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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance Comm. 12/16/2020Finance Committee Meeting MinutesRECEIVED December 16, 2020 CLERKS OFFICE 202I JIJN 18 A 8, 13 Present: Mr. Brian Eagle, Chairman; Ms. Sara Walsh, Vice -Chairman; Mr. cq F���yr. Walter Wilk; Mr. Michael DeSantis; Mr. Michael Flaherty; and Mr. JacjCb u Also Present: Mr. Kevin Dumas, Town Manager and Mr. Barry LaCasse, Assistant Town Manager and Finance Director Not Present: None 1. Call the Finance Committee meeting to order and review the agenda Chairman Eagle called the meeting to order at 5:32 p.m. 2. Specific Agenda items- See Minutes summary below - Join joint meeting with other Town Board's 3. Items not known within 48 hours - None 4. Audience Ct&A - None S. Adjourn Motion: To adjourn the Finance Committee meeting of January 16 at 6:51p.m. (Feely/Cooney) Pass 6:1 John Coone ` �r 1� 0 ( ') � V f Finance Commi lee Clerk Signature Date\ Minutes Clerk Signature Date Minutes Prepared by Jack Cooney FInCom 12/16 mtg summary: FinCom has larger than normal reserves because of unexpected state assistance. These funds are for extraordinary, unexpected or previously agreed upon items and are not meant as a budget plug for Town/School. Slow progress has been made on economic development items but we won't be able to build the benefits into our budget until FY'23 and beyond. We start $1.7M+ in the hole for FY '22 budget (normal), but Town, Schools & FinCom are working together to close the gap. As a reminder, this summary represents my own views of the December 17th FinCom meeting and not those of the Committee or other participants. The meeting began with a Town request to transfer $9,000 to pay a consultant to help navigate Mansfield through the Green Communities process. Obtaining this label opens up additional grant opportunities, helps us identify costs savings through energy efficiencies and makes the town more attractive to business. This effort is part of recently approved Select Board goals and was unknown at the time the previous budget was developed. It's expected that the Select Board will seek resident approval at the next Annual meeting to adopt additional measures necessary to achieve the green certification. FinCom approved the transfer in light of the financial benefits to the Town. FinCom Members, the Town manager and Asst. Town Manager had an extensive discussion on use of FinCom's Reserves. While this is normally about $300,000, because of higher -than -expected support from the state, it stands at over $2M. Traditionally these reserves are used for items such as snow & ice removal, related overtime charges or extraordinary events such as replacing school boilers. Ideally town and school budgets are utilized completely before requests are made for a FinCom transfer. The Committee made clear that requests should meet 1 of 3 broad categories: (1) extraordinary (e.g., funds needed to acquire air right because of FAA requirements), (2) unexpected (e.g., To pay for snow removal after we've already used up our snow & ice line item) or (3) previously negotiated between town / school / FinCom (e.g., Paying for the first round of an economic development consultant). While Town leaders have developed 3 "buckets" within the reserves (the normal $300,00, additional funds from the state, free cash), FinCom will not treat the buckets differently and will provide the same oversight to any transfer requests. Our goal is to see as much eventually returned to Town Stabilization accounts as possible to put the town back on solid financial ground. We will also act in accordance with the intent of Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Town, Schools and FinCom last June to make sure funds help put us in the same position we we're before the pandemic struck. FinCom will not rubber stamp transfer requests but expects those asking to supply sufficient details to explain the purpose of the request, its financial impact and why it can't otherwise be met through existing budgets or held off for a year. The process for malting requests is that those coming from the Town will go through the Town Manager before being shared with FinCom and Schools, while School requests will go straight to FinCom, with the Town Manager being alerted at the same time for tracking purposes. The goal is for all parties to be aware of requests and to have insight into FinCom Reserve account levels. There was brief discussion of a potential vacant structure by-law, a topic that will be renewed at a future FinCom meeting. At a high level, the purpose would be to provide Town Administrators another tool to work with owners and incentivize action on uninhabited properties that are an eye -sore or danger to town residents. FinCom has previously discussed a similar idea and there was broad support for the concept. A more in-depth discussion will occur at a future meeting, understanding the Town may propose a bylaw change at the next Town Annual meeting. A priority for FinCom over the past 5 years has been to see greater attention paid to economic development in town. We were happy to see progress being made on a number of issues previously discussed. The first update was around the marijuana retail store (re: Leaf) and