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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin of fin com 07312008 Town of Mansfield Finance Committee Minutes of July 31, 2008 Attending: Andres Gazzolo James Lazzara Tom Ratliff Karl Chambers Charlene Lavin Jack Goldberg Vt..-o ". ? - IUfjf1 r;'r-o its OFF ICE '1[; _ r:- ,_J 1-\ 8: 5'1 .'t"".,..... Motion: To Open at 7:30p.m. (Lazzara - Ratliff) 5 - 0 Passes Five Year Forecast Ms. Kearney presented the town's five year forecast to the finance committee as had been requested. It was explained that the forecast is to assist in predicting the town's financial situation from 2009 through 2014. Ms. Kearney began by pointing out that the actual revenues over the past few years include the existing debt exclusion but not the new one. She stated that there is an inconsistency between 2011 and 2012 when the existing debt exclusion will drop the revenue by approximately $1 million. She said 2.5% growth is considered normal, but that the previous year's number is skewed be of the mall. Ms. Kearney also stated that she projects a decrease in revenue for 2009; which is her basis for using a 0% increase for the future projections. Ms. Kearney then went through an explanation of what each area of revenue means, including: motor vehicle excise, property tax, motel and hotel tax, increases, rentals, water tower rental, fees, fines, special assessment and miscellaneous. She said that the town has a total of $6.3 million in revenue. Ms. Kearney also mentioned state revenue, which includes education and non education which is mostly made up of lottery funds. Ms. Kearney also said that she projects an 8% increase in 2010 and then 9% each year thereafter. The one time sources of income were discussed, this included the use of the stabilization fund and how they are not able to use those funds the same way that they have in the past. Mr. Gazzolo pointed out that although this number changes across the years they can't really take it into account for projection purposes. He said that just by looking at this forecast, which is optimistic, the town is going to have some financial difficulties in the coming years. He said that the budgets will all need to be much tighter than they have been. Ms. Kearney pointed out that the town is not able to control the costs of insurance or pension since they are contractual and that they are extremely expensive. Mr. Goldberg suggested that the finance committee be careful in how optimistic or pessimistic they are with this forecast. Mr. Gazzolo pointed out that this is just an overall glimpse at what the town will be facing and as long as the finance committee is in agreement that overall they are all right with it, it should be passed along. Mr. Gazzolo suggested to Ms. Kearney that she set up a date for the two of them, Mr. Lazzara and representatives to sit down and work through this. Ms. Kearney reported that on the expense side of things she has requested notification from the departments of any unusual expenses that they foresee for the coming years. She said that most of the departments have gotten back to her but that she is still waiting on a few. Mr. Gazzolo requested that she take the expense budget that they have now and add in the extra items at the bottom just so that the finance committee has something to go off of. Ms. Kearney said that she will try to have that to the finance committee within two weeks. - Discussion Mr. Gazzolo told the finance committee that Mr. Goldberg had sent an email to Ms. Levine and the board of selectmen about changing the time for the auditors meeting originally scheduled for August 20. He said that Ms. Levine approved for this meeting to be moved to September 3. Mr. Gazzolo said that the finance committee will be attending a workshop on September 4. During this workshop they will be presenting to the board of selectman several things. Things that will be presented at the workshop include an overview of the finance committee and their methods. Mr. Goldberg plans to present on the support of an audit committee. Mr. Gazzolo said that they will also need to discuss June 9 contract negotiations; things are not able to continue as they have been, however, there is not time to change the charter before then. He said that Mr. Arnold is preparing a presentation on how the town could possibly handle these negotiations; something similar was presented to the last board of selectmen but not the current board. Mr. Gazzolo distributed copies of the presentation on the proposed substation in East Mansfield. The finance committee discussed some revisions to the minutes of the July 24 meeting. These minutes will be revised and approved at a future meeting. Mr. Goldberg brought up the need for an audit committee and how he plans to present the information in support of one. He said that not only is it considered best practice, but many of Mansfield's peers are moving towards using audit committees. He stated that the people doing the auditing should not be the same people that govern the day to day operations; they should be people outside of the situation. Ms. Lavin asked Mr. Goldberg is he is planning to outline qualifications for the members of this committee, that they should be people with a strong auditing background. Mr. Goldberg said that right now the charter gives the town manager the responsibility of hiring an auditor and that really they could choose whoever they want; he also said that traditionally the audit committee would be responsible for this, but that he hopes that the audit committee would be able to give their recommendations to the town manager on this. Mr. Ratliff brought up the idea that in the past issues are brought up and then put aside and forgotten. He suggested that the finance committee have a list that they review quarterly to be sure that they are following through on assignments. Mr. Goldberg pointed out that this list could also be used to track requests made by the finance committee to other departments. Mr. Gazzolo suggested that a column for follow up dates and notes be added, but that other than that he sees no problem with using this list effective immediately, he also suggested that Mr. Ratliff be the person responsible for keeping this list. He also suggested that the finance committee begin each meeting with a review of this list and add or strike items as necessary. Ms. Lavin gave a review of capital. She said that they are trying to get an accurate view; but that right now there are millions of dollars in buildings that are going to skew the numbers. Mr. Lazzara brought up that some buildings have structural problems and that they should be included in this budget; if something goes wrong with a building it will need to go to the top of the list of priorities. Mr. Gazzolo gave an update on MIS and said that the finance committee has not investigated enough. He said that he has asked the MIS director to come and present what the town has now and where the town is headed in regards to systems. He asked that this presentation be done with two months. Motion: To Close at 8:50p.m. (Lazzara - Gazzola) I 6 - 0 passes Q~~ ~...,/ . .~ ture of Clerk F/!!k~pproval ,..