BOARD OF FINANCE
MINUTES
MARCH 24, 2003
I. CALL TO ORDER - The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman Harrison. Members present: Messrs. Gugliotti, Hooper, McGuff, Monts, Speich and Zacchio.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE -Mr. Zacchio led the pledge.
III. COMMUNICATION FROM AUDIENCE -None.
IV. MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETING -February 24, 2003
On a motion made by Mr. Speich, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Board of Finance accept the minutes of the February 24, 2003 minutes as amended to correct a typing error from "listing" to "listening" on line 4 of paragraph 2 on Page 1.
Messrs. Harrison, Gugliotti, Hooper, McGuff, Monts, Speich and Zacchio voted in favor.
V. OLD BUSINESS
02/03-04 -FY03/04 Budget
a. Sign Notice of Public Hearing -COPY ATTACHED. 7:30 p.m. April 7, 2003
On a motion made by Mr. Hooper, seconded by Mr. McGuff, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Board of Finance authorize Chairman Harrison to sign the "Notice of Public Hearing".
Messrs. Harrison, Gugliotti, Hooper, McGuff, Monts, Speich and Zacchio voted in favor.
b. Review and Discussion: Board of Finance Presentation.
Chairman Harrison reported on the Board of Finance Presentation for the April 7, 2003 Public Hearing and commended Mr. McGuff for putting it together. Mr. Gugliotti asked if Mr. McGuff would be making the presentation at the Public Hearing? The Chairman had suggested that to Mr. McGuff who indicated he would be willing; and will give serious thought to what he will say, once it is determined just what will comprise the presentation. He will preface his remarks by explaining the indicators we looked at and are looking at to develop these slides. Each member reported on his initial reaction to the presentation, which was sent to them during the past week. Some items of discussion were the length of the presentation; the order in which the presentations are to be made and some possible reactions from the public to the
presentation. The Chairman indicated he feels the Board would not want a lengthy presentation -his recommendation would be that a five to six minute presentation would be sufficient. Basically, the purpose of the meeting is to give the Town Council and the Board of Education a chance to present their budgets; what we will be providing is historical data and current trends that will affect the budget process. The Board concurred that this is good, accurate information to present which would bring all concerns together.
Chairman Harrison reported that since Mr. McGuff has developed a power point presentation for the Public Hearing, he would turn the meeting over to him. Mr. McGuff reported there may be more information than is actually needed, so he would like to go through the presentation slide by slide and have the Board make comments and/or corrections as they arose. The Board agreed they would like to have the interest rate on T Bills included as an indicator of many resident's future income. Some explanation would be needed for the long term debt graph but the Board feels this is an important consideration. State and Federal Grants shows a decrease in recent years -the Town Manager reported there were two reasons; from 98/99, 99/00, 00/01 there was a change in the formula for the ECS grant. In those late '90 years we
were getting only around $110,000, we're now getting close to $600,000 a year because of a change in the formula. The second reason is the fact that the High School renovation was the last of the renovations that the State did for us on a prospective payment basis where they pay part of our interest and principal payments going forward for the life of the bond issue. On the Thompson Brook School, they gave us the cash up front so we don't get a payment from the State for the Thompson Brook
School. The projected or last bar on the graph shows a decrease due to the current reduction of the State Grants for the Town Aid Road program, the Pilot program, machinery and equipment PILOT and the Indian gaming payments.
It was the decision of the Board to include all the slides in the hand-out for the Public Hearing, reducing the size of the charts to fit four to a page. The Board discussed changing the format of the Public Hearing; the Hearing will open with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by Mr. Harrison, who will make a few introductory remarks about the format for the evening, making it clear to everybody that we'll stay as long as people have questions. Then the Town Council will make their presentation, then the Board of Education will make their presentation and then the Board of Finance will make a presentation to do a little clean up type thing. The floor will then open to questions on any of the presentations in any sequence. The Chairman indicated that once again, he'll try to limit comments to two minutes for each question
or comment and remind citizens not to ask a second question until everyone has had a first chance. Also, this year, I'm going to limit questioning to voters or property owners; I spoke with the Town Attorney on this and he advised that there is nothing in the Charter to govern who speaks.
The Town Manager asked for a review of the sequence for the items to be included in the hand-out for the Public Hearing. He understands the Board wants all of the power point presentation included; but because of the size of the packet this year, we will print on both sides of the sheet. We will include the Table of Contents, the introduction, Definitions, Summary of the Budgets in order of presentation, Town Council, Board of Education and Board of Finance. Projected Debt Service should not be included in the package, as well as the Examples of Estimated 2003/2004 taxes on residential as well as personal, commercial and industrial property.
The Chairman feels it is important that we let the Town Council and the Board of Education understand that we will take comments from the boards for about a half hour at the end of each of the work sessions.
VI. NEW BUSINESS
02/03-17 -Approve FY01/02 Year-End Transfers.
Ms. Colligan reported that her background brochure for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2002 explains that these adjusting entries are standard for budgetary and charter compliance and/or managerial decisions that are in accordance with policy approvals from prior years. She is recommending that these transfers are approved, and she will be happy to answer questions from the Board. The Town Manager explained that encumbered funds represent many items, some for items that were purchased but not delivered, some are for extended contracts, they could be information technology related issues. For instance, we do not have an l/T person on our staff, we have an in-house user group and we have a consultant that we have retained who helps us move through our l/T plan, so some of those expenditures may be carried over from year to
year. Another encumbrance I can point to is for the Comprehensive Plan of Development where we held on to funds until the census data was received so the Town Planner could start updating the Comprehensive Plan of Development in house, rather than contracting it out or putting in a large sum of money in one budget year. Another example of an encumbrance is the Rails to Trails program where we have continually gone ahead and made improvements and then had to seek reimbursement from the State DOT. Some of the funds are not received until a subsequent budget period and it is not spent until we are ready to do the next section. Those are some examples of reasons for the need for the year-end transfers. Questions were asked about the "hazardous pickup" by school buses - Gary Franzi, Financial Director for the Board of Education responded this covers pick ups in areas under construction, also for children that may be handicapped and when special types of vehicles are needed.
