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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance Comm. 02/15/20240. .• Town of Mansfield 6 Park Roiv, Mansfield, Massachusetts 02048 Finance Commit#e l f� C IVED I F, v\s OFFICE Melinda Tarsi; Ms. Greta Thurston and Mr. Michael Flaherty icw Ii .';IJ�ETTS Also Present: Mr. Matthew Violette, Assistant Town Manager Not Present: Greta Thurston, Clerk Opening Meeting 1. Open Meeting Ms. Sara Walsh called the Finance Committee meeting to order at 7:0113M. 2. Approval of Meeting Minutes Ms. Walsh had one edit to the meeting minutes from January and stated that in the discussion of committees and budget subcommittee she was asking for further discussion on committee assignments once Mr. Wilk was present, not that there could be three members. Motion: To approve the meeting minutes of January 18, 2024 as amended. (Feely/Flaherty) Passes 5:0:1(Wilk Abstain) Financial Updates and Discussion 3. Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Updates Mr. Matt Violette began his update by commenting that there was nothing overfly remarkable in the reports this month. He began by summarizing the General Fund local receipt revenue. He noted that the first commitment of excise tax revenue was $2.9 million and was in line with last years amount. He added that this first round was for those vehicles registered by January 1" and then there will be another two commitments between now and June and the Town is on pace to meet the $3.4 million estimate. Mr. Wilk asked if it was in line with last year and Mr. Violette responded that it was almost the same. Mr. Violette then noted that this is the second full year with the cannabis tax and so far, $110,000 has been collected this year and last year at this point it was $140,000. He stated that hotel and motel and meals tax all look good. Mr. Feeley noted that there is more competition amongst cannabis stores. Mr. Violette then stated that licenses and permits are up $250,000 which is largely due to the chocolate factory permits. Mr. Wilk asked if the state had more cuts if that could affect this year's budget and Mr. Violette responded that there were 9C cuts however they have stated that it will not affect local aid. Mr. Cooney asked if there was a report that showed the percent collected and Mr. Violette stated there was a year to date budget report in Munis. Ms. Walsh asked if Mr. Violette could provide that report next month. Mr. Violette then referred the committee to the General Fund expense reports and noted that snow and ice is over budget by $8,700. Ms. Walsh asked how much Monday's storm cost the Town and Mr. Violette responded $57,000 and he added that the storm was during the day which helped keep costs down. Mr. Violette then stated that he likes to always look at the Town and School employee benefits. He stated that there is the potential for the numbers to change drastically due to an employee having a qualifying event. Mr. Violette then went through the enterprise fund expenses and revenues and everything was on track. He stated that he keeps an eye on the water commitments. Lastly, Mr. Violette reviewed the Federal and State Grants which is down $1.3 million compared to last year, however ARPA has gone away and last year the Town received $1.3 million f€om it. -The Committee liked this report and Ms. Walsh asked if there was a report to show how much has been used for each grant. 4. Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Process and Discussion Updates Mr, Violette began by stated that the new growth or money estimated for FY2025 is $3.5 million and the new growth is estimated at $750,000. He stated that the big pressures of the budget include health insurance, state aid came in at .61% increase, new debt service, and pension costs increases. Ms. Walsh commented that the budget is not increasing because of enhancements, revenues are not keeping up with the expenses. Mr. Violette agreed that the math does not work. Mr. Violette stated that the FY2025 budget deficit currently is at $3,342,000 and he noted that he has increased the amount of health care stabilization to $400,000 and he has increased local receipts. Mr. Cooney asked if State Aid would change and Mr. Violette responded that it was hard to know. Ms. Walsh asked Mr. Violette when the State delegation is at the March Select Board meeting will state aid be discussed because it is really hard for the Town to manage. Mr. Violette commented that state aid used to represent 26% of the Towns operating budget and today it is 15% and it has steadily been going down each year which is having an impact to the Town. Mr. Violette then provided an overview of the Community Empowerment Act and the additional revenue options, however