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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget Comm 01/15/2025Budget Subcommittee Meeting Minutes January 16, 2025 Present: Sara Walsh, Jack Cooney, Steve Schoonveld, Lynn Cavicchi, and Maureen Doherty,were present in Town Hall Meeting Room 2 A/B. Walter Wilk was present via GoToWebinar. f li; Also Present: Matt Violette, Kevin Dumas and Teresa Murphy were also present in the meeting room. 206 1; iy I b A 9: So School Committee Members Present: Steve Schoonveld, Lynn Cavicchi, Jenn Walsh and Jenifer Sellon were present at Town Hall Meeting Room 2 A/B. School Committee Members Not Present: Vivian Webster Finance Committee Members Present: Sara Walsh, Scott Feely, Greta Thurston, Ryan Martin and Jack Cooney were present in Town Hall Meeting Room 2 A/B. Michael Flaherty and Melinda Tarsi-Goldfien were present virtually via GoToWebinar. Select Board Members Present: Maureen Doherty, Diana Bren and Brendan Roche were present in Town Hall Meeting Room 2 A/B. Walter was present virtually via GoToWebinar. Select Board Members Not Present: Michael A. Trowbridge, Sr. 1. Open Meeting Ms. Sara Walsh called the Budget Subcommittee Meeting to order at 6:3713M. Ms, Sara Walsh stated that the Finance Committee meeting was called to order at 6:37PM. The Select Board meeting was then called to order at 6:37PM by Ms. Doherty, Chair. The School Committee meeting was called to order at 6:38PM by Mr. Schoonveld, Chair and stated that four of the five members were present. Ms. Doherty noted that there were three members of the Select Board in person and one attending virtually so any votes would be roll call. Ms. Walsh stated that that was true for Budget Subcommittee and Finance Committee with members attending virtually. 2. Discussion and review of current budget and agreed upon steps to reduce $4.9 million shortfall to $2.9 million shortfall Mr. Violette went through a presentation on the Fiscal Year 2026 beginning with the budget process and how the budget is developed. He explained that over the past few years the budget reductions have been significant and have affected departments. He stated that the Town has reduced three full time employees over the last two years and the Schools had reduced eighteen. Mr. Violette explained that when the budget was posted on January 11t there was a shortfall of $4.9 million. Mr. Ryan Martin arrived at 6:40PM. He continued with the presentation and explained that the main budget driver is health insurance noting that they have budgeted for a 15% or $1.5 million, increase however the representative from MIAA stated that the increase may be as high as 19%. He then stated that health insurance makes up approximately 20% of the total budget. Other budget drivers include retiree health insurance, contract salaries and minimal increases to State Aid over the years. He stated that as of today there is $1.9 million deficit and the budget has been reduced by $3 million and he provided the list of items that had been cut. Mr. Dumas stated that the Budget Subcommittee directed them to reduce another $1 million and now there needs to be a decision of what to do. Mr. Violette then presented three budget options. The first was called a reduction in service budget which would be a balanced budget without an override. This option which would eliminate the proposed new public safety positions, reductions of employees for the Town and Schools, delayed infrastructure maintenance, impacts to snow/ice budget and impacts to the public safety front desk and also a reduction in services at the Library and Council on Aging. Ms. Murphy stated that on the Schools side there will be a reduction of ten to twelve licensed educators, elimination or reduction in programs and there would be an increase to class sizes. Mr. Violette then stated that the second option is a preferred municipal budget that would require an override that does not have the reductions that are part of the first option and would include adding two new positions at Public Safety. The third option would be including the solid waste fee in the override amount and eliminates the $120 yearly fee. Mr. Violette then provided the dollar amount of how an override would impact the tax bills for various assessed value of homes. One example was that a $2 million override would increase a tax bill of a $650,000 average assessed home value by $215 and the total increase including Proposition 2 %would be $514. Mr. Violette stated that this override does not solve the problem in future years because fixed costs are outpacing revenues. Mr. Violette then