Chilmark Board of Selectman / Finance Committee Minutes January 11, 2006
BUDGET HEARING # 1
Members present:
Board of Selectmen: Warren Doty, Frank Fenner, and Riggs Parker
Finance Committee: Marshall Carroll (Chair), Katie Upson, Kathleen Cameron, Sarah Shipway, Doug Sederholm, William Randol and Frank Yeomans
Town Hall: Timothy Carroll, Melanie Becker, Tom Wilson and Annette Anthony
Public: Pam Bunker, Keith Emin
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm.
Tim C. asked the members to take a look at the packet of informational handouts and quickly reviewed what the handouts were all about. He noted that there was a small change in the ambulance budget and gave a brief review of the formula used to determine the COLA. Doug S. asked if there would be a member of the Personnel Board Member present to discuss the COLA. Riggs P. said he would explain it as he attended the Personnel Board meetings. Riggs P. gave the members a breakdown on how the COLA was determined and noted that he felt that the formula used was a fair and accurate way to determine the COLA.
HIGHWAY:
Keith Emin was present to represent the Highway Dept. He noted that there was an increase in the Temporary Employee line. He said that this was an extension of an existing employee for 10 hours for 2 weeks more in the spring.
Tim C. noted that there was a 4% COLA increase to Keith’s salary, and a slight increase of $ 200.00 to street lighting due to increase in electricity costs. Tim C. said that the biggest increase to the Highway budget was the Highway Vehicle Usage.
Keith E. explained that he was increasing his hourly rate on the usage of his vehicle for Town business from $ 40.00 per hour to $ 55.00 per hour. He noted that he had not increased this rate in 5 years but due to increasing costs in fuel and vehicle liability insurance he felt he needed to raise this rate. He noted that insurance was up by 76% and fuel by 93%. Riggs P. asked how his rates compared with others in the area and Keith said his was comparatively low, and noted that the Chipper hired last year was at a rate of $ 100.00 per hour. There was a small discussion among Committee Members on the increasing price of gas. Frank F. asked what equipment the town owned and was told the basics; chainsaws, weed whackers, brush cutters. Riggs P. asked how old the equipment was and was told about 4 years old.
There was a brief discussion about the cost of spray painting lines on Chilmark roads, not showing up in the budget report and the use of Community Corrections in the painting of the posts.
Kathleen Cameron requested that a percentage increase for Trust and Equipment expenses be done each year.
SNOW AND ICE:
Tim C. explained that this budget was the same as last year, and that this budget could be increased but not decreased by state law. He noted that last year the town was reimbursed approximately $ 10,000.00 by MEMA.
There was a brief discussion about plowing and sanding, Keith’s hourly rate of pay while plowing, and the cost of the loaders and bulldozers held on standby.
Riggs P. asked about Acuweather Service. Tim C. explained that this was a service being proposed to the Town for $ 1,400.00 that would forecast the rate of a pending storm and give frequent updates 24 hours a day. Tim C. said that this might help Keith E. determine when he should begin plowing as opposed to continually going out to check the rate of snowfall. All Members agreed that this was an exorbitant amount of money to spend on weather forecasting. Riggs. P. asked Keith E. what weather service he used to help him determine when to plow and Keith said that the cable weather channel worked well for him.
ASSESSOR:
Pam Bunker was present to represent the Assessors office. Tim C. stated that there was a Step and 4% COLA increase, and that the Assessors had asked to increase the Asst. Assessors hours from 35 to 37 hours a week. He stated that the Personnel Board and the Board of Selectmen had met with the Assessors and had approved the additional two hours a week in previous meetings.
Marshall C. asked if the workload changed yearly. Pam B. said not so much but the inspections had increased. She said that she must inspect each property once every 9 years, and that there are currently 2,400 properties. In addition to those inspections she said that she must also inspect each property that is sold.
Pam B. said that since the Community Preservation Act became effective that it had increased the workload in her office, as well as the mini revaluations that are required by DOR every year, in addition to the full triennial revaluations required. Pam described the formula she used to calculate the need for the additional two hours a week.