Mr. Monts questioned Mr. Franzi about an item listed under Salaries, Maintenance & Grounds Director, Payroll. Mr. Franzi explained that was because we hired a new Director last year. He was brought in at a salary amount that was above the gentleman that left so we had some salary left over that we used to cover the expenses for the subsequent year. Mr. Monts questioned if this was a permitted procedure under our accounting system and he was advised it is. Ms. Colligan reported that the term AIF is an accounting term for "appropriation in force". It occurs when you have the purpose but you don't have the vender yet or the individual.
On a motion made by Mr. Monts, seconded by Mr. Zacchio, it was voted
RESOLVED: That the Board of Finance approves the year-end transfers, appropriations and encumbrances as submitted. Messrs. Harrison, Gugliotti, Hooper, McGuff, Monts, Speich and Zacchio voted in favor.
02/03-18 -Acceptance FY01/02 Audit Report
Ms. Colligan, Director of Finance, introduced Jim Lyons from the accounting firm of Kostin, Ruffkess & Company and Charles Lucas, Avon Town Accountant. Mr. Lyons went through the Audit Report, indicating there is not much new here over past audits. GASB Statement 34 will make next year's report look a lot different and next year's presentation will be a lot more involved. There will be new reports and new schedules and special items the Town will have to provide. He reported the 2002 report is substantially the same as the 2001. It covers the GFOA certificates, so there's more here than our general purpose financial statements. He reported the Town prepares most of the audit information and it is the unqualified opinion of the accountants that they found no problems. He quickly went through the audit
indicating the functions that are included. The notes in the Management Letter are substantially the same as last year with the exception that we ask you to include another column in the due to/due from column in the operating transfers in and out -called corresponding funds. The Chairman thanked Mr. Lyons for his time and for his complete explanation of the report.
On a motion made by Mr. Gugliotti, seconded by Mr. Hooper, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Board of Finance accept the Audit Report From Kostin Ruffkess & Company, as submitted.
Messrs. Harrison, Gugliotti, Hooper, McGuff, Monts, Speich and Zacchio voted in favor.
02/03-19 -Appoint Auditor FY 02/03
Ms. Colligan reported several years ago the Board of Finance, as it then existed, determined that we would stay with our present audit staff through the GASB Statement 34 implementation which is for fiscal year 02/03. She included information on their base audit fee; the Town has been reserving money in our encumbrance schedule for a period of years, knowing this was coming down the road. Accordingly, we are recommending that we continue with Kostin, Ruffkess & Company through this audit year.
On a motion made by Mr. Speich, seconded by Mr. Gugliotti, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Board of Finance appoint the firm of Kostin, Ruffkess & Company to audit the books of the Town of Avon for Fiscal Year 2002/03.
Messrs. Harrison, Gugliotti, Hooper, McGuff, Monts, Speich and Zacchio voted in favor.
02/03-20 -Supplemental Appropriation $20,000 NIBRS-NCHIP Grant.
This appropriation is based upon receipt of a $20,000 grant for implementation of the NIBRS system, as requested by the Avon Police Department. The Town Manager recommends approval.
On a motion made by Mr. McGuff, seconded by Mr. Speich, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Board of Finance hereby amends the FY02/03 Budget by increasing REVENUES Capital Projects Fund (Facilities & Equipment) State and Federal Grants, NIBRS-NCHIP Firearm Violence Data #02-0330-43366 in the amount of $20,000 and increasing APPROPRIATIONS Capital Projects Fund (Facilities & Equipment), Town CIP (Equipment, CAD Dispatching System #02-4844-53010 in the amount of $20,000 for the purpose of reimbursement of the cost associated with acquisition and implementation of the Connecticut National Incident Based Reporting System (CTNIBRS).
Messrs. Harrison, Gugliotti, Hooper, McGuff, Monts, Speich and Zacchio voted in favor.
02/03-21 -Supplemental Appropriation $5,000 CAD/RMS Training Grant
The Police Department has received a $5,000 Computer Assisted Dispatch (CAD) Grant. '-heyare requesting this appropriation to cover the overtime costs associated with the training for the new system. The Town Manager recommends approval.
On a motion made by Mr. Zacchio, seconded by Mr. Hopper, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Board of Finance hereby amends the FY 02/03 budget by increasing REVENUES General Fund Other Local Revenues, Refunds & Reimbursements #01-0360-43612 in the amount of $5,000, and increasing APPROPRIATIONS General Fund, Patrol Services, Overtime, #01-2107-51015 in the amount of $5,000. for the purpose of reimbursement for training personnel for the interface development for the CAPTAIN System and the CAD/RMS System.
Messrs. Harrison, Gugliotti, Hooper, McGuff, Monts, Speich and Zacchio voted in favor.
VIII. OTHER BUSINESS -None
IX. ADJOURN
On a motion made by Mr. McGuff, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Board of Finance adjourn at 9:25 p.m.
Messrs. Harrison, Gugliotti, Hooper, McGuff, Monts, Speich and Zacchio voted in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas A. Gugliotti, Secretary
Attest:
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