went through the timeline for the override. He stated that the Annual Town Meeting Warrant opens January 2911 and while that is open the Select Board would need to take a vote to add an override to the Town Meeting Warrant. He then stated that the local Town Election is on May 13t^ and it would have the override ballot question. The override has to pass at the ballot and at Town Meeting. Ms. Walsh then opened up the discussion and began with Ms. Sellon who asked what the benefit is by having the trash fee in the override. Ms. Doherty stated that the Select Board had heard from many residents said they would not support an override and a trash fee. Ms. Jenn Walsh asked if two dollar amounts for the override were being considered and Ms. Doherty responded that the Select Board will take a vote and decide which dollar amount option would go forward. Mr. Cooney complimented everyone on their ability to get a complicated issue explained in a few slides and based on the timeline there is three months to vet it out. Ms. Doherty thanked everyone for showing up tonight and then thanked the administration for their work. She stated that any impact to the budget effects people here tonight and will affect the whole community. Mr. Dumas then spoke about the increase to health insurance which is not unique to Mansfield and noted that its increase eats up all of the new money for Fiscal Year 2026. Ms. Doherty thanked Mr. Dumas for bringing that point up and does not think the Town is overspending and the health insurance increase is beyond the control of the Town. Mr. Schoonveld stated that twenty percent of the budget went up by twenty percent and this strains the budget and if it were not for the health insurance increase there may not have been a need for an override, but he is more worried about Fiscal Year 2027 and believed there should be a $2 million override and another $2 million in expense reductions. Ms. Sara Walsh commented that she appreciates different solutions but she was struggling to follow this because she did not believe anyone wanted to cut services. Ms. Bren asked if there was anything else coming down the pipeline that the cost is still unknown. Mr. Violette responded that the Southeastern Regional School District assessment, State Aid and health insurance are still unknown. He stated that State Aid is not going to fluctuate that much but health insurance could. Mr. Roche thanked everyone for the additional information and stated that the Town is always looking for possible ways to reduce and be more efficient but he thinks the Select Board needs to go forward with an override option. Mr. Feely commented that residents can decide to go with cuts and reductions but the Town cannot cut their way out of this situation. Ms. Thurston commented that insurance costs are not going to go down and asked if there will be the need for another override next year. Mr. Violette responded that insurance costs will not be going down and he used an eight percent increase for the next fiscal year projection which is the industry standard. Mr. Thurston then asked about the trash fee and if it would benefit the residents by adding it to the override. Ms. Doherty responded that it was a wash. Mr. Feely disagreed stating that the amount would be part of the levy and that goes up two and a half percent a year. Ms. Doherty then added that it helps by keeping up with the increases to trash. Ms. Thurston asked if we are looking to decide on an amount and Mr. Dumas said they are looking for support on whether to go forward with an override or not and not the dollar amount tonight. Mr. Martin stated that Mr. Violette commented a previous meeting about the trash contract being up for renewal in 2027 and he asked if a resident would pay more out of pocket in the long run if the fee were eliminated and the amount went into the override. Mr. Dumas responded that DPW is looking at the two contracts one for trash pick up and another for incinerating the trash. He stated that they will have the final numbers prior to the finalizing the override amount. Mr. Martin commented that by putting it in the override it would only grow two and a half percent instead of fluctuating based on what amount the new contract comes in at. Mr. Violette further explained that by having the trash expense as a fee it gives the Select Board a way to absorb the increases. Mr. Martin that stated that he would not do what Mr. Schoonveld said about doing a $2 million override and doing $2 million in cuts and he heard a lot through these meetings and the community would not want these cuts to services. He