Town of Becket Finance Committee
September 3, 2009 Minutes
Present: Mike Falk, Ann Spadafora, Amy Fyden, Steve LaBelle, Jeremy Dunn
Also Present: Tony Blair
The meeting was called to order at 7:02pm.
- Minutes of 8/4/09 FinCom were approved.
- Dog Officer update
Tony will request additional reporting from the Dog Office, to address certain concerns raised at STM.
TASK: TB to research dog officer salaries and reimbursements from local towns in preparation for FY2011 budget cycle. Also to determine the average hours/week worked by the dog officer.
- Review of FY2010 YTD Warrant changes
- +1,080 (net) education/transport/VocEd/VocTransport. Savings due to creative negotiation by TB for VocEd Transportation, and reduced assessment by CBRSD. Extra expenses due to 2 additional children in VocEd, beyond what was budgeted.
- Dog Officer salary reinstated (+5,400)
- Nessacus debt (-4,065) due to reduced costs
- Debt Exclusion (-4,065) for Nessacus
- New Growth (+36,525) original estimate was extremely conservative
- +3,823 Overdrawn Accts per STM; this is offset by free cash certification from budgeted funds unspent in FY 2009
- State receipts +6,995
- State & County Charges + 10,417 – out of our control
- Overlay charges -15,000 based on assessors’ updated estimates of what is needed.
- Review of tasks from Aug 2009 FinCom meeting
- TB. Research Yokum Pond Rd. bridge finance options. Done. Financing was taken for 2 years; 1st year @ 1.76%
TB. What is Tax Title sales history as percent of valuation. Done. History is all over the map, ranging from 20% of valuation to 100% of valuation.
- TB: How is Tax Title accounting handled. OPEN.
TB: Pole Tax total escrow amount. Done. Balance is $298,707.51 for 6 carriers.
TB: Pole Tax: what portion was escrowed each year? No longer relevant
TB: How much of Pole Tax escrow account will be available in FY2010. Done. Depends on court case which is still pending.
TB: Reply to property owner in Jacob’s Well seeking to sell her land to town. Done.
TB: Update warrant spreadsheet with Cherry Sheet numbers, actual CBRSD assessments, and other changes. Done
FinCom: All members to read Elected Officials Handbook.
- CDBG. Process is going well. Committee is meeting regularly. BRPC is helping. Hilltown CDC is helping
- Energy Efficiency CBG. Not yet time to file this. But a contract is in place for energy audit, cost $2000 to be paid from Building Renovation account. Bill Girard will obtain quotes for necessary remediation from contractors.
- Green Communities Planning Grant. Won! State will pay consultants.
- Fire Station Grant – pending; won’t hear for 6-12 months
- Yokum Pond Rd. Bridge. Will be closed for 6 weeks starting Tues 9/8.
- Wade Inn Rd. Mass. Highway re-rated Rt. 20 bridges, contrary to their prior position. 2 bridges were unrated; other 2 will be surface-remediated to handle higher loads. There are less trucks on Wade Inn Rd; truckers are respecting school bus hours.
- Algerie Rd / Bonnie Rigg Hill Rd STRAP grant. Lenny met with state official who said we are at the top of the list but not to expect funds to be released until spring 2010 earliest.
- Bonnie Rigg Rd. culvert. Will be done as emergency repair using funds from existing Highway budget. Road will be closed for 3-4 days; worked to be completed before winter. Culvert will be upgraded to heavier capacity; but still will suffer wear & tear from heavy trucks.
- Washington Mountain Rd – on schedule to be completed by Oct 31.
TB working with Bill Girard. Mullen House needs windows. Per BillG, Town Hall handicap ramps do meet standards, contrary to what was previously believed.
- Transfer from Reserve Acct – None
- Ice Storm cleanup costs
Total paid to date in FY09 & FY10: $393,635 to Gordon & BRD. One outstanding BRD invoice for ~$50,000. After this is paid, town’s expected portion will be $110,909, or more than $25,900 above the maximum $85,000 approved as a transfer from Stabilization at 2009 ATM.
Cost overruns are due to the following:
- poor estimating by FEMA of the amount of cleanup to do. The estimates were done with snow still on the ground.
- slow communications between Highway Dept. & Town Hall. If information was available sooner, we might have been in position to stop work. Of course the town would not have looked as nice then.
In addition to the amounts listed above, town has received additional invoices for several hundred thousand from BRD. FEMA determined that these were ineligible expenses; per the contract, Becket did not pay.
Cash flow: in emergency situations, it is legal to deficit spend after receiving permission from DOR. Per Feb’09 letter by RichardF to DOR, town did receive such permission.
Reimbursements: The first round of invoices has been submitted to MEMA for review. It has been at least 6 weeks without response; but in the long run it is expected that FEMA will reimburse 75%. MEMA might reimburse 12.5%, but this is unlikely given fiscal climate in the Commonwealth.
Legal: It is possible that a lawsuit may be filed by BRD for unpaid invoices; they have made a FOIA request for all relevant materials from Becket. TB will send these materials after receipt of a check covering costs of producing them. TB is in dialog with town counsel. In the event of such a lawsuit, Becket’s legal costs are covered by insurance.
Next steps: Need to schedule STM to approve transfer of extra funds from Stabilization. Date for STM not yet determined
- FY2008 Audit & Management Letter.
TB is working actively to address issues raised in Management Letter. Final version will be given to FinCom at next meeting.
TASK: TB to review cash control procedures, raised in Management Letter from prior year audits (but not for FY 2008).
Preparations will begin during Oct & Nov 2009 FinCom meetings. Working assumption is that the fiscal climate will not improve, and may actually worsen; and to prepare a very conservative budget.
October 15th, 2009
November 12th, 2009
December 17th, 2009
- CBRSD Restructuring Committee report
Mike shared a draft of his report to the Select Board. While change to the CBRSD may not happen soon, some structural change is likely in the next few years.
Other updates:
CBRSD has interviews for Superintendent position on Sept. 14/15. Then Search committee will make recommendations
There was no public input.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeremy Dunn
Clerk
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