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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance Comm 05/21/2026Town of Mansfield o 6 PaiA Rom, Mansfield, Massachusells 02048 fOASA ,6 Finance Committee RECEIVED I OFp! ci-ENKS OFFICE Meeting Minutes May 21, 2026 702b JUU 22 A 8: 33 Present: Sara Walsh, Chair, Scott Feely, Vice -Chair; and Jack Cooney, were resent in the Meeting Room 3 A/B at Town Hall. Greta Loukos participated remotely via GoToWebinaF Ad d' ` ill aflipry Aronstein, Town Manager. ii`,S Ci, a� Not Present: Melinda Tarsi-Goidfein and Ryan Martin Opening Meeting 1. Open Meeting Ms. Walsh called the Finance Committee meeting to order at 6:00 PM. 2. Discussion and Consideration to Approve the April 16, 2026 and May 5, 2026 Meeting Minutes Ms. Walsh asked to remove the April 161h minutes to make some edits and approve at the June meeting. Motion: To approve the minutes of the May 5, 2026. (Feely/Cooney) Roll Call Vote: Loukos — Yes Feely — Yes Passes 4:0 Cooney — Yes Walsh - Yes Financial Updates 3. Review and Discussion of FY 26 Financials Ms. Aronstein stated that Mr. Monticello has provided the April 2026 reports. She stated that revenues are decent and they did not meet the estimated revenues in total but there are some categories that are exceeding estimates. Ms. Aronstein stated that there is still a spending freeze in place and they are monitoring for the fuel shortage. Mr. Feely stated that there are two months left in the fiscal year and the financials are not looking that bad and there may be some Free Cash at the end of the year. He wanted to know if there were any other concerns that she had when she reviewed the reports. Ms. Aronstein responded that she had no concerns and noted that revenues are at 96%. Mr. Cooney asked about the fuel shortage and Ms. Aronstein responded that back in March they started to anticipate a shortage in the fuel line due to the global conflict and the dramatic increase of fuel. She stated that she is hoping to have some certified free cash and at special town meeting that would be used to put some things back together. Ms. Walsh asked what items would that be because Fiscal Year 2028 will also be a difficult budget year. Ms. Aronstein responded that it would be maintenance lines, asset protection or restoring positions because there are several vacant positions that are not being filled at this time. Ms. Walsh asked about the end of the year transfers and Ms. Aronstein answered that Mr. Monticello is keeping a list and no one is trending anywhere near alarming. She stated that the Town is in a holding pattern and Town employees are mindful to not waste resources and are sharing office supplies. 4. Review and Discussion of FY 27 Budget Ms. Walsh asked for Ms. Aronstein to advise where the Town is on the budget beginning July 151. Ms. Aronstein stated that the Select Board voted to have the retiree's health insurance split increase from a 75/25 split to a 60/40 split for all of the PPO health plans effective July 151. She stated that retirees are able to make changes now during open enrollment and those that have switched has yielded about $80,000 in savings so far. She then stated that the retirees who retire after January 1, 2027 or later will have a 70/30 split which matches the active employee split. She stated that she is trying to negotiate with the unions for a 60/40 split and she has asked the Board to reconsider the retiree split if that is successful to make sure they continue to match. Ms. Aronstein then stated that the SEMRECC assessment came in $15,000 lower than expected and there are about an additional $460,000 left to cut from the budget. Mr. Cooney asked if the retiree split needs to be negotiated and Ms. Aronstein responded that it does not need to be negotiated for retirees but it must be bargained for active union employees. Ms. Loukos asked if the changes for retirees were just town retirees and Ms. Aronstein answered that it is for all employees no matter what umbrella they fall under. Ms. Walsh asked if they do not find the $460,000 in cuts by July 111 what would happen next. Ms. Aronstein responded that there would be additional layoffs. She added that these decisions are not easy and the Town is running very lean and there is not much left to cut. 5. Review and Discussion of Town Manager Budget Process Document and FY 28 Budget Initial Process Discussions Ms. Walsh stated that she sent the document to the Committee. Ms. Mallory Aronstein stated that a huge component of preparing for the FY2028 budget is getting everyone on the same page and communicating early. She stated that she will be assisting the public to navigate a tricky situation as it pertains to municipal finance. She stated that she provided a flow chart and it identifies for the public who is in charge and when decisions are made and who needs to go first. She stated that she is not looking to compete with the schools and wants to work with the schools. She stated that she will be using cable access videos to educate the public and Mark Corsillo