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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget Comm. 01/13/2025Budget Subcommittee Meeting Minutes January 13,2025 Present: Sara Walsh; Walter Wilk; Steve Schoonveld; Mr. Jack Cooney; Lynn Cavicchi and Maureen Doherty were present in Meeting Room 2AB at Town Hall, Also Present: Ms. Teresa Murphy, Mr, Ed Donoghue, Mr. Matthew Violette and Mr. Kevin Dumas 1. Open Meeting Ms. Sara Walsh called the Budget Subcommittee meeting to order at 6:35 PM with six members present. 2. Discussion and Consideration to Approve Meeting Minutes of October,28, 2024 and November 13, 2024 Motion: To approve meeting minutes of February 28, 2024. Passes 6:0 (Doherty/ Wilk) 3. Discussion and review of current budget and agreed upon steps to reduce $4.9 million deficit to $2.9 million deficit Ms. Walsh began by turning the discussion over to Mr. Violette. Mr. Violette directed the committee to the budget sheet that he had presented to them that detailed how the budget shortfalls came to be as well as how money has been spent and gained within the Town. Mr. Schoonveld asked if this reduced debt services over the year and Mr. Violette stated that it would mean less long-term borrowing. The goal was to get the shortfall to a 2-million-dollar number as opposed to three million. Mr. Donoghue explained that there are a few things such as transportation contracts that are being looked at to reduce costs without reducing staffing. Mr. Wilk asked if open positions in the Townhave been frozen. Ms. Murphy stated that the School's side they are not freezing the open positions. Mr. Dumas stated that the Town had frozen open positions. Mr. Cooney asked Mr. Donoghue what the word offset means in this regard. Mr. Donoghue stated that there are things that can be moved around given different revolving funds or other factors to reduce the costs and that there are other struggles that the School has been faced with such as locating spaces for the busses. Ms' Cavicchi stated that the current budget plan for the Schools is achievable without cutting staff, but it is less likely to be sustainable and repeatable. Mr. Wilk asked if there will come a time in which retirement rates should match' not hiring rates, such as twenty staff retiring, but only a need to replace eighteen. Ms. Murphy answered that the staff that are expected to retire are very vital and each one needs to be replaced, which will be particularly tricky given the subject areas include, science, math, and special education because they are highly sought after. Mr. Donoghue stated that there is $20,000 in savings for retirees to ease that blow. Ms. Murphy stated that questions like this are very important, but unfortunately it is hard to navigate those difficult conversations and actions given the nature of the schools and staff that are retiring. Mr. Cooney asked if the paving cost for $250,000 was a normal rate, and Mr. Dumas responded that it had been reduced from $300,000. Mr. Donoghue noted that paving maintenance is very important and that many parking; lots are in rough shape and pushing it off will only make it worse. ; C, %n3: n�o 4. Discussion and consideration of options remaining � oLo Am n _) ' a. Additional reductions p o N rlPage j rn i i Mr. Violette stated that Parks and Recreation employees' salaries will be shifted to the Parks and Recreation revolving fund, as it is the only department whose revolving fund can maintain that sort of cost. There will be a retirement in the Public Buildings department and that the position will not be backfilled and instead there will be $10,000k built into the facilities contract to account for that shortfall. Mr. Violette stated that there has also been discussion about the additional public safety staff and how the budget would change if that Is excluded, Ms. Walsh stated that she would like to see a balanced budget without the additional;public safety staff and with no staff reductions. Ms. Walsh asked if there is anything else that can be cut without having detrimental impacts on the staff and operations within the Town. Mr. Dumas stated that there is still a little to go. Mr. Violette stated that there is likely not going to be a huge difference given the budget cuts that were done last year. Ms. Walsh asked if it was fair to say that after the last rounds of scrubbing, we are at a 2-million-dollar shortfall. Mr. Dumas stated that hopefully within the next two to three weeks there will be more concrete numbers for Insurance and retiree rates, and asked the committee for more time to do so, He continued that the goal is to be around two million dollars of a shortfall. Ms. Walsh stated