HomeMy WebLinkAboutFINCOM MIN 06252009
Town of Mansfield
Finance Committee
Minutes of June 25, 2009
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Attending:
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James Lazzara
Charlene Lavin
Andres Gazzolo
Karl Chambers
Jack Goldberg
Tommy Ratliff
Greg Arnold
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Motion: To Open at 7:30p.m.
(Lazzara - Chambers) 7 - 0 Passes
Budget
Mr. Gazzolo began the meeting by reviewing the budget and mentioned that receipts were going in the
right direction; as well as assessments went up. He said that this should assist in making up the
difference for the accounts that are in a deficit.
Mr. Gazzolo mentioned that the Finance Committee had two transfer requests; both of these would be to
data processing because the costs are up as a result of there being more ambulance activity.
Vote
Motion to approve both transfer requests to data processing.
(Lazzara - Arnold) 7 - 0 Passes
Review of Town Meeting
Mr. Gazzolo asked the members of the Finance Committee to give their impressions of the events at the
town meeting. Mr. Chambers said that he was surprised at what topics were the focus. He also said that
he was pleased that the moderator's motions were not passed.
Mr. Lazzara said that he was glad that the problems the schools will be facing next year were brought up
now. He said that because the stimulus money will be slightly less than expected the schools could
potentially lose another 2 to 2.5 FTE over the summer. He said that the stimulus money has not come in
yet and that there could potentially be more changes made before the town receives it.
Mr. Goldberg said that the request to establish a trust for the unfunded liability was made it went over
well. He also said that in regards to the audit committee he had shortened his presentation and that
afterwards he felt that may not have been the best decision. The audit committee, although approved,
made many people nervous and was not completely understood. He said that in his explanation he did
not say that it is considered best practice. Ms. Lavin mentioned that she thought people felt that there
would be members of the committee conducting random audits of the town; this is not the case.
Mr. Goldberg stressed the importance of elected officials having a strong financial background; he said
that this will be crucial when it comes to fiscal year 2011.
Ms. Lavin said that he felt the representatives from the schools did a very nice jOb explaining net school
spending and preparing the town for what the future holds for the schools financially.
Mr. Arnold said that while he feels the discussion of the budget at town meeting is good and he doesn't
want to discourage people from attending, he finds it frustrating when ideas are brought up at town
meeting when they would be been beneficial months earlier and that if people were aware of what
happens during the months prior to town meeting in preparing the budget that would be the ideal time for
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these questions and ideas to be brought forward. Once the day of town meeting arrives the budget has
been prepared and they aren't really able to make immediate changes. Mr. Ratliff was in agreement with
Mr. Arnold and said that those ideas would best be heard prior to the meeting.
Mr. Gazzolo said that ideally there would have been $500,000 of the stimulus money put aside for fiscal
year 2011; but that otherwise he thought things went very well.
Discussion
Mr. Gazzolo said that there are a few goals that he would like to see met; he would like a study of the
organization of town hall to look at the structure of the different departments and work to create the most
efficient structure. He said that he would also like to go back to the schools and look at where there are
overlaps that could possibly be streamlined; he said that the schools are currently looking at this.
Motion: To Close the Public Meeting and go into Executive Session at 8:05p.m.
(Arnold - Lavin) 7 - 0 Passes
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Signature of Clerk
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Date of Approval