stated that the residents should understand that the override is not a result of frivolous spending and these are unique times. He further noted that the variables that are stressing the budget are not in the control of the Town. Mr. Schoonveld responded that this year's override does not solve anything and next year there will be a $4 million override and a $6 million override the following year. He stated that the health insurance is the culprit and we need to ask the employees, MIAA and legislatures to help fix it. Ms. Sara Walsh commented that she wanted to counter what Mr. Schoonveld just stated. She stated that she would reframe the messaging to the community and based on current projections there could be further needs but also note that lots of things can change. She added that they are going to continue to work hard but there may be a need for another override next year. Mr. Flaherty who has called in and he stated that he had no comments. Ms. Tarsi-Goldfien who also was calling in stated that a lot of municipalities are in the same space and communities are not receiving what they should in State Aid. She added that there can the potential negative effects if there is not enough emergency staff and more negative impacts of not keeping up with capital projects. She stated that as a member of the Finance Committee she supports an override and nothing ever gets less expensive. Mr. Wilk also called in commented that he agreed with Mr. Schoonveld and the need to find some cuts over the next twelve months is necessary and this override would only be a one-year fix. 3. Discussion and consideration of further reductions and moving variables The discussion happened in the previous agenda item. 4. Discussion and consideration of balanced budget and preferred budget Finance Committee Vote: Motion: To make a recommendation to the Select Board to move forward with the proposed plan to put an override forward and the timeline proposed to move forward in the budget process, as shown in the presentation as slide nine columns two and three. (Feely/Cooney) Roll call Vote: Flaherty — Yes Tarsi-Goldfien—Aye Cooney —Aye Feely — Aye Thurston — Aye Martin —Aye S.Walsh —Aye Passes 7:0 School Committee Vote: Motion: To make a recommendation to the Select Board to move forward seek an override request on the Town Warrant and timeline. (J. Walsh/Sellon) Roll Call Vote J.Walsh —Aye Sellon — Aye Cavicchi—Aye Schoonveld—Aye Passes 4:0 Select Board Vote: Motion: To support an override option at Town Meeting and to support the time line. (Roche/Bren) Roll Call Vote: Wilk — Yes Roche —Yes Bren — Yes Doherty — Yes Passes 4:0 S. Discussion and consideration of spring timeline for public forums, procedural steps, town meeting and election This discussion was done in agenda number seven. 6. Committees vote on timeline There was no vote. 7. Next steps Ms. Sara Walsh stated that the next step she sees is to have another Budget Subcommittee meeting to talk about the public forums needed. Mr. Dumas stated that he will work on getting some time lines with possible dates. Mr. Schoonveld stated that the School Committee has a public hearing on the budget in April and asked what would that be on. Mr. Roche commented that the public forums in February would help get to the final decision as to whether trash is in the override option or not. 8. Public Comment Mr. Evan Benson from Mansfield Fire came forward and thanked the group for their time all week at meetings and he stated that he appreciates the support of an override. He commented that there are double the amount of emergency calls today than back in 2007, however the number of employees has not increased. He then stated that if the override does not pass there needs to be another way to fund the public safety positions. He then thanked everyone for the yes vote tonight and he stated that he would provide a letter from the Union. Mr. Wilk left the meeting at 7:35PM. 9. Adjourn Budget SubCommittee: Motion: To adjourn the Budget SubCommittee meeting of January 16, 2025 at 7:37 PM. (Doherty/Cavicchi) Passes 5:0 Finance Committee: Motion: To adjourn the Finance Committee meeting of January 16, 2025 at 7:37PM. (Feely/Cooney) Roll call Vote: Flaherty — Yes Tarsi-Goldfien—Aye Cooney —Aye Feely — Aye Thurston — Aye Martin — Aye S. Walsh —Aye Passes 7:0 School Committee: Motion: To adjourn the School Committee meeting of January 16, 2025 at 7:38PM. (J. Walsh/Sellon) Passes 4:0 Select Board: Motion: To adjourn the Select Board meeting of January 16, 2025 at 7:38PM. (Roche/Bren) Passes 3:0 5/(0 — /s' Z�5 t Ste Date Minutes prepared by Carrie Champagne