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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance Comm. 03/21/2024Town of Mansfield 6 Park Jaw, Mansfield, Massachusetts 02048 RI_CEIVE0 Finance Committee/N CLERK,. OFFICE Present: Ms. Sara Walsh, Chair, Mr. Scott Feely, Vice Chair, Mr. Walter.'ijW(I4; M .6ack Cooney and Ms. Melinda Tarsi were present in meeting room 3 A/B at Town Halls: Clerk was not present at the start of the meeting but arrived at 7:0713M. Also Present: Mr. Matthew Violette, Assistant Town Manager, Mr. Kevin Dumas, Town Manager, Ms. Sarah Raposa, Director of Planning and Development, Mr. Josh Reinke, DPW Director and Mr. Christopher McDermott, Economic Development Director Not Present: and Mr. Michael Flaherty Opening Meeting 1. Open Meeting Ms. Sara Walsh called the Finance Committee meeting to order at 7:03PM with five members present, 2. Approval of Meeting Minutes Motion: To approve the meeting minutes of February 15, 2024. (Feely/Cooney) Passes 5:0 Financial Updates and Discussion 3. Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Updates Mr. Violette began by going through the general fund expenditures. He stated that he closely watches expenses for employee benefits and town Medicare expenses because one employee can cause big swing. He stated that the general fund is 60% expended and noted that this is the same as last year at this point in the year. Mr. Violette then stated that the general fund revenues are 80% collected on local receipts through eight months of the year and anything collected above and beyond in local receipts will go towards free cash. Ms. Greta Thurston arrived at 7:07PM. Mr. Violette stated that the cannabis tax is down about $35,000 from last year. The Committee had no questions and Mr. Violette then went through the enterprise funds for water, parking and airport are around 68% expended which is tracking appropriately and he has no concerns at the time. The revenues for parking and airport are looking good however water and sewer revenues are below last year, but there is time to catch up and the weather plays a big role in the demand for water. Mr. Dumas commented that the Town is working with David Fox from Raftelis who helps with analysis and rate setting and if there is an expected shortfall the rate setting would take that into account and would be make up in the following year when rates are set. 4. Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Process and Discussion Updates Mr. Violette summarized what was discussed at the March 13th Budget Subcommittee meeting. He stated that he had to make a $400,000 adjustment to salary line in FY2025 for contract negotiations that was not accounted for due to union contracts that have not settled which created a larger deficit. Mr. Wilk was concerned that this mistake was made and does not want it to happen again. Mr. Violette then explained that the next item that was discussed at the Budget Subcommittee meeting was the proposal of a trash fee. He explained that in 2000 there was an override that was done to support trash in the amount of $912,000. That amount becomes part of the levy and grows every year by 2.5% and today that amount is $1,650,000 however the trash and recycling program costs the Town $2,465,000 which creates an $815,000 revenue gap. The fee that is being proposed is to divide the $815,000 by the number of trash carts (6,710) which would result in a $121.47 annual trash fee per household. Mr. Wilk asked if this was a pay as you throw program and Ms. Walsh and Mr. Violette confirmed it keeps the current program as is. Mr. Violette stated that the override is not keeping up with the cost of the service and he then provided information on what other communities are charging for trash and also noted that some Towns do not have the service and residents have to find a trash provider of their own. This fee would be adjusted annually by the Select Board. The members of the Committee asked a few questions, but this would be a possible way to balance the budget. Mr. Violette then provided a list of other options to get to a balanced budget instead of a trash fee. One way is using $500,000 in free cash which has not been done since 2018. Another option is decreasing the overlay and Finance Committee Reserve amounts. Ms. Walsh stated that next Wednesday, March 27th at 6PM is Tri-Board meeting and then April 4 and April 10 are Budget Subcommittee meetings. She also noted that there is another Tri-Board meeting scheduled for April 24th Mr. Wilk stated he was not in favor of using free cash. He asked about using the interest from the stabilization account so that the larger sum can keep earning the high interest. Mr. Violette stated the Town could do that at Town Meeting with a 2/3 majority vote. Ms, Walsh noted that this could affect the bond rating. Ms. Walsh then asked if the Committee could get the staffing numbers by department and if there are vacancies in any of the departments. Mr. Cooney asked what the deficit currently was prior to the prosed trash fee and Mr. Violette responded $1.1 million so if a trash fee is used there is still about $300,000 that needs to be cut. Mr. Violette stated that in the first round of cuts did not take anything from salaries or cutting of positions, but they did cut funds to some overtime. He stated that the majority of the cuts were from the operating side on everyday things that departments use to get things done, so this is no longer a level services budget. 