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Town of Becket Finance Committee
October 15, 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.
- 9/3/09 FinCom minutes were approved with minor typographical edits.
- TB Follow-ups from 9/3/09 minutes
- Research Dog Officer salaries. Not done yet; will do in prep for FY2011 budget cycle
- Improve reporting for Dog Officer expenses – done
- Cash Control procedures: working on improvements at Transfer Station.
- Tax title accounting. Answer: if land is sold as “property of low value”, funds received must be escrowed for 5 years in case prior owner contests the sale. Most sales in past 2-3 years were in this category. If sold as Foreclosure, revenue is recognized immediately.
Building repair list – see #9 below
- Vocational Transportation
Budgeted amount is $55,000. Due to creative negotiation with Chester, Washington, and Lee, current expected costs are $45,211 (saving $9,789 versus budget; saving $37,989 versus expected costs after quotes received for additional Voc. students). This includes $2,500 credit at Becket town dump for Chester to deposit highway dept. bulk waste, as approved by Select Board.
- Final project worksheets rec’d 10/15/09 from FEMA. FEMA is satisfied with our accounting.
- Total amount paid for which reimbursements are approved is $449,359. Becket’s 25% share is $112,340. Budgeted amount is $85,000. We are at least $27,340 over budget
- TB briefed FinCom on status of billing & reimbursement eligibility. Still no resolution with regard to open invoices from BRD. FinCom recommended that TB brief Select Board (done, in Exec Session several weeks ago). TB will continue to update FinCom at future meetings.
per items noted in Sept ’09 FinCom meeting, net of adjustment for Dog Officer salary (@STM) & Vocational Transport (#3 above): we are $14,500 under total budgeted amount for the town.
BUT: Ice storm cleanup (per #4) is at least $27,340 over budget.
BUT: Governor announced $600M cuts to state budget, with impact on town reimbursements likely.
* To be continued at November FinCom meeting.
CBRSD School Committee is investigating possibility of adding Taconic voc. school to CBRSD district. All Voc. Students in district would attend this school for subjects offered there. Tuition would be ~$7,500/student, instead of ~$14,000/student @ Smith & Westfield, yielding large savings for each town. Transportation would be covered within existing contracts and also yield large savings.
Issues with town accountant continue, due to inaccessibility, unavailability, and lack of responsiveness. Example: Prior-year report to Dept. of Education is not yet filed (1 year late). This could lead to reimbursements if filed promptly. Was promised 10/14/09 via fax but not received.
TB is actively seeking alternatives in local area. Another option is service providers listed in The Beacon who can serve short-term. Few accountants are familiar with KVS municipal accounting software used by Becket – upgrade to new version is on hold, pending resolution of staffing issue. One possibility is to change software packages to make the position easier to fill.
Setting the tax rate may be delayed due to this issue
- Community Preservation Act state matching funds
State granted ~$11,000 in CPA-matching funds. This was less than expected, but does not affect budget; CPA funds are outside of town’s budget.
- Option for Energy Efficiency Block Grant. Would give up to $150k to improve efficiency in oil-fired building. Target is Fire Station #2. Energy Audit (for which we paid $2,000) turned up major issues with large vent in roof and only ¾” of insulation in roof. Due date is 12/7/09 for grant submission. In order get grant, project must be “shovel-ready”, which means $9,500 in architectural work to prepare. Proposal is to replace 80% efficient oil burner with 95+% efficient propane – saving $3500/year in fuel costs. Also to retrofit lighting, saving $1100/year in electricity. 3-yr ROI on total cost of preparation, if grant is received. $9500 to come from building-repair account. TB feels grant has reasonably good chance of succeeding, based on conformity with grant
requirements, and informal discussion with state Green Communities Division staff members. Worse case: we do preliminary work and do not receive this grant; project is prepped for future grant opportunities. May also use remediation as opportunity for video project by Athenaeum (funded by separate, already-granted money) to benefit children in CBRSD.
- Mullen House – Bill Girard working with committee. Needs windows, siding. Some possible grant opportunities
- High Efficiency Energy Grant. Needs min $500,000 projects. Fed grant. App. due mid-November. TB will see if Lee has any projects to bring up total $; if so will apply.
- STRAP Grant – Bonnie Rigg / Algerie – deferred until Spring 2010 earliest
- Rt 20. bridge improvements – in progress. Mass Highway says done before snow falls
- Yokum Pond Rd. bridge – expected done by 10/23
- County Rd. resurfacing – cold-in-place recycling is done; asphalt to be done 10/19-23
- Washington Mtn. Rd bridge – work is slightly delayed – new est. by Thanksgiving. May need some minor cleanup (e.g. reseeding) in spring 2010.
- all FinCom members must sign receipt of training program info
- all FinCom members must take online test, submit receipt of completion to Town Clerk
Meeting is Nov 12th. Major topic to address possible state revenue cuts to towns; handle impact on FY2010 Becket budget due to this and ice storm cleanup. Jeremy will be absent.
There was no public input.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:53 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeremy Dunn
Clerk
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