that the two options are the use of stabilization and an override. Wilk stated that they should wait to get the final numbers for health and retiree rates. Ms. Walsh disagreed on the basis that the numbers won't change too much between now and a few weeks out, and evaluating the options now might be better. Mr. Schoonveld asked if there are anything such as unemployment insurance funds, that are one-time things, that may alleviate the budget for this year. Mr. Wilk stated that the other option is a little of both. b. Use of stabilization Mr, Cooney asked how much is in the Stabilization Fund. Mr. Dumas said 6.2 million dollars and Mr. Wilk pointed out that this is not a sustainable option as they would need to return to the fund next year, Ms. Walsh recognized Scott Feely, Finance Committee Member from the audience, and he stated that before we talk about anything we need to evaluate how this impacts our bond rating, Mr. Wilk stated that there would need to be seven figures taken out in order for the bond rating to be affected. Ms. Walsh asked if the committee could agree to provide the stabilization fund as an option but also emphasize that it is not recommended and provide reasons why. She continued that we need to also present the consequences of each budget option. Ms. Walsh asked Mr. Violette and Mr. Dumas if they could present this by the Tri-Board Meeting. Mr. Wilk asked what the guard rails should be. Ms. Walsh suggested that we need to present all of the options and the consequences. Ms. Cavicchi asked if we opted for a one-year override what would happen. Mr. Violette stated that this process would repeat again and could potentially get worse with retiree and insurance rates. Ms. Cavicchl stated that it might be more helpful if we look at a two-year projection for an override. Mr. Schoonveld stated that there needs to be a plan provided for the years after the override. Mr. Wilk asked if biting the bullet and laying people off, if it would alleviate the budget issues next year, Ms. Walsh asked if there is a point in which the Town has cut too much as over the last years the Town has been making cuts. Mr. Wilk stated it might be difficult to pass an override two years In a row. Ms. Walsh recognized Mr. Ryan Martin, Finance Committee Member from the audience, and he asked why would we consider to use the stabilization fund if revenue and costs are never going to cross and asked why It would make sense to use the fund to address a decade of issues. Mr. Martin stated that we ought to ask for long term funding as opposed to using the stabilization and to save that money for a truly rainy day. Ms. Walsh stated that this is why the Budget Subcommittee and Finance Committee ought to recommend against using stabilization. c. Override 2 1 P a g e Mr. Wilk stated that the challenge here is that this a multi -year override, a multi -year problem and multi -year solution it is not one and done. Mr. Wilk said that the argument for every year is that it keeps a closer eye on the budget and keeps the need for cuts on the top of the priority list. Ms. Doherty asked if the trash fee could be included in the override as she has heard many people state that they would rather pay for the trash fee in an override. Mr. Violette stated that this would be more expensive ultimately. Mr. Wilk stated that people will not be in favor of an override if the Schools and Town don't feel pain. Ms. Walsh stated that the Schools and Town have been hurting, as the schools have made cuts each year. Ms. Walsh recognized Chief'Desroslers of the Mansfield Fire Department from the audience, who stated that he has made budget cuts each year in order to maintain a balanced budget for the Town. He has not had to cut manpower yet, but they have had to reduce shifts and therefore reduce services. Ms. Doherty stated that the Town and Schools provide a level of service that is efficient and exceptional service, and we need to show people that this will go away without an override. She continued that many people in Mansfield are spoiled in terms of the level of service that's provided to them, which will go away if an override fails. Mr. Wilk stated that there are people in town who may be so negatively impacted by the tax increases posed by an override that they may need to even leave town. Ms. Walsh stated that it is time for the people to decide these things, and we just need to present the information, impacts, and the committees' recommendations. 