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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance Comm. 10/17/2024Michael Flaherty and Mr. Ryan Martin were present in meeting room 3 A/B Also Present: Matthew Violette, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Not Present: Mr. Scott Feely, Vice Chair _Opening Meeting 1. Open Meeting Ms. Sara Walsh called the Finance Committee meeting to order at 7:0113M. at Town Hall. 2. Approval of Minutes August 29, 2024 Motion: To approve the August 29, 2024 meeting minutes. (Cooney/Tarsi-Goldfien) Passes 6:0 Financial Update"s 3. FY 24 Update Free Cash and Year End Items Mr. Violette began by stating that Fiscal Year 2024 Free Cash has been certified by the State the General Fund was certified at $4,225,549, Sewer Retained Earnings were $736,549 and Water Retained Earnings were $1,553,725, Airport Retained Earnings were $413,905 and Parking Retained Earnings were $563,999. He stated that the Town will hit its mark on the score card with the total of Free Cash that has been certified. He stated that the sewer fund enterprise account fell short of revenue estimates by $300,000 and also utilized $300,000 of retained earnings to balance FY2025 so the Select Board will be considering a rate increase at their next meeting. He noted that there are some items that need to be funded prior to considering CIP items. He stated that the Finance Committee Reserve Fund was funded $100,000 in the spring but that should be at $400,000, retiree health insurance needs an additional $200,000 due to increases to the rates and the fire union contract needs $300,000 that was not in the budget. 4. FY 25 Update and Financial Report Discussion Mr. Violette began with the General Fund local receipts through first quarter and 21% has been collected which is short of the target but nothing to panic about this early on. He noted that they were aggressive with estimates and will keep a close eye on them. Mr. Violette then stated that the solid waste fee they have collected $103,000 based on the number of carts and are anticipating $815,000. He stated that currently the commitments in bills out is $221,000 and collection are not keeping up. Mr. Martin asked about ambulance receipts being at 65% and Mr. Violette responded that the ambulance rates were raised and it was not unusual to see fluctuations in service as it is dependent on people having an emergency. Mr. Violette then stated that on the General Fund Expenditure side and compare the current year with the last year things are similar. He noted that salaries did increase with new union contracts, and active insurance plans went up just over 6% as budgeted. He then spoke about Enterprise funds expenses and benefits tracking at 6.5% as expected. The Parking Enterprise Fund had a slight spike in expense because the MBTA assessment is now back in the Parking Enterprise Fund and removed from the General Fund which it was in during COVID because the Parking Fund couldn't absorb the expense due to the parking at the train station beingempty during COVID. Mr. Cooney asked about the investment income and Mr. Violette responded that they were down slightly. Mr. Violette then provided an update on the Enterprise Revenue accounts. 5. FY 26 Budget Process Update Mr. Violette stated that the budget memos were sent to department heads and due back by October 25'. He stated that he has started building the budget but there are many assumptions such as health insurance rates and Southeastern Regional School assessment. Ms. Walsh stated that the Budget Subcommittee met on October 2811 and have a tentative date of November 13'h. 6. CIP Update Mr, Violette stated that the CIP Committee met on October 7'h and all of the projects brought forward were approved by the Committee. He did note however that it does not mean that all of the projects will be funded at Special Town Meeting. Ms. Walsh asked what the dollar value was of all the projects and Mr. Violette responded it was about $4.3 million. Mr. Violette then provided an update on the projects that were part of the CIP. Ms. Thurston asked about the CIP process and Mr, Violette explained that the CIP Committee reviews and approves projects and then it is up to the Town Manager to fund the projects. 7. Insurance Rates Mr. Violette stated that retiree health rates go into effect on January 151 and the rates have increased by nineteen percent from last year. The main reason is higher utilization and changes made to Medicare itself. Mr. Violette explained that this was not expected and will have a cost of about $200,000. Mr, Cooney asked if these were negotiable rates and Mr. Violette responded that they are not negotiable. Ms. Walsh asked what options do Towns realistically have. Mr. Violette stated that they could look into self -insuring or the GIC which is the states insurance that is offered however most changes have to be negotiated with the unions. 8. Trash and Recycling Ms. Walsh asked Mr. Violette how contract negotiations were going. Mr. Violette responded that they met with Wheelabrator the company that incinerates the trash and the current contract expires in December of 2027. He stated that they are turning communities away because they only have a capacity of supporting 31 communities. He stated that Mansfield is one of the first communities to speak to them about negotiating sooner and it may cost more to start a new contract now but it could save money in the long run. He also noted that some other communities are paying double what Mansfield is paying. Mr. Martin asked if the Town could end up paying double what it is now and Mr. Violette thought it would be possible and would not surprise him. 9. Override Option Discussion Mr. Violette stated that there have been lots of discussion and now they need to start honing in on a number. He stated that it needs to be clear to residents about what has been done this year and prior years to avoid an override. Examples include aggressively seeking grants, budget reductions and the schools have reduced personnel. He stated that they have discussed the tax impact to residents and if the override should fail, what services would be impacted. He also noted that the Budget Subcommittee has discussed whether the override should be for one year or multiple years and when looking at the five-year projections it may make sense to look at a multi -year override but he stated it is not a common way of doing it. Mr. Violette then provided an example. He stated that an average tax bill in Mansfield is $8,200 and a $5 million override would increase that tax bill by $500. If it were an $8 million override it would be an $846 increase to that average tax bill. Mr. Violette then explained that a ballot vote would happen in May and then Town Meeting could be prior to that or after that but both a ballot vote and a Town Meeting vote are necessary. Mr. Flaherty asked when the last override was and Mr. Violette responded that it was in 2000 and it was for $1.5 million and it passed successfully and was for trash and schools. Mr. Martin asked how much is needed right now to balance the budget for next year and Mr. Violette responded about $4.7 million. The Committee asked a few questions and discussed several override options. Mr. Violette let the meeting at 8:20PM. Questions from the Community 10. Questions from the community There were no questions from the community. Committee Business 11. Policy Update and Discussion Ms. Walsh stated that she sent the draft policies to everyone. She then stated they should go to Select Board and School Committee but wanted to open it up to the committee for discussion. She asked the member to read over and send comments to her but if there are significant changes they can be discussed at the next meeting. 12.Survey Discussion Ms. Tarsi-Goldfien stated that she sent an initial draft of the survey and after tonight's discussion she has some more questions to add to the draft of the survey. She stated it should ideally be kept it in the three to five- minute range. The committee discussed when they should send it out and she stated that she was avoiding November but thought it should go out in December and January and how to get the survey to all residents. 13. Schedule Discussion Ms. Walsh stated that on November 18th there will be a Tri-Board meeting and on November 215t there will be a regular Finance Committee meeting. 14. Liaison/Committee Update Mr. Cooney stated that the Audit Committee met and approved the Mansfield Electric Audit. 15. Member Comments There were no.member comments. 16. Items Not Known in 48 hours in Advance of the Meeting There were no items. 17. Adjourn Motion: To adjourn the Finance Committee meeting of October 17, 2024 at 8:4113M. (Tarsi-Goldfien/Flaherty) Passes 6:0 2L Lo Sigr6t Minutes prepared by Carrie Champagne 3 2 Zs Date