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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFINCOM MIN 04302009 Town of Mansfield Finance Committee Minutes of April 30, 2009 F,l\/EO " DFflCE Attending: James Lazzara Charlene Lavin Andres Gazzolo Karl Chaml;>ers Jack Goldberg Tommy Ratliff Greg Arnold lOGQ Y 22 /3.. 8: 5 b Motion: To Open at 7:30p.m. (Lavin - Lazzara) 7 - 0 Passes Review Mr. Goldberg gave a review of the previous evening's Board of Selectman meeting. He said that he presented some wording for an article on the unfunded liability at the town meeting. Mr. Goldberg said that he also presented some language to the Board of Selectmen for a motion on the unfunded liability for the municipal light department. He said they discussed the annual required contribution as well as the fact that the post retirement costs have never been included on the town's books and that going forward they plan to include these costs. He said that these costs will be broken down by department and each will be responsible for their own portion. Mr. Gazzolo said that the town has the next six months or so to work out the most efficient approach. Mr. Ratliff said that he spoke with the actuary about the report that they are being of assistance in the town's approach. Capital Ms. Lavin said that the CIP Committee met on Tuesday and that the various departments have made their presentations and that the Town Manager sent his priorities. She said that even though there is no money in the budget for CIP the Committee decided to prioritize the projects in case there is money in the budget at a later time. She said that they looked at the reports on the Canoe River dam and that the reason it had been made so important was because of the threat of the fines, not the structure of the dam. She said that they decided that public safety is the most important thing and because of that they decided to make the pUblic safety issues the number one and two priorities. It was decided to make the generator for the schools the third priority followed by ventilation. It was decided to place the highways after that and then the dam. There was a discussion of the town being under notice for the dam repairs. The Finance Committee decided to send a memo to George Dentino requesting additional information regarding the dam. Unfunded Liability Mr. Gazzolo said that they would like a recommendation on what to add to the budget over the next several years for the unfunded liability. Mr. Goldberg said that the town needs to know the amount to stop the growth of the debt and then to start to bring it down a little each year. South Eastern Regional School District The Finance Committee received a letter from the South Eastern Regional School District regarding the budget cuts for regional transportation. The Finance Committee acknowledged that the town may need to provide money for transportation. Budget Mr. Hart, the Town Accountant provided the Finance Committee with a packet of information. He provided some background to the Committee on recent highlights with the 2010 budget, including revenue and expense changes. He also briefly spoke on position cuts throughout the town. Mr. Gazzolo ~ said that the Finance Committee still has a few differences when it comes to the budget and that they will soon be able to look at the two budgets side by side. Mr. Hart said that the snow and ice budget f02009 are being handled with articles for the special meeting within the annual town meeting. Mr. Gazzolo said that once the new numbers for Chapter 70 are decided they should plan to meet with Mr. Trowbridge to discuss the schools budget. Mr. Gazzolo said that the five year projection looks bad and that likely it will only get worse. There was a discussion of the layoffs by both the schools and the town side. Vote Motion to approve minutes of April 23 Finance Committee meeting. (Goldberg - Lazzara) 5 - 0 - 2 Passes Motion: To Close at 8:55p.m. (Lavin - Lazzara) 7 - 0 Passes ", " C" ,'",\ L.( I ~ Jt1 ' . ,I, ,/) '; " l' /Af1( J.'/ ) t j (T i( {;~) JiLl /IYJ-.J Signature of Cle~k c f '." ~,. )l , (j if Date of Approval ",~_., .... ,~.,.,-~.,------,-_.,-~-_..~".,_._---~-,.._-',...-.~ ~