HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin of fin com 09252008
Town of Mansfield
Finance Committee Meeting
Minutes of September 25, 2008
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Attending:
James Lazzara
Greg Arnold
Andres Gazzolo
Jack Goldberg
Tommy Ratliff
Charlene Lavin
Karl Chambers
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Motion: To Open at 7:30p.m.
(Gazzola - Arnold) 7 - 0 Passes
Financial Forecast
Mr. Gazzolo brought up the meeting that will be held on October 2 and said that Mr. Arnold will discuss
the town's financial outlook. He asked if Mr. Arnold could possibly take the information from the chart and
place it in a flowchart to make it easier to follow. Mr. Arnold said that the information is straight forward
enough; the town is going to need to acknowledge that this is what the situation is and live within the
restraints of that. It was mentioned that $300,000 for workman's compensation had been left out from the
information that Mr. Arnold was preparing and that it would need to be added in.
Mr. Arnold said that the information he will be presenting will be sent prior to the meeting so that everyone
has had a chance to review it on their own beforehand. He also said that he plans to present the
information as a bulleted list. Mr. Arnold mentioned that he was hesitant to include any numbers in his
example as he did not want people confused and think that they are the actual numbers. Mr. Goldberg
said that all they needed to accomplish with this presentation is the adoption of the process; that way
down the road when they go to negotiate contracts they will know the ramifications of giving a percentage
higher or lower. Mr. Gazzolo said that it should be emphasized that the tool will tell them what is
available and then they can decide what to do with what they have available.
Mr. Gazzolo mentioned that he had spoken to various people throughout the town departments and that
they feel that the town is in trouble financially now and they can only imagine what it will be like a year
from now.
Audit Committee
Mr. Gazzolo brought up that the formation of an Audit Committee will be discussed at the meeting on
October 2. Mr. Goldberg went through the information that he plans to present on October 2 and
mentioned that everyone invited has already been provided with this information. Mr. Goldberg said that
all of the information that he found on the recommended practice given to other towns on the make up of
the group was the same as what he had previously presented and that there had been some resistance
to that composition. Mr. Arnold said that the best thing that Mr. Goldberg could do was present the best
practice and then if it is decided to change the composition he has at least presented what is considered
the recommended best practice.
Mr. Gazzolo suggested that Mr. Goldberg include a motion recommended by the Finance Committee and
that if possible it should be voted on that evening. The motion included the recommended composition,
that the Board of Selectmen has the ability to revise the roles of the committee and that the committee will
make recommendations to the town manager about which auditor the town hires.
Town Accountant Interviews
Mr. Goldberg told the Finance Committee that the town had agreed to give an offer to one of the
candidates for the town accountant position. He said that he had been impressed with this candidate and
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he felt that he seemed competent. He thought that this was the best decision for the town. Mr. Gazzolo
said that the Board of Selectmen set the salary range for this position.
Discussion
Mr. Gazzolo brought up the meeting scheduled for October 1 to discuss the TIF for one to two million
dollars over twenty years. He said that he would ask the chair to provide the Finance Committee with a
presentation on the request. He also mentioned that the town hadn't gotten anything back from MedLine
about their request.
Mr. Goldberg brought up that the town may want to look into money deposited in various banks. He said
that the town should make sure that they have insurance on all of their money.
Mr. Gazzolo mentioned that he had prepared a memo from the Finance Committee to Mr. D'Agostino
requesting that they scheduled a quarterly review meeting with Mr. D'Agostino and Ms. Kearney to review
only the accounts that are currently over budget or that are expected to be put over budget before the end
of the year.
Mr. Gazzolo suggested that the Finance Committee review the departmental assignments at the next
meeting.
Motion: To Close at 9:00p.m.
(Goldberg - Lavin) 7 - 0 Passes
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Signature f Clerk
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Date of Approval
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