none of them will have a huge impact on the budget. Ms. Walsh stated that there is a Tri-Board meeting on the February 28th and the next Budget Subcommittee will be on March 131h and another Tri-Board meeting has been scheduled for March 27t' and there likely will be more meetings in April. Mr. Wilk stated that the Schools budget is also higher and Ms. Walsh stated that the Schools budget is up 7% over last year and they are not adding more teachers this is just level services. Mr. Wilk stated that special education expenses are going up, text books, and grant money going away are the big factors. Mr. Cooney asked what percentage the Towns budget was going up and Mr. Violette responded the Town is up 4% if you take out benefits because the Town covers the Schools benefits. Ms. Walsh stated that Mansfield is not the only town in this situation. S. Requested Analysis/Data Ms. Walsh stated that we requested a trash and recycling data sheet and that was provided by Mr. Violette. She then went through the data dating back to the override in 2001 when the trash fees were put into the tax base and now in 2024 there is about $790,000 in extra expenses for trash that the Town could be charging for if it was a fee for service. The Committee discussed what would happen if it did come out of the tax base. It was also noted by Mr. Feely that commercial customers are paying for trash and do not get to use the service. Mr. Cooney noted that the next trash contract is also expected to be even more expensive than it is today. Ms. Walsh asked the Committee if they had any other analysis that they wanted Mr. Violette to do. Mr. Wilk asked if there has been a cost benefit analysis of the new TOD area. He noted that it was said that it could bring an additional $800,000-$900,00 in tax revenue but he believes there are costs like additional public safety staff needed and more students in the school. Mr. Feely commented that it could increase the number of DPW staff. Ms. Tarsi commented that she believed Ms. Raposa, Planning Director has some data on this that was shared at Town Meeting. Questions from the Community 6. Questions from the Community There were no residents virtual or present in the meeting room. Mr. Violette left the meeting at 7:55PM. 'Committee Business 7. Review and Discussion of Committee Section on Town Report Ms, Walsh stated that she sent the draft report today and asked if anyone had any changes and there were none. 8. Survey Ms. Tarsi stated that the conversation about trash was helpful tonight and wanted to know if the committee had any more thoughts about including questions around the trash program in the survey. Mr. Cooney commented that the rest of the survey is general and that any trash related questions should not get very specific with costs. Ms. Tarsi stated she was going to have her students review it and have the draft ready for the committee to review. Ms. Walsh commented that the original target date for it to go out was March. 9. Committee Assignments Ms. Walsh stated that Mr. Wilk was not at the last meeting and wanted to get his feedback about committee assignments before making any decisions. She stated that Ms. Thurston is not here tonight and she wanted to be on Budget Subcommittee but we discussed having myself and Mr. Wilk continue and Ms. Thurston will come to learn. Mr. Feely and Mr. Flaherty will be on CIP, Ms. Thurston will be on the Downtown Committee and Mr. Cooney on the Audit Committee. Ms. Tarsi and Mr. Cooney will be school liaisons and then Ms. Walsh stated that Mr. Rhein is open to having a Finance Committee member on the Waste Reduction and Recycling Committee and Ms. Thurston is interested in serving on that if a Finance Committee member gets a spot on that committee. She then Stated that there is a new committee called the Town and School Needs Assessment Ad Hoc Committee and there are three members interested Mr. Wilk, Ms. Tarsi and Mr. Feely. Mr. Wilk stated that he was on a similar committee when they did the public safety complex and Mr. Feely stated that he was good with Ms. Tarsi and Mr. Wilk serving on that committee. Ms. Walsh stated that this will be a multi -year committee and Mr. Dumas and Ms. Murphy plan to have it work similar to Budget Subcommittee where the full tri-boards will join for updates periodically so that everyone is on the same page. 10. Committee Updates Mr. Feely stated that he has talked with Mr. Violette about CIP and that will be meeting again. 11. Items Not Known in 48 Hours There were no items. 12. Finance Committee Member Comments There were no member comments. 13. Adjourn Motion: To adjourn the Finance Committee meeting of February 15, 2024 at 8:0813M. (Cooney/Flaherty) Passes Signature Date Minutes prepared by Carrie Champagne