BOARD OF FINANCE
MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
January 26, 2009
I. CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Harrison called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in a Room at the Avon Senior Center. Members present: Margaret Bratton, Thomas Gugliotti, Catherine Durdan, James Speich, William Hooper, Brett Eisenlohr, and Tom Harrison.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Chairman Harrison waived the Pledge of Allegiance.
III. COMMUNICATIONS
There were none.
IV. MINUTES OF PRECEDING MEETINGS (December 15, 2008 and January 8, 2009)
Chairman Harrison made one edit to the December 15, 2008 minutes.
On a motion by Ms. Bratton, seconded by Mr. Eisenlohr, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Board of Finance approve the minutes of December 15, 2008 as amended.
Messrs. Harrison, Speich, Gugliotti, Hooper, Eisenlohr and Ms. Bratton voted in favor. Ms. Durdan abstained.
On a motion by Mr. Gugliotti, seconded by Ms. Durdan, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Board of Finance approve the minutes of January 8, 2009, as written.
Messrs. Harrison, Gugliotti, Hooper, Eisenlohr and Mmes. Bratton and Durdan voted in favor. Mr. Speich abstained.
Chairman Harrison asked that the Clerk label the minutes “draft” prior to their approval. This will help people distinguish the minutes when they are put on the Town’s website.
V. OLD BUSINESS
08/09-07 Review and Discussion: FY 09/10 Budget
Chairman Harrison stated that he attended the Municipal Consortium meeting in Granby. Many State representatives also attended. He stated that the projected budget estimate from the State for this current year went from a $300 million to a $900 million deficit. They expect that it could reach over $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year. The projections in the two year budget have gone up from $6 billion to $8 billion. He stated that the sense from the State was that Towns should not be looking for major State aid in the coming year.
Chairman Harrison stated that there was a great deal of discussion regarding unfunded mandates at the meeting also. He stated that it was made clear that this would not cost the State anything, in terms of providing additional dollars. They would also be relieving municipalities of some expenditures. He stated that one Town official at this meeting stated that they would not be raising taxes in their Town in order to pay for State mandates.
Mr. Gugliotti questioned if the Town should look at whether there are unfunded mandates that they should not do if they are not funded. Mr. Schenck, Town Manager, stated that the Town runs the risk that if a mandate is not carried out, there is a liability that goes along with this. There are groups that monitor compliance with mandates and are ready to get involved if they are not carried out.
Chairman Harrison questioned if the Board of Finance was interested in setting any guidelines or targets for the upcoming budget. Mr. Gugliotti stated that he does not feel that there should be a target because any target they decide upon may be too high. This is a year that the Board needs to step back and listen carefully; this will be one of the toughest years they have faced in many years. Mr. Hooper agreed with Mr. Gugliotti.
Chairman Harrison questioned how the second half of the tax collection was going. Mr. Schenck stated that most payments do not come in until January 31st. He stated that he should have the figures by mid February.
In response to a question regarding the Grand List, Mr. Schenck stated that automobiles and personal property are down. The $150 million figure on automobiles will probably drop down to $148 million. This is a common occurrence due to people not buying new cars. Personal property is tied into office and retail furniture, fixtures and equipment. Particularly, in the technology companies, there is rapid depreciation on IT equipment. This decline is helping to offset some of the increase in the revaluation real estate, although there will still be a positive increase in the Grand List.
Regarding the Administrative Services Review Committee, Mr. Gugliotti stated that this is on track to produce a report that can be used as part of this budget cycle. Mr. Schenck stated that they are dealing with three areas: facilities maintenance; human resources and finance. They are looking for opportunities where there might be some savings by merging or doing things in a different manner than what they are currently doing. They will be coming up with the templates of job duties, workload factors, performance measures and these types of things, so they can get a good picture of what is being done on both the Board of Education and the Town side. The Committee hopes to have preliminary findings within the next 2-3 weeks. Mr. Schenck stated that he does not anticipate savings of hundreds or millions of
dollars. This is more of a process of ongoing collaboration and merging of functions.
VI. NEW BUSINESS
There was none.
VII. OTHER BUSINESS / TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT
There was none.
VIII. EXECUTIVE SESSION
There was no need to go into Executive Session.
IX. ADJOURN
On a motion by Ms. Bratton, seconded by Mr. Gugliotti, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Board of Finance adjourn at 7:25 p.m.
Messrs. Harrison, Eisenlohr, Speich, Gugliotti and Hooper, and Mmes. Bratton and Durdan voted in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas A. Gugliotti, Secretary
Attest: Alison Sturgeon, Clerk
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