HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOS (Joint Budget Meeting) 04/02/2019Minutes of Select Board Joint Meeting with
Finance Committee and School Committee
April 2, 2019
Present: Mr. Michael Trowbridge, Chairman; Mr. Jess Aptowitz, Vice -Chairman; Mr. Steve Schoonveld, Clerk,
Mr. Frank DelVecchio and Mr. Neil Rhein. Mr. Kevin Dumas, Town Manager and members of the Finance
Committee and School Committee were in attendance.
1. Call Meeting to Order
Chairman Trowbridge called the meeting to order at 630PM. He reminded everyone that the meeting was
being broadcast live and taped for future broadcast on Mansfield Cable. He asked if there were any members
of the audience recording, to which there was no response.
2. Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Discussion with Finance Committee and School Committee
Mr. Dumas thanked everyone for their attendance and staff for their hard work on the budget. Mr. Dumas
stated there is a one-time revenue source of $969,081 from the returned funds from SMHG. The budget
shortfall was at $675,000 and Mr. Stanbrook proposed five options to balance the budget. He explained each
of the scenarios. Scenario A used a portion of the SMHG return of premiums payment to cover the shortfall
and place the remaining balance into a SMGH Stabilization Fund. Scenario B used budget reductions which
included using SMGH Stabilization to fund Other Post -Employment Benefits (OPEB) in FY20 instead of the FY20
tax levy. The third option scenario C broke out one-time costs in FY20 and used Free Cash to pay for the items.
The fourth scenario D was preferred by Mr. Dumas and broke out one-time costs in FY20 using these items to
justify using onetime SMHG money in FY20 Budget. The last option scenario E used a mix of scenarios A-D to
close the FY20 Budget shortfall. Mr. Dumas favored scenario D. Mr. Wilk was concerned because the Town has
not used Free Cash to plug the budget for the past seven years and wanted to avoid a step off for next year.
Chairman Trowbridge commented that Bristol County Retirement assessment was an unplanned $500,000
cost in the budget that was a huge part of the shortfall. Everyone shared concerns on increase costs of trash
and recycling. Ms. O'Neil and Mr. Wilk proposed a new scenario that place school technology costs in the
budget and some of it in capital improvements.
Mr. Schoonveld believed the OPEB liability could be fully funded by 2040 and wanted to preserve SMHG funds
for future stability. Mr. DelVecchio thanked everyone for their efforts and thought this was a good meeting
and stated that the Town was in a good place. Mr. Aptowitz commented that the Board voted to purchase
three fire trucks and wanted to know where that money is coming from. Mr. Dumas answered that it is
proposed to come from Free Cash and within the Fire Departments budget. Mr. Aptowitz stated that he
wanted to be able to provide the tax payers with what the impact will be on their bills in November when they
are voting at May Town Meeting. Mr. Schoonveld stated that more time should be spent on insurance and
pension costs as they are ten percent of the budget. Mr. Rhein asked if there were big ticket items that could
wait another year and was concerned about adding additional staff. Mr. Rhein added that there may be relief
in the future on trash and recycling costs as many paper mills in the US are being purchased by China, so paper
can be recycled here and not shipped overseas. Chairman Trowbridge stated that after the elections he would
like to re-establish the Budget Subcommittee.
3. Any items not anticipated 48 hours prior to this meeting
There were no items.
4. Adjourn
Moti�orijo adjourn the Ap Fi 2, 2019 Select Board's
Signature
Meeting at 7:57PM. (Schoonveld/DelVecchio) Passes 5:0
Date
Minutes prepared by Carrie Champagne