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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFINCOM MIN 10292009 Town of Mansfield Finance Committee Minutes of October 29, 2009 .. l f:lJ Attending: James Lazzara Charlene Lavin Andres Gazzolo Karl Chambers Tommy Ratliff Jack Goldberg ZDil9 ICE Ie; 1\ ..-~--;. !t. "'") , I' /..J Motion: To Open at 7:30p.m. (Chambers - Lazzara) 6 - 0 Passes Mr. Gazzolo began the meeting by discussing the budget cycle. He said that memos were sent about quarterly reviews of the budget for accounts that have discrepancies. He said that a memo was sent to the Board of Selectmen that the Finance Committee would like the strategic goals from the Board of Selectmen for the fiscal year 2010 budget by November 15 He said that he would like to go over the milestones of the budget with Mr. Riccio and Mr. Stan brook Mr. Riccio said that he received an email that afternoon from Governor Patrick saying that there will be $6 million in cuts at the state level but that for now Chapter 70 and local aide has not been affected. The email also stated that he was planning to file for legislation about health care option changes. Mr. Lazzara said that there has been more pressure from the cities and towns to look closely into this area. Mr. Riccio said that Mansfield is continuing to look into their options. Mr. Stan brook said that there was a cut in the Quinn Bill; this will affect the police pension. Mr. Gazzolo said that this does not apply to newly hired police; the longer term officers are grandfathered in. Mr. Riccio brought up the free cash; he said that although it seems like there is a larger than expected number in the general fund, but that there are already plans for that money. He said that the town is trying to set up a revolving account for inspectional services and that there is a town meeting warrant for the spring town meeting. He said that after that there will be approximately $200,000 in the general fund, but that much of that money is already being planned for other uses Mr. Gazzolo said that with the conversion to the new accounting software the town does not have the historical budget data to use while planning the budget. Mr. Stanbrook said that they are working on getting the new system up and running and that they have started with the revenue side of the budget. He showed a sample of the format that they are currently working with and said that he can make adjustments to the format as the Finance Committee sees fit. Mr. Goldberg asked about the excise tax revenue. Mr. Lazzara responded that the bills do not go out until February; and asked if there is a way to show an estimated number based on last year's budget. Mr. Stanbrook said that the expense report has a lot of errors that need to be corrected individually; he said that it is very time consuming but that it is being worked on. Mr. Gazzolo said that the Finance Committee will need a complete budget model by November 30. Mr. Stanbrook said that not all of the billing has been converted to the new system yet and that the payroll will need to be brought over to the new system. Mr. Gazzolo brought up the quarterly budget reviews and said that the Finance Committee would like to be notified of any account that is 5% or more off from the budget number; particularly if this number is more than $5000. He also mentioned that they do not need to be notified of seasonal accounts unless there is an issue with a particular account. Mr. Goldberg said that he received an email from Ken Thompson of the electric department. He said that Mr. Thompson has been actively working to pay down the electric department's unfunded liability and that 11 he would like to set up a separate savings account for that purpose. Mr. Goldberg said that Mr. Thompson has taken some steps away from what the town is planning and while he is glad that Mr. Thompson is active with correcting this problem there seems to have been a miscommunication and that it was concerning that this process got along as far as it had before it was noticed. Mr. Riccio said that he would communicate with Mr. Thompson and work to set up a checks and balances system regarding this. Mr. Gazzolo said that the Finance Committee was given a presentation on the GIS system. He said that knowing what they know about the budget they need to decide whether or not this system should be maintained within the town or not. He said that they only number they were given was the base salary of the one employee without benefits and that it does not represent the true cost of the department. Mr. Goldberg said that the other departments are the users of the system and that they should be the ones responsible for paying the cost of it. Mr. Gazzolo told Mr. Stan brook that the Finance Committee always does a five year forecast on the financials for the town. He reviewed the results of the latest update and said that there will need to be some significant changes. Mr. Lazzara said that the presumptions that they had made were historical in nature. He said that he has plans to meet with the Town Manager and Human Resources person from another town that just moved to the state GIC next week. He said that they did not have a hard time signing on and that if Mansfield wanted to move to that system by July of 2011 they would need to notify the employees by December 1 of this year. Mr. Goldberg told the Finance Committee that the following Tuesday there is an interview for the last opening of the Audit Committee. He said that the candidate appears to be strong and that he expects her to be appointed. Mr. Gazzolo said that they Finance Committee should work to set up some guidance for contract negotiations. He said that they should plan for only step increases, no new increases and no new people. Mr. Riccio said that they should have more budget information with the new software by the end of November. Mr., Gazzolo said that they have to have a first pass of the budget by January 1. Mr. Gazzolo said that there are three candidates for the Town Manager position that were submitted to the Board of Selectmen for review. He said that one is the Town Manager in Dedham, another is the Town Manager of Auburn Hills, Michigan and the third is the former Mayor of Brockton. He said that the search committee provided their recommendation of the candidates in that order. Mr. Lazzara said that the candidate from Oedham has a lot of experience with a town the size of Mansfield but that he wasn't sure of his financial experience with budgeting. Mr. Gazzolo said that the candidate from Oedham and the candidate from Auburn Hills were both strong financially and that right now that is what Mansfield needs. Vote Motion to approve the minutes of the October 15 Finance Committee meeting. (Ratliff - Chambers) 6 - 0 Passes Motion: To Close at 9:05p.m. (Lazzara - Ratliff) 6 - 0 Passes -- -- . l/ n -" " .',. i/ , ; il!) (ij I:./ J j i 7r .;' {,,(!/t-/Jt<JU) Signa ure of Clerk' J I ' i;. nCt Date of Approval