potential grow facility (Community Gardens). The Town has provided all approvals and both are awaiting final approvals from the state's Cannabis Control Commission. Expectations are the retail store could open this spring while the other facility may break ground this March with completion later in the year. While the town can immediately collect any funds agreed to in the Community Host Agreement, and will start collecting tax distributions on a quarterly basis (they flow through the state), we must wait for the businesses to go through a full year before we can build revenue assumptions into out budgets. This means we are unlikely to be able to count expected tax dollars until FY'23 and'24. FinCom will be monitoring the tax results to match how they compare to the initial analysis we did last year. The next update was on use of the old Main Street Fire Station and West Street Police Station. When the new DPW/Public Safety complex was originally proposed, residents were told the fire station would likely be sold while the police station would likely become the home of a new regional dispatch. Town leaders took minimal advance action to prepare for the sale of the fire station, resulting in a bid proposal that went out after the likely peak of the market and right as the pandemic hit. While no bids came in, upon a re-release of the lot, a qualified offer was received and we learned the Town is in active negotiations. While disappointed that the delay in releasing this proposal will likely cost the town revenue, FinCom is happy to see this moving forward as utilizing the property for development supports Mansfield's desire to energize Main Street and attract more business, including restaurants. FinCom members made clear we understood development proposals for the Police Station are uncertain because of the late news the regional dispatch center would be housed in Foxboro (which benefits Mansfield) and there remains a need for the existing tower which supports in -town communications. This property is likely to remain in town hands, with short term usage (like boating) being considered. The Town Manager updated FinCom on another priority we've been discussing for years, sale of tax title properties. This is land that has fallen into town ownership because of failure by owners to pay taxes. It is a long process and the town has collected a number of parcels. About 3 years ago the Town sold the first tranche of usable land and identified another tranche that could not be developed and would be turned over to the Conservation Commission or others. Meanwhile, a second tranche continued to sit, with limited attention paid. The Town Manager let FinCom know this tranche was now being actively worked on, with testing and zoning being done in advance to minimize risk to future buyers. The 6 properties could be sent to auction in the near term netting the town revenue up front for their sale, eventual proceeds from building permits and eventually getting them back onto the tax rolls. FinCom is glad to see this finally moving forward and is working with the Town manager to develop processes and procedures to speed up the process for future tax title properties. The last major discussion was a budget update. At our suggestion, the Budget Subcommittee (members from School Board & Administrators, Select Board and Town Administrators and FinCom) met in December to lay out meeting calendar, discuss timeline and exchange high level budget points. The Town presented a draft budget that start with a $1.7M deficit (which is not uncommon), but builds in only a 3% increase for the schools. School leaders made clear their initial budget would come in higher than that, driven by pandemic needs and a desire to make up for priorities neglected in previous years. FinCom presumes the true starting deficit will be closer to $2M. What should ease residents' concerns is that the Town, School and FinCom have a strong relationship, frequently communicate and work well together. Meetings like this allow issues to be put on the table and understood by all, minimizing surprises and easing negotiations. All parties are working together to create a budget resident can be proud of that accomplishes town goals without putting overly burdensome financial pressure on those living and working here. A number of smaller items were mentioned throughout the meeting. The night before, FinCom heard a presentation by Penta Communication (economic development consultants) about their Phase 1 efforts and what a Phase 2 would entail. Due to a lack of time, FinCom agreed to gather our questions and have them shared with Penta in advance of the their attending a future FinCom meeting. We also heard that the Trash & recycling Task Force will be surveying all residents on what they want while the Downtown Committee is hiring a consultant to look at the park behind Jimmy's Pub and make suggestions on its development Thursday represented the last meeting of Kathy Aguiar. Kathy has been an essential Member of FinCom, driving analysis on a number of issues, including school budgets, trash and marijuana development. While she is stepping down, all acknowledge our desire for her to one day return to the Committee and continue her contributions to the strength of Mansfield's finance.