suggested an audio file like a podcast which she thinks that is a great suggestion. She stated that there were a lot of people engaged after Town Meeting and she is gathering contact information from residents so that she can have them participate in focus groups. Ms. Walsh stated that a lot of what is already being done is in the document and she liked how it is clearly laid out. She stated that it is hard to have a discussion with 17 people in a room and that is where the Budget Subcommittee can play a role in helping. Mr. Feely stated that this plan is a little different and Ms. Aronstein is the new Town Manager and she is stepping into a very difficult time and he was open to the changes. Ms. Walsh asked if the document was shared with the School Committee and Ms. Aronstein responded that she has shared it with Dr. Michelle McKeon the Superintendent. Mr. Cooney stated that the open forums are a great idea and the Finance Committee has tried to their part with those. He then asked about residents who stop at her office and wanted to know if they have appointments or are they just stopping by. Ms. Aronstein responded that she has an open-door policy, however it is best to set up an appointment because she does have meetings and does not waste their time. She stated that email is a a great way to get in touch with her. She added that residents need to be heard; their ideas need to be incorporated and then you have a better sell for the override. Ms. Loukos asked about the timeline because she do not see the Fall Town Meeting in the flow chart and she stated there will be an audience at that meeting. Ms. Aronstein responded that she hopes people will be involved even earlier than Fall Town Meeting and she will provide a FY2027 budget update at that meeting. 6. Discussion of Long -Term Tracking a) Roland Green Building — Ms. Aronstein stated that the building is demolished and the ad was published and bids are due July 31". b) Bristol County Pension Contribution — Ms. Aronstein stated that communities within the Bristol County pension system have to be funded by 2035. Mr. Monticello reached out asking if that date could be pushed out. She stated that they are now waiting for actuarily report that is due mid -July to find if that is possibility to extend that date in order to have some savings. This would help other communities like Mansfield as well because many towns are struggling. Ms. Walsh noted that it is millions of dollars each year in order to catch up for the lack of contributions over several years in the past. She added that once the Town is funded there will be significant savings each year. Public Comment 7. Public Comment There were no comments. Committee Business 8. Discussion of Full Committee Review and Assignments Ms. Walsh stated that Dr. Tarsi-Goldfien and Mr. Martin would like to be on the Budget SubCommittee. Ms. Walsh then stated that Mr. Feely and Ms. Loukos are on CIP and both stated that they would like to stay on. Mr. Feely stated that it would be helpful for CIP to meet to get everyone on the same page and Ms. Aronstein responded that they could plan for a meeting in July and the members will have homework because the list of CIP items is too large and needs to be refined. Mr. Cooney stated he would stay on the Audit Committee. Ms. Walsh then stated that she would like to recommend Dr. Tarsi-Goldfien and Ms. Loukos for the school liaisons and Ms. Loukos stated she is interested but wanted to know how often and what time they meet before committing to that. Ms. Walsh stated that she will add this to the next meeting agenda. 9. Any items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting Mr. Feely asked Ms. Aronstein what she wanted from the Finance Committee. Ms. Aronstein responded that she is looking for your scrutiny, creativity, collaboration and open minds. 10. Discussion of Summer Schedule Planning Ms. Walsh stated that their next scheduled meeting is June 181h and she anticipates that there will be end of year budget transfer requests. Ms. Aronstein commented that she wanted to consider a late August or early September meeting to discuss FY2028 with the Finance Committee. She stated that this wi►l allow her some time to see a few months of the financials with the new fees that will be in place for July 11 and hopefully the union contracts will also be settled. Ms. Walsh stated that the summer meeting dates are July 16th and August 20th and we can determine in June if we need to meet in July. 11. Member Comments Ms. Loukos had no comments, Mr. Feely commented that he and Mr. Feck went back and forth last night and listening is the biggest things we can do over the next period of time and we need to recognize that people are going to have strong feelings. Mr. Cooney echoed what Mr. Feely stated and thanked Ms. Aronstein for the information. Ms. Walsh also thanked her for attending. 12. Adjourn Motion: To adjourn the Finance Committee meeting of April 16, 2026 at 7:03PM. (Feely/Cooney) Roll Call Vote: Walsh - Yes Cooney —Yes 6 Date Minutes prepared by Carrie Champagne