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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFINCOM MIN 04022009 Town of Mansfield Finance Committee Minutes of April 2, 2009 ':'0 ;~ l~ :: (, ~- r Ir E .)LrriV Attending: Charlene Lavin Andres Gazzolo Karl Chambers Jack Goldberg Greg Arnold James Lazzara (arrived late) ~ W !-\ q: ? I -I Motion: To Open at 7:30p.m. (Goldberg - Chambers) 5 - 0 Passes Schools Budget Mr. Gazzolo introduced Mr. Trowbridge and said that he would be speaking on the Schools budget. Mr. Trowbridge provided handouts to the Finance Committee on the cuts that had been made to the budget on Tuesday, March 31. He said that with the current budget there were cuts of $1.4 million and that 15.5 FTE were eliminated. He expected that level two and three cuts would be made by mid April. He included a sheet on the stimulus package in the handouts; he explained that there would be limitations in how the money could be used and that it has to be used for sustainable programs. They have not worked out all of the details of how the money can be spent yet, and that the town should not expect to see any of that money until at least June or July. He said that the total of the stimulus would be $2.2 million and $613,000 and together they would be $2.7 million but that only $1.2 million of that money could potentially be used to fill the gap in the budget. Mr. Lazzara asked if this is the budget that the School Committee is planning to present at the Town Meeting. Mr. Trowbridge said yes they are planning to present this budget; they also have to let the union know by May 15 on the layoffs. Mr. Goldberg questioned how the money would be structured since they know that it is one time income and they do not want to disturb the structure for future budgets. Mr. Trowbridge said that the money will need to be used very carefully and that there are many limitations on how it can be used. Mr. Gazzolo said that right now the Finance Committee is in sync with the School Committee on the issue of the budget; that together they are looking forward through the five year plan. He also said that the Finance Committee should not consider the $2.2 million from the stimulus package as part of the budget. Vote Motion to consider the stimulus money similar to a grant and not include it in the budget. (Goldberg - Chambers) 6 - 0 Passes Budget Mr. Gazzolo said that he sent all members of the Committee an updated budget earlier that day with the $2 million removed for the stimulus money. The new budget also reversed any concessions that had been worked into the budget. He said that there is still a deficit on the municipal side of $354,000 and on the school side of $3.8 million for a total deficit of $4.2 million. He said that any additional grant money will not be included in the budget but that the budgets for the departments receiving grant money may see a small decrease. Minutes Mr. Arnold said that the Finance Committee received a letter from the Attorney General's office saying that they received a memo that the Finance Committee had held illegal meetings.; included in the letter from the Attorney General's office was a letter from Mr. D'Agostino about the Finance Committee and a copy of minutes from a meeting held before the fall Town Meeting; Mr. Arnold noted that the Attorney General's office was requesting a written response. He said the issue looks as though the meetings were posted but that the minutes were never submitted; the other issue was a letter that was read at the Special Town Meeting was not composed in the meetings leading up to the meeting. Mr. Arnold noted that although the letter was not discussed specifically at the meetings prior to the Special Town Meeting, doing a presentation at the Special Town Meeting had been discussed. Also, Mr. D'Agostino was in attendance at at least one of the meetings in which that presentation was discussed. On October 30, 2008 the Finance Committee discussed the presentation; although it does not state specifically in the minutes that Mr. D'Agostino was present for that discussion he had been present earlier in the meeting. On November 13, 2008 the Finance Committee again discussed the presentation as noted in the minutes from that meeting. Mr. Goldberg questioned whether that letter was supposed to have been composed during the Finance Committee meeting; he said that if they were to individually do all of the small tasks that they work on throughout the week in open session they would be meeting almost daily. Mr. Arnold said that the presentation had been made previously to the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee recommending a hiring freeze to the Board of Selectmen, which is the same information that was given at the Special Town Meeting. Vote Motion to include all minutes from September 4, 2008 through November 18, 2008 with the written response to the Attorney General's office explaining why the minutes are being submitted. Amended to include a copy to the Board of Selectmen. (Lazzara - Goldberg) 6 - 0 Passes Mr. Gazzolo also suggested that the letter be sent to the town counsel. Electric Budget Mr. Lazzara said that he spoke with the light commissioner to look at the capital budget. He said that they are planning to start work on the new substation in fiscal year 2010. He said that they have less on the capital portion of their budget because many of the costs formerly associated with the capital budget are being absorbed by the operating budget. He said that the Finance Committee has worked with them to adjust their budget, this can be difficult since their costs change each year on each line item. He said that with the five year projections it was suggested that they not fund their capital projects through the depreciation fund. Mr. Goldberg said that it had been proposed that the capital and operating budgets be presented together; he wanted to know if that came up in the meeting. Mr. Lazzara said that yes, they are still doing the two budgets separately but they are planning to present them together. Mr. Gazzolo pointed out that the Finance Committee has made a lot of suggestions on how they adjust the way they do their budget and that in a short time frame many of those suggestions have been taken; he noted that the Finance Committee is very pleased with what has been accomplished in this area. Discussion Mr. Gazzolo told the Committee that Mr. D'Agostino and Mr. Hart had been invited to attend the meeting that evening. Mr. Gazzolo suggested that the Finance Committee be careful of how they interact with the town; that it would be best to have two members of the Finance Committee at any meetings. Mr. Arnold said that some of the various departments would like to set up their individual budget meetings for the near future. Mr. Gazzolo said that the search committee for the new town manager has been voted on and that it will consist of two representatives from the Board of Selectmen, one representative from the School Committee, one representative from the Finance Committee, one town employee and two citizens at large. Mr. Gazzolo suggested that the town try to get someone with experience in the private sector and ,..~'_.__~_,;,_._.c__,.. ~'''"-_''''''-'-4 ,.. not just in town government. Ms. Lavin suggested that they try to find someone with a varied background as it would be beneficial in the current economic environment. Mr. Gazzolo said that there will be a search firm that will narrow down the candidates and then present them to the search committee for interviews. Mr. Gazzolo suggested that the Finance Committee list the qualities that they would like to see in the potential candidates and give it to the Board of Selectmen who can choose to use it or not. Mr. Gazzolo asked Ms. Lavin for some information on the long term CIP projects plan so that they can incorporate them into the budget. Ms. Lavin said that CIP is planning to meet the following week and they would either have them ready after that meeting or possibly the following meeting. Mr. Gazzolo reminded the Committee that there will be a meeting on April 5 on net school spending. Mr. Arnold asked about the meeting the previous night and about the budgets that will be presented to the town. Mr. Gazzolo said that he was unsure since the municipal budget is not in agreement with the Finance Committee budget for the town. Vote Motion to approve minutes of March 26 Finance Committee meeting as amended. (Goldberg - Lazzara) 6 - 0 Passes Motion: To Close at 8:50p.m. (Lazzara - Chambers) 6 - 0 Passes i I 'I' j' "() ~-_- I /i I . '! , . I . 1 J / \.-A " ;' Date of Approval l' --,......>..,......._-~...,-~"._-~..._">~.,~---."...."->"._.,.",...~_.,.,,",.~-.~,