Town of Becket Finance Committee
February 18, 2010 Minutes
FinCom Members Present: Ann Spadafora, Amy Fyden, Steve LaBelle, Jeremy Dunn
Also Present: Tony Blair, Mike Falk via telephone
The meeting was called to order at 7:05pm.
- Minutes of 2/4/2010 Approved
- Follow-ups from Feb 4 minutes
- TB to get input from Boards & Commissions if expense reductions proposed. In progress
- TB to survey surrounding towns’ Dog Officer salaries. Not yet done.
TB to see if Tax Collector Expense account overlaps with Postage account. Done. It does not overlap.
- TB to spread debt exclusion for Yokum Pond Rd. bridge across 2 years. Done
- TB to speak with Becket Athenaeum treasurer re budget. Rec’d email. Athenaeum rep. invited to speak with FinCom. Not present at tonight’s meeting; may come in future.
- Land Auction. TB is considering splitting auction into two parts, some in each of FY2010/11. Discussion of this concept. Recommendation to move entire auction into FY2011 as previously announced, since there is a positive balance in FY2010 even without it; and income can be budgeted, and will reduce tax burden in FY2011. No vote taken.
- Ice Storm Cleanup. Final reimbursement request submitted to MEMA. This submission starts the 90-day appeal window. Waiting on input from town counsel.
- Audit. Auditors were present week of Feb 8th. $56k discrepancy in cash account was identified. ~$6k is historical discrepancy carried forward from prior years. ~$50k discrepancy was mis-posting without paper backup by prior accountant.
Free Cash. Current numbers, nearly ready to be certified are $57,382. (Est. was $25-30k)
Request from Veterans Agent to transfer $1200 to pay veteran who lives in Becket. Documentation was submitted by the Veterans Agent re the relevant Mass. Laws and eligibility of this person. Moved & 2nd to transfer funds from Reserve Acct. Approved unanimously.
TASK: TB to fill out the required transfer paperwork; Ann to sign.
TASK: TB to follow-up on how to obtain 75% state reimbursement of this expense as law provides
- Review FY2011 second draft budget
- Tony walked FinCom through changes from the previous version.
- FY2010 v. FY2011 summary pages were reconciled during the meeting.
- TB proposes to move all Ambulance-related income & expense into an Enterprise fund (basically a sub-ledger) that would allow more detailed analysis and better management of Becket Ambulance Dept. financials. Our current software would handle this accounting.
TB presented salary analysis of all town employees. Most fall in mid-range of their respective salary brackets. Some departments fall below the minimum. A few individuals fall above the maximum, but in general there is good reason for these exceptions. FY2011 COLA is 0% for Northeast region.
TB presented review of Highway Dept. personnel expenses, combined from all accounts including General Maintenance; Overtime; Winter Roads; Winter Roads Overtime; Vacation & Holidays. It appears that there is considerable amount of overtime. Discussion of possible alternate ways of managing highway personnel time, including staggered shifts, standard weekend hours, etc.
TASK: TB to discuss ideas with Lenny Tisdale; ask him for revised budget proposal.
2nd draft of budget shows ~6% tax rate increase from FY10->FY11, despite reduction in CBRSD Becket assessment. About ½ of the increase is due to debt exclusion for Yokum Pond Rd. The other ½ is due to other items outside our control, like Health Insurance, County Retirement, etc.
Discussion of other items that could be reduced in the budget. Suggestions include Highway Dept. Overtime (as above); Dog Officer Salary (per prior meeting); Library funding @ 2009 levels (per current budget); Ambulance Dept. route changes yielding mileage reductions.
TASK: All FinCom members to review budget; prepare suggestions for next meeting
- Community Development Block Grant – was submitted Feb 12th. Funds are in FY2011 budget in case the grant is not awarded, so we may apply again. If we need to apply again, most of the existing work can be re-used.
Fire Station Energy Efficiency Grant - $150,000 was awarded to Becket. Implementation to begin soon.
Impact of increased Fire Dept. Fees. On the agenda by mistake; discussed at prior meeting. No impact.
There was no public input.
Next meeting is Mar 4th. Mike will join by phone again.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:08 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeremy Dunn
Clerk
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