FINAL
Finance Committee Meeting Minutes
Town of Bellingham
February 25, 2013
- FinCom Present: J. Collamati, J. Allam, R. Szczepan, P. DeGenring, J. Cibelli, A. Elliott
- FinCom Absent: K. Quinn
- Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Collamati. Newly sworn-in member Alexander Elliott was introduced and welcomed.
- All members were given a copy of FY 2014 preliminary departmental budgets for review.
- CFO Chris Laviolette was present to begin discussion on FY 2014 Budgets and custodial risk on deposit accounts.
FY 2014 Budgets
- there is no final budget number as yet for the 2014 School Department Budget.
- 2014 teacher contracts are not yet complete. It is entirely possible that the 2014 teacher contracts
may not be ratified by the May Annual Town Meeting.
- teacher pay “steps” were briefly discussed.
- COA budget is in flux. There was discussion about revamping the Gift and Donation Account. It
was suggested that perhaps a revolving fund could be established for gifts and donations. Mr.
Laviolette will confer with Town Administrator Denis Fraine.
- Chairman Collamati decided to invite COA Chair to a future FinCom meeting to discuss budget
and the potential creation of a new COA position.
Investment Policy
- J. Allam presented his concerns regarding custodial risk.
associated with monies held in deposit accounts.
- Mr. Allam stressed the importance of federal deposit insurance on, and/or collateralization of, all
Town deposits. Alternatively, he suggested that monies be held in “Fidelity Prime” type money
market funds that are invested in U.S. government securities with a short maturity to achieve
maximum security of principal while providing liquidity.
- Mr. Allam, Mr. Laviolette and Mr. Fraine will meet to discuss current risks and work out the
details and feasibility of transferring Town funds to “Fidelity Prime” type money market account.
- Mr. Laviolette will be invited to the next FinCom meeting for further discussion.
- Old Business – Minutes from the 1/14/13 FinCom meeting were reviewed.
A motion was made to approve the minutes with one slight correction (name misspelled).
J. Allam/R. Szczepan 5/0 (A. Elliott was ineligible to vote as he was not a FinCom member at the time of the meeting)
- New Business – Chairman Collamati announced that there are 2 committee positions open for the upcoming Town Charter Review. He asked members to consider joining and attending the first
meeting to be held at 7PM on 3/20/13 in the Arcand Room at the Municipal Center.
- A motion was made to adjourn the meeting.
R. Szczepan/J. Allam 6/0
The next meeting of the FinCom is scheduled for March 11, 2013 at 7PM in the Arcand Room at
the Bellingham Municipal Center.
Respectfully submitted by:
Lawrence Sposato,
Finance Committee Clerk
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