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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance Comm 09/18/2025Town of Mansfield —T- , 6 Park Row, Dlansfield, Massachusetts 02048 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes September 18, 2025 Present: Ms. Sara Walsh, Chair, Mr. Scott Feely, Vice -Chair; Mr. Jack Cooney, and Mr. Ryan Martin were present in the Meeting Room 3 A/B at Town Hall. Mr. Barry LaCasse, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director was also present. Mr. Michael Flaherty was present via GoToWebinar. Not Present: Ms. Greta Loukos and Ms. Melinda Tarsi-Goldfien Opening Meeting 1. Open Meeting Ms. Walsh called the Finance Committee meeting to order at 6:11PM and read the broadcast message. 2. Discussion and Consideration to Approve August 28, 2025 Meeting Minutes Motion: To approve the meeting minutes of August 28, 2025. (Feely/Martin) Roll Call Vote: Flaherty — Yes Cooney -Yes Feely — Yes Martin —Yes Walsh — Yes Passes 5:0 Financial Updates 3. Reserve Fund Transfer Requests Chief Sellon and Deputy Chief Archer were present seeking the approval of a Finance Committee Reserve Fund transfer. Chief Sellon explained that one of their patrol cars was struck at Xfinity Center in August and they do not have money in their budget for the expense to replace the vehicle. Mr. Feely asked whose fault was the accident and if there was someone to go after and Chief Sellon responded it would be up to the insurance company. He stated that they received $11,000 from the insurance company for the value of the vehicle and are waiting for settlement on the equipment that was in the vehicle. Deputy Chief Archer stated they got three quotes and would like to stick with a Tahoe which is $87,000 total. Mr. Feely stated that the Town is looking to get the full fleet of public safety to be Tahoe's because of their reliability. Mr. Martin asked if they looked at used vehicles and Mr. Feely responded that they need new due to the amount of idle time they put on vehicles. Chief Sellon stated that the problem they find themselves in is that the fleet is old and vehicles over the last five years have not been replaced as they should have been. Chief Sellon then brought up concerns with the amount being charged to the Xfinity Center and that vehicles from CIP that are approved were never funded and purchased. Mr. Feely explained that if a project is approved it stays as an approved item and just moves to the following year and Ms. Walsh noted that there isn't always funding available for all the projects that get approved. Motion: To approve a Transfer of $75,591.62 from General Fund Reserve Fund to account number 01210300- 587000 General Fund Police Capital —Vehicles. (Feely/Cooney) Roll Call Vote: Flaherty — Yes Cooney -Yes Feely — Yes Martin —Yes Walsh — Yes Passes 5:0 4. FY26 Updates Mr. LaCasse began his update stating that he sent out reports and asked if anyone had questions and no one did. He stated that when looking at the Local Receipts comparison report from FY25 to FY26 the totals are about $21,000 different. He noted the item that sticks out the most is the earnings on investment which was $186,000 last year and this year is only $78,000. Mr. LaCasse then moved to the General Fund Expenses report followed by the Enterprise Revenue and Expenses Reports and all are in line with last year. He did note that in the Parking Enterprise Expense report the assessment for the State is now being paid from this account instead of the General Fund. S. FY27 Budget Planning and Discussion of Override Ms. Walsh stated that the first Budget Subcommittee meeting was last week and Town departments have submitted their budgets which is ahead of the normal schedule. She stated that the Superintendent is going to meet with all school departments to going through their budget details. Ms. Walsh then stated that there will be a Tri-Board meeting in a couple weeks to go through the timeline and process. Mr. Feely then stated that the Select Board voted to spend $15,000 on a consultant to analyze the Town's Health insurance and see if there is any savings that can be found. Mr. Cooney asked if it is a one-time fee and Mr. Feely responded yes. Mr. Martin asked if the analysis would be comparing Mansfield to other communities and Mr. Feely responded that it would. 6. Long Term Tracking a. Cell Phone Tower b. Roland Green Building c. Town Leadership Transition Ms. Walsh reviewed the above list of items that the Finance Committee wants to keep track of. She stated that the Committee wants to be able to analyze the full costs of each item. Public Comment 7. Public Comment There were none. Committee Business 1. Fall Meeting Schedule Ms. Walsh gave the list of upcoming meetings. 9/29 CIP Meeting 9/30 Tri-Board 10/16 Finance Committee Meeting 11/10 Budget Subcommittee 11/20 Finance Committee Meeting 12/9 Town Meeting 12/18 Tri-Board Meeting 2. Discussion of Fall Listening Sessions and note in Newsletter Ms. Walsh stated that they discussed having listening sessions at the Budget Subcommittee to hear concerns and questions from the public. Ms. Walsh then stated that there is an article in the paper about health insurance and wonders if it would be beneficial to put a note in the newsletter to build awareness. Ms. Walsh asked Mr. Reinke who she can we work with to do listening sessions and he responded that there have been several public meetings for TOD and held them at Community Room at Public Safety and that his office could assist with coordinating the sessions. She thinks that there should be one or two Saturdays and evenings. 3. Committee & Liaison Updates Mr. Cooney stated that the Audit Committee is meeting on October 2nd. Mr. Feely stated that CIP is Monday, September 29'n 4. Any items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting There were none. S. Member Comments Mr. Martin stated that Mr. Violette responded about the Bristol County Retirement assessment of $195,000 paid from the schools and it was due to a COL adjustment and new retirees entering the pension system. Mr. Martin stated that if Bristol County Retirement is not getting back to Ms. Walsh maybe Mr. Reinke or Mr. Wilk could reach out. 6. Adjourn Motion: To adjourn the Finance Committee meeting of September 18, 2025 at 7:14PM. (Feely/Cooney) Roll Cali Vote: Flaherty — Yes Cooney -Yes Feely — Yes Passes 5:0 "2 v Signature Minutes prepared by Carrie Champagne Date Martin —Yes Walsh — Yes /0/I6iz