5. Discussion and consideration of recommendation of committee to discuss at Tri Board Meeting Ms. Walsh asserted that the point of this is to inform people and provide the information. Mr. Dumas asked if there is consensus as to how these staffing impacts will change based on the availability of funds, and that the Town will be asking for the additional Public Safety staffing. Mr. Dumas asked for direction in terms of what sort of information the committee would like to review so that the Town and Schools can start to piece together what the next reductions would look like. Ms. Walsh stated that she would like to see more information as to what sort of further reductions could be made this Thursday. Ms. Walsh recognized Mr. Evan Benson a Mansfield fire Union representative from the audience, who stated he was there on behalf of the Mansfield Fire Department and stated that educating the people is so vital specifically for the Mansfield Fire Department as they are already underwater. Mr. Schoonveld asked if we could break out the override increases based on staffing, such as showing how many firefighters that would be reduced. Ms. Walsh stated that she would like to see some slides this Thursday at the TO Board meeting to demonstrate the cuts and budget options. Mr. Violette stated that we also need to have a balanced budget for Town Meeting either way. 6. Discussion and consideration of spring timeline for public forums, procedural steps, town meeting and election Mr. Dumas respectfully requested that this item be deferred to the Tri-Board Meeting. Mr. Wilk stated that we need to collect everything and break down the top 10 toughest FAQs questions and answers to provide at Town Meeting. Ms. Doherty asked if they could come with a proposed timeline and Mr. Violette responded yes. Mr. Violette also stated that in order to avoid having two elections and paying for it twice, we ought to have the public educated at Town Meeting. Mr. Dumas stated that the Town Meeting needs to be held earlier in order to accommodate that. The remainder of discussion for the spring timeline for publicforums, procedural steps, and town meeting and election was deferred to the Tri Board meeting. 3 7. Discussion and consideration of communication planning This discussion was deferred to TriBoard meeting. i 31Page s 3 8. Discussion and consideration of Tri Board Agenda draft This discussion was deferred to TO Board meeting. 9. Public Comment t Ms. Walsh recognized Mr. Evan Benson and he started by stating that the Mansfield Fire Department is very understaffed and that they need to educate the town and the public about this deficit and what it means for the public. Mr. Benson said that they run a shift with eight people, which is the same staffing that they had in 2007, but they have double the number of runs, and this impact is detrimental. Mr. Benson stated that the Mansfield Fire Department is operating at an unsustainable rate currently and mentioned various grants that may benefit and alleviate the costs of additional staffing such as the SAFR grant. Mr. Schoonveld asked if the grant was included in Mr. Violette's projections and he responded no. Ms. Walsh recognized Mr. Scott Feely_ and he stated that we need to be using analyses similar to that of the one Chief Desrosiers provided prior, as it paints a picture that people will understand. Mr. Dumas stated that we should also highlight other grants and other things that have contributed to the budget without costing additional money. Ms. Walsh asked Mr. Wilk if he would be interested in producing a Frequently Asked question list to give to residents. Mr. Cooney thanked the Mansfield Fire Department for coming and asked if the police will also have a representative at the Tri Board meeting. Mr. Dumas stated that the first goal was to[establish :a rough estimate of what the deficit will be, which is about 2 million dollars. Ms. Murphy asked for the TO Board meeting if there is a goal for the committee to use for stabilization. The consensus was that the recommended usage of the stabilization fund is to be assumed as zero. Ms. Walsh recognized Mr. Ryan Martin who stated that the Town and School management who have cut everything they could have and additional support from the Fire Department that demonstrates that there is a need for an override and at this point given the economy, there is a unique opportunity to pass an override overall. Mr. Martin stated that a year or two from now might look different as this is an unsustainable situation that the Town is in and by adding dire necessities back in is vital. 10. Any Items Not Known within 48 Hours There were no items. 11. Adjourn BA..i U... T.. .. dA....... ♦i... O...J....t GYL........«is4.... .«n..4t L... ..0 In.. P�..w. 9 � 9/17C n4 7.G� DMA On1.�..n GA (Schoonveld/ Cooney) Signature Minutes prepared by Michelle Henderson 4 1 P a g e I"s i i i