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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance Comm. 06/20/2024Town of Mansfield G Park Marv, Mansfield, Massarbusetts 02048 Finance Committee Meetina Minutes June 20, 2024 Present: Ms. Sara Walsh, Chair, Mr. Scott Feely, Vice Chair; Ms. Greta n�� Thursto, ���r)41r.,JackNC%and Mr. Michael Flaherty and were present in meeting room 3 A/B at Town Hall. Also Present: Mr. Matthew Violette, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director ` I, Not Present: Ms. Melinda Tarsi Opening Meeting 1. Open Meeting Ms. Sara Walsh called the Finance Committee meeting to order at 7:OOPM. 2. Approval of April 24, 2024; May 1, 2024; May 16, 2024; May 22, 2024 Meeting Minutes Motion: To approve the meeting minutes of April 24, 2024; May 1, 2024; May 16, 2024; May 22, 2024. (Feely/Flaherty) Passes 5:0 Financial Updates and Discussion 3. Fiscal Year 2024 year-end financial updates Mr. Violette began by stating that the General Fund expense side of budget is tracking to finish the year in a good place with one exception. At the last meeting, benefits, Medicare, and employee benefits were predicted to be tight, but they ultimately will be okay. The department budgets are also in good shape. Mr. Violette then stated that the General Fund Local Receipts through May totaled $11 million and $9 million was budgeted, which he noted is typical. There are some items that stand out, such as the investment income which is up to $952,000 dollars through May. There were also some one-time items that brought us to this, but those cannot be expected in following years. He then stated that the Town can expect the federal government to cut rates in 2025 and earning investments will likely decline when rates the decline. Mr. Violette then pointed out some additional one-time items and they were $350,000 for the sale of north main fire station, $330,000 in opioid money that will be transferred at town meeting into the Stabilization Fund, and $182,000 from the host community agreement with ReLeaf, which will be going away based on new HCA guidelines. He further noted that there was $200,000 in inspection fees associated with the Chocolate factory. The committee asked a few questions about the local receipts. Mr. Violette stated that there wasn't much to report on the expense side of things. He stated that spending on water and sewer looks good so even though the revenue is uncollected there is money that has not been expended, which will offset the low revenues compared to the estimates. This is also due to the money that has been placed in the Finance Committee reserves. The parking budget went up rather substantially, as the MBTA assessment was moved into the Parking Enterprise Fund, instead of the General Fund. Mr. Cooney asked if there was a Profit and Loss statement in Munis available for the enterprise accounts. Mr. Violette stated :24Reserve there is and he could share that at year end. Fund Transfer Requests Discussion and vote Walsh stated that she forwarded the information to the committee. Mr. Violette explained that the General Fund had $300,000 set aside in FY 2024 for contract union negotiations. There were five unions whose contracts were up. This means that for FY2024, people -were getting paid from an old rate as the contract is unsettled. He added that the Supervisory Union signed a MCA last week and the police contract is settled. The Town has a goal in place to settle the Non -Supervisory Union negotiations prior to June 30th. The contract with Fire is not going to be settled and negotiations will continue into FY2025. The retros owed for the contracts that are settled or anticipated to be settled are being allocated to the various departments to make them whole based on these new contract rates from the $300,000 amount set aside in the Town Manager's budget. Mr. Violette stated that the Reserve Fund Transfer he was looking for is because there is $276,000 left in personnel services adjustment line and SPEA is the only Union who have been paid. The retros for the Police, Supervisory, and Non -Supervisory are going to exceed the $276,000 that remains from the initial $300,000 set aside. The reserve transfer is for $168,653 to cover the additional retro pays for the three contracts that are or will be settled by June 30th. Ms. Walsh asked if we are adding to the $276,000 and to clarify what the balance is in the Finance Committee Reserve Fund and if the Town is anticipating any additional costs before the year end. Ms. Thurston asked if there were still unions that are not settled and Mr. Violette responded that Fire will take place next year and that funds can't be held for it and that it will have to go to Town Meeting for the additional funds for the fire department, like one would for a prior year's bill. Mr. Violette added that the way that a lot of these contracts were written resulted in a bigger budgetary impact in FY2024, and that shouldn't be the case in FY2025. Mr. Violette also confirmed that should the Budget Line Item transfer be passed, it would only be used to make the settled union contracts whole again. Motion: To approve a transfer of $168,653 dollars from the General Fund Reserve Fund to the General Fund - Town Manager Personnel Services Adjustment Fund, (Feely/Flaherty) Passes 5:0 S. Fiscal Year 2025 Update Mr. Violette stated that the employee benefits seem to be in a good place budget wise for FY2025 and there is nothing else on the watch list. 6. Debt Funding Schedule Rule Ms. Walsh stated that Mr. Violette provided a Debt Funding Schedule Rule and asked if there are any questions from the committee. Mr. Feely said it is a great tool and insight. Mr. Violette stated that the schedule he sent out accounts for everything that has been borrowed for. There are projects that are authorized but unissued and not borrowed for yet which total about $11 million. 7. Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Process and Finance Committee Analysis Charge Ms. Walsh stated that Budget Subcommittee met and spent time discussion what they want to analyze and are scheduled to meet on June 6th and July 11th and that Mr. Violette has been getting benchmarks from other towns on insurance and health benefits to see if the Town is in alignment or if there are items that should be looked at more closely. There are some assignments that members have and taking a look at what the process is for an override and how to plan for it. He stated that the assessor coming in to a Budget Subcommittee in August to answer questions on vacant land parcels and the way they are valued to make sure that they are being valued as they should be. a. Financial Policy Review —There are three or four of them and we are looking to review them and provide any adjustments or suggestions. b. Town/School Cost Sharing Agreements — Based on feedback from other towns, the Town and the Schools are working to get an agreement for what the Town will pay for versus what the school will pay for, which Mr. Violette and Mr. Donoghue are working on that to review it. They are working to document what is already being done. Ms. Thurston asked if there was something specific that prompted this request and Mr. Violette stated that it is procedural. c. Benchmarking Resources —Mr. Violette is working on this and it will be shared with the Finance Committee. d. Trash Fee Scenarios— Ms. Walsh brought forward the question of what is the best mechanism for collecting fees for trash and stated that the Budget Subcommittee was tasked with coming up with pros and cons of each scenario. She also stated that it might make sense for a couple of committee members to have a meeting with Mr. Violette to put together a grid. Mr. Feely, Ms. Thurston, and Mr. Flaherty volunteered to do so. Mr. Violette left the meeting at 7:4513M. Questions from the Community 8. Questions from the Community There was no one that wanted to speak. Committee Business 9. Survey Planning Ms. Walsh suggested that the committee defers this topic until Ms. Tarsi is back. 10. Goals Discussion/Update Ms. Walsh stated that she had received some goals and requests from the School Committee. Ms. Walsh stated that one of the goals is to be more engaged with each department or have the committees come to a meeting. She stated that there is a lot of value in gaining more perspective from every department and committee. Mr. Cooney said that all of the committees and departments should be heard and have a chance to speak to others, but we should have more focus on the biggest ones. Ms. Thurston suggested that a schedule is implemented to hold some sort of meeting like this one every other year. Mr. Feely stated that we should take a closer look at the work that our economic development has done in his time here to contribute to the economic development of Mansfield. Ms. Walsh stated that there is a goal to increase feedback from the town and could utilize the newsletter to educate and inform residents of various information brought forth by the committee. Mr. Feely stated that he thinks it would be better to go before the Select Board and ask questions from them, as more people watch the Select Board meetings. He added that people need to know what the committee is looking at and what they are reviewing, that many people may not be aware of, Mr. Cooney stated that the closer we get to Town Meeting, the more engagement we should have, including social media, as the feedback from the public is incredibly important. Ms. Walsh suggested posting a list of terms and general financial terminology that informs people of important terms utilized by the committee, that may increase the level of understanding of the work the committee is doing to people who aren't familiar with those terms otherwise. Mr. Feely also added that we should look at our website to ensure that it provides some sort of reference as to what the committee is doing, but also why it is important. Mr. Feely stated that the committee should be more involved in the work the Building Committee is doing and the overall condition buildings are in and what should be done to maintain them on the school side. 11. Summer Meeting Schedule and Agenda Items The initial date was set for July 181h, but that did not work for some members of the committee so Ms. Walsh stated that she can see if July 251h is available. Ms. Walsh also stated that they can determine if a meeting on August 15th is necessary. 12. Liaison/Committee Updates Mr. Feely stated that the Town and School Needs Assessment met and discussed the plan. Mr. Cooney stated that he will reach out to the chair of the School Committee for their budget meeting. 13. Member Comments Mr. Flaherty stated that Mr. Violette is doing a great job. Mr. Cooney asked if there is a timeline on when the committee will be filling their seventh member position. Ms. Walsh stated that the Select Board will be reviewing that at some point in the summer. 14. Adjourn Motion: To adjourn the Finance Committee meeting of June 20, 2024 at 8:18PM. (Cooney/Flaherty) Passes 5:0 kw K�419W - Date Minutes prepared by Michelle Henderson and Carrie Champagne