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Home My WebLink Aboutmin of fin com 12112008 Attending: Andres Gazzolo Greg Arnold Tommy Ratliff Charlene Lavi Karl Chamber James Lazzar Jack Goldber Town of Mansfield Finance Committee Meeting Minutes of December 11, 2008 Motion: To Open at 7:3 p.m. (Chambers - Goldberg) 7 - 0 Passes \\TO ,- -~ ",-r ICt- ') Ur r I 1 3 /~ (1: OS Review of Board of Sel ctmen Meeting Mr. Gazzolo and Mr. Lazzara ttended the previous evening's Board of Selectmen meeting and made a presentation to the Board on t e financial situation that the town is facing. Mr. Gazzolo said that the Boa d of Selectmen had asked that the Finance Committee re-implement the subcommittees. The Finance Committee gave the Board of Selectmen information on the members of these subcommittees but that the Board did not vote on the members at their meeting. He said that the Finance Committee must wait for the Board to vote to move forward with these subcommittees. Mr. Aptowitz said that the subcommittees had been on the list of items to cover but that the Board did not have the time to deal with it. e said that he would plan to email the chair to be sure that this was looked at during the next meeting. Mr. Gazzolo requested that M . Aptowitz ask that there be a link for communication between the Board of Selectmen and the Finance C mmittee. Financial Overview Mr. Lazzara said that the tow can expect to see a potential cut in state aid by 10% for fiscal year 2010. He said that there may be a s bstantial savings to the town if they are able to place the municipal employees into the state heal h plan; right now the health plan costs the town approximately $8 million annually. Mr. Gazzolo report d that the state is $1.4 billion out of balance for fiscal year 2009. Mr. Gazzolo said that the Fin nce Committee should plan to update their revenue profile for fiscal year 2010 on a daily basis. He als said that the town should look at 5% budget cuts across the board for fiscal year 2010. He said tha the town could save approximately $260,000 by maintaining no increases for town salaries in fiscal yea 2010, Mr. Gazzolo said that if the Fi ance Committee assumes a 5% cut in state aid, uses the same expense budget and kept revenue at t e same level as fiscal year 2009 there would be a $4.9 million deficit in fiscal year 2010. If they wer to keep the same assumptions but change the cut in state aid to 10% there would be a $6.2 million defici. Mr. Gazzolo told the Finance Committee that the schools are meeting weekly and that they underst nd the severity of the situation. Mr. Goldberg asked the Fina ce Committee if they should deal with the balance difference that the town is facing. Mr. Gazzolo said t at the town accountant is aware of the situation and that he is dealing with that at the moment. Mr. Laz ara stressed that what is happening at the state level is going to effect the town, possibly as soon as M rch, and that the town should be aware that even though right now the revenue level seems alright, t may not be for much longer. '".....__..""....,---_.~...~_.~,~--'""'"_..........."'_..."......._...__.....-.----...,,- Mr. Gazzolo told Mr. Arnold th t the Finance Committee should retool their model for the financial forecast to reflect a 5% cut in s ate aid. Discussion Mr. Gazzolo told the Finance ommittee that there seems to be little response from the Board of Selectmen on the recommend tions that the Finance Committee is making and that they are only able to continue to make recommenda ions. Mr. Gazzolo also said that the town is looking to possibly hire a new person for MIS. He said that t e town should look into promoting from within as a way to save on cost, but that the Board of Selectme doesn't seem to be planning to do that. Mr. Aptowitz said that the Boar of Selectmen had talked about consolidating the town and the school MIS departments. Mr. Gazzol said that he had spoken to Mr. Hart about this and it was going to be discussed with the schools. M . Goldberg asked when the data is expected to be back in regards to how other towns construct their MIS departments and how much is spent on them, Mr. Aptowitz said that the Board of Selectmen motion wa to look at outsourcing versus hiring someone new; he said that he voted no because outsourcing is one possibility but that there is still a significant cost involved. Mr. Aptowitz pointed out that there is a line i em in the fiscal year 2009 budget to hire a new MIS person. Mr. Arnold pointed out that just because it is in the budget for the current year doesn't mean that they will be able to sustain that cost in future years. Mr. Arnold said that the town n eds to reexamine the budget closely. There are constant cuts in services yet the salaries go up each yea; it is getting to the point where there is nowhere left to cut from. Mr. Aptowitz said that if 80% of the town budget is in salary that the town should be focusing 80% of its time in that area. Mr. Lazzara said that he is planning to meet with the Electric department the following week and that he would like a full understanding f their costs. He said that some of their bills for the current year have not come in yet. Mr. Gazzolo requ sted that Mr. Lazzara have a full workup on the Electric department for the Finance Committee to revie by late January. Mr. Lazzara said that that should not be a problem; all of the information is there it jus needs to be formatted. Ms. Lavin said that she spoke ith Mr. Azinheira that day and that the forecast that was given to the Finance Committee in August i still very on point. She said that he is looking for funds from other sources, and that he is hopeful hat when President Obama takes office there will be some alternate funding sources available. She said that she is planning to meet with Mr. Azinheira again the following week. Mr. Chambers passed around copy of the article in that day's Boston Globe about pensions. Mr. Arnold suggested that the town may b faced with a liability problem with pensions when they change. Mr. Aptowitz asked about the f rmation of the Audit Committee; he said that he has emailed Mr. Lazzara and Mr. Trowbridge and would like for the Board of Selectmen to vote on this at their next meeting. There are still two spaces available fo the members at large. Vote Motion to approve minutes of D cember 4 Finance Committee meeting. (Lazzara - Arnold) 7 - 0 Passes 1?5 " , . I )LJ Date of Approval Motion: To Close at 8:30 (Arnold - Goldberg)