5. Trash and Recycling The discussion above included trash and recycling. 6. TOD Analysis Discussion Ms. Walsh provided Mr. Dumas with the floor to discuss the TOD (Transit Oriented Development). He began by stating that that there are live updates on the website and a monthly newsletter to keep everyone updated on the project. He stated the importance of tracking the process for this complicated project. Ms. Sarah Raposa stated that they have officially split the project into two sections, one is the MBTA and other is TOD and that the parkway is vital to both the MBTA and the TOD. She stated that the Planning Board has been working on zoning similar to MBTA Communities long before the law was contemplated. She stated that the Planning Board does not see that the law is a problem or an unfunded mandate and refers to this as phase 1 of the Zoning. She then explained phase 2 of the zoning and expanded MSROD area that is moving slightly to include the Chocolate Factory. This would get the Town into full compliance with the MBTA Communities law. Ms. Raposa also noted that the consultant JM Goldson is working to provide some fiscal impact analysis that will help provide some information to answer questions that were asked at the last meeting Mr. Wilk asked for clarification on whether it is 300 units or 1000 units and Ms. Raposa stated that one of the property owners believes that it will financially make sense to only build 300 units on each of the two sites but our zoning has to have the capacity for up to 1,400 units to meet the statute. Mr. Wilk further noted that each unit could be one, two or three apartments and Ms. Raposa stated that it may have been said wrong, but unit may have been used instead of the word bedroom, so each unit could be one, two or three bedrooms. Mr. Feely commented that the Planning items at Town Meeting need to be presented in a way so that everyone can understand them. He believed that people ask questions and clear answers are not provided and things get derailed. Mr. Dumas stated that him and the team are working and talking about how the complicated information can be relayed to residents. Mr. Feely stated that he understands that it is the Planning Board and he has no problem relaying the comments directly to them because we have to get better. Ms. Tarsi commented that some of the questions being asked are not in the spirit of learning. Mr. Cooney commented that it is complicated and everyone needs to hear the information first before asking questions. Mr. Wilk stated that if the analysis is only on 300 units then he would dismiss the analysis because it may be 600 units. Mr. Dumas responded that they only have information from one property owner/developer on what they are looking to do, the other property owners have provided no information on their plan. Ms. Walsh stated that as the Finance Committee we want the financial information and want to have the dialogue so the information should not be dismissed. Mr. Dumas suggested the Planning Board have a meeting with the Finance Committee. Ms. Walsh agreed that would be helpful. Mr. Dumas asked for any ideas that anyone had to help close the budget gap are welcomed and needed Questions from the Community 7. Questions from the Community There were no residents virtual or present in the meeting room. Mr. Violette, Mr. Dumas, Ms. Raposa, Mr. Reinke and Mr. McDermott left the meeting at 8:37PM. Committee Business 8. Survey Discussion Ms. Tarsi stated that after the discussion tonight on the trash fee proposal she should would like to push this out as she wants to re -do the questions and get some feedback from the Needs Assessment Committee if they have some questions to include on a survey. 9. Letters to Representatives and Representatives at future Select Board Meeting Ms. Walsh stated that there are discussions of having the State Reps at a Select Board meeting, but she has not received any information. She also noted that it would be a good idea for the Finance Committee to send some letters. 10. Items Not Known in 48 Hours There were no items. 11. Finance Committee Member Comments Ms. Thurston commented that the discussion that the Committee had about TOD and the public's perception'. She feels that the feedback to them was as us as residents not as us as a Finance Committee. Ms. Walsh stated that she had them come tonight knowing that they were not going to have a lot of information until at least April, but thought it was important to start the conversations now. Ms. Tarsi stated that the Finance Committee is dealing with anything financial importance and the committee will be involved through the whole process but its challenging when its zoning and bylaw items because it is not just numbers involved. 12. Adjourn Motion: To adjourn the Finance Committee meeting of March 21, 2024 at 8:51PM. (Feely/Cooney) Passes 6:0 L\ . \ �- ZIA Signature Date Minutes prepared by Carrie Champagne