000. It was explained that last year's budget reflected the project of installing IRTs that the town decided to complete themselves rather than contract out; they won't require as much of that as the project is near completion. Mr. Gazzolo asked about the 42.9% increase in vehicle support. Mr. Azinheira responded that the cost of parts has gone up and that recently Mr. Cook has begun to more closely track this budget. This also includes the cost of the new meter at the Tweeter Center as well as repairing leaking joints on water pipes on South Main St. at 495, which was required by the state. Mr. Gazzolo also asked for an explanation of the 866% increase in office equipment. It was responded that it was for a special order fire proof file cabinet. DPW Administration Ms. Lavin asked when the new big barrel trash removal system is going to be put into place; it was responded that they are attempting to have it ready for June 30 of this year. The budget has been reduced by $30,000 because of the switch to this new system. Mr. Gazzolo asked about the increases of 6.1 % and 6.5% in the support salary and secretarial and clerk line items. Mr. Azinheira explained that it was based on contracts and that there is a step and base increase every two years. Police Dispatchers Chief O'Neill presented on the dispatchers budget. It was immediately questioned whether the Finance Committee was recommending taking away the budget from professional development. The Finance Committee responded that they hadn't discussed that as a committee. Ms. Lavin asked about the number of dispatchers. Chief O'Neill responded that there were two new hires this past fiscal year and that there are currently no open seats. Mr. D'Agostino brought up the agreement with the union to reclassify all of the dispatchers from Grade A to B, but that it may not be expended unless the Board of Selectmen chooses to reclassify them. If it is decided to reclassify them it would be across the board with all of the dispatchers. Mr. Arnold requested more information on when this starts and how it works. Mr. D'Agostino responded that it has already started and that the first step is a salary survey with the other towns to make sure that Mansfield is in a similar salary range. From there as long as Mr. D'Agostino approves it will go to the Board of Selectmen. If the salaries are not in sync then that will stop the reclassification. Chief O'Neill pointed out that the dispatchers in Mansfield have more involved job descriptions than the other towns; they require more computer training and certification. As well as they cover both the police and fire dispatch services, so they really need to understand both positions. Police Personnel Services Chief O'Neill presented the police personnel services budget; he said that overall the personnel services have not changed with the exception of one sergeant. In the past the police department was able to use grants, but some of those grants have been finishing up over the last few years. Ms. Lavin asked for information about the police vehicle in the enterprise budget, which Chief O'Neill said that the police would use it if it was necessary, but that it is specifically reserved for parking and does not have the same equipment that a typical cruiser would have. He said that right now parking enterprise has an old police cruiser; and that this new vehicle will last longer than a typical cruiser because it won't have the same amount of use. Chief O'Neill said that when Sergeant Martin retired he was able to promote one of his other officers to sergeant and hired a new officer to replace the promoted officer; that essentially it was a break even situation. Mr. Aptowitz asked if there is a worksheet that shows base salary, steps, longevity, etc. not counting police details and overtime; Chief O'Neill said that they have the ability to generate something with that information. Mr. Aptowitz asked about the physical fitness budget of $20,000 and what that is used for. Chief O'Neill said that budget is used as an incentive for the officers that complete the physical fitness exam. It is easier to keep the officers that the town has in good physical shape and give them a little bonus annually, than it is to have an officer go out on a heart bill. Chief O'Neill brought up the $60,000 that is budgeted in salary that is being held currently; he explained that the department is waiting to hear whether an officer is able to return to work and that they should know this within a few months. If the officer is not able to return to work than the department will still need to replace him. Mr. D'Agostino suggested leaving the money in salary, if it is taken out it is likely not to be placed back into the budget at a later time. Also, it will likely cost as much to train a new officer, so one way or the other the town will need the money. Other Discussion Mr. Gazzolo said that the schools were expected to accept the deal proposed that evening; but that until that is done they can't go to the next level with budget reviews for the schools. Mr. Aptowitz said that the Finance Committee should be sure to ask the fire chief to explain the restructuring of the fire department. Mr. D'Agostino said that they are going to need to increase the number of firefighters; if they are going to get two new pieces of equipment they are going to require the staff to man the equipment. Ms. Lavin commented that the fire chief had mentioned being able to purchase vehicles that fit in the current station, that would allow the town more time before it is necessary to build a new station. Ms. Lavin brought up CIP and the cost of bonding; there is currently $250,000 to $300,000 open to buy the bond. She asked how much the town was going to be able to afford to bond. Mr. Gazzolo suggested that the Finance Committee ask the town treasurer to prepare some information on bonding; and that bonding is considered short term debt it should look favorably on the town. Mr. Gazzolo commented that fiscal year 2010 will likely be difficult for the town financially; that all of the town's revenues will be impacted by the recession. He suggested that they ask Mr. D'Agostino to rank the projects for the next five years in order of importance. a~