Frank Y. asked if some of the administration work that she did for the Community Preservation Act could be paid by the CPA and Pam B. said it could not be. Frank F. said that he thought that 5% of the CPA budget could be spent on administrative work and Tom W. told him that yes it could be but not by another department, only by the CPA administrator. Tom W. said he had already inquired about this since his department does administrative work for the CPA.
There was a general discussion about the money budgeted for legal expenses for the CPA. Tim C. explained the budget set for the CPA to use for legal questions, and Warren D. said he did not feel that the CPA should have $ 6,000.00 in their budget for legal issues.
Marshall C. noted that the members had gotten off the track of the Assessor and that they needed to finish Pam’s budget. He asked if there were any more questions for Pam B. and there were not. Warren D. said that the Assessors job was done extremely well and that the additional money that they were requesting seemed more than reasonable.
COLA:
Tim C. said that last year the COLA was 3% and that this year it was 4%. Riggs P. said that the Personnel Board worked hard on the formula used to calculate the COLA. He explained how the formula worked and how it was applied to calculate the 4% COLA for this year.
Katie U. said that she was not aware that employees got the 4% COLA as well as an automatic step increase, and medical insurance. She said that she felt that this was quite a bit of money.
Riggs. P. agreed and stated that he felt that the step increases should be merit based and not automatic. Tim C. said that there was discussion on making increases merit based but had not yet been adapted. He said the merit based increases had never been approved and that the Personnel By-law had been re-written.
Tim C. noted that only six of the twelve employees would receive both a 4% COLA and step increase. He said that ½ of the employees (such as himself), had maxed out their Grade and would not receive a step increase. He did add that the employees who had worked for the Town for more than 10 years received a 1% longevity increase as well as the 4% COLA.
There was a general discussion about who got Step and COLA increases, who got only a COLA, increase and who got longevity. Frank Y asked if Tim C. worked extra jobs, such as Special Police officer, and/or Assistant Fire Chief, was it with retirement and Melanie B. said yes, but overtime was not. There was a small discussion about Special Police Officers.
Tim C. pointed out the wage section of the budget book and the color-coding of three requests for increases. The harbormaster had asked for an Administrative Assistant, and explained why. He said that the Harbormaster is a year round employee, but the Asst. Harbormaster is a seasonal employee. The Harbormaster was in need of somebody to assist with the incoming paperwork; and he was currently using the Asst. harbormaster to do so. However, this was difficult because the Assistant was a seasonal position. Therefore the Harbormaster was requesting the Admin Asst. so that the Asst. Harbormaster could continue to work with him doing paperwork, but as an Admin. Assistant, at the same rate of pay. Tim explained seasonal exemptions under FLSA and how it works.
He noted that the payroll schedule does not include any overtime pay. He noted that really only three employees got overtime pay and they were in the Police Dept. Tim explained in detail the overtime pay for the Police Dept. This prompted a general discussion on the overtime pay for the Police. Tim explained to Members how the rate of overtime pay is calculated, how much the Police got in overtime pay. Riggs P. noted that when the Police contract came up for renewal that he thought it would be wise to consider making possible changes to the way that the overtime pay is contracted.
MODERATOR:
Tim C. said that for some reason the Moderator budget was cut by $ 5.00 last year; therefore he would put the $ 5.00 back in the budget.
BOARD OF SELECTMEN:
Tim C. said that his increase in salary was a 4% COLA and no step increase. He said that the Administrative Assistant was a Step increase and 4% COLA. He said he had to shift money around for the Town Report and would seek off-Island vendors, in addition to the Island vendors, to prepare Town Report this year. He said that he increased in-state travel line due to the fact that the Steamship Authority had changed the policy on how they charge the Town or travel. It used to be charged at the round-trip excursion rate and now they charge the Town half of round trip full fare rate.
Tim explained the two Admin. Asst. line items, one being for the Coordinator of Administrative Support and one being for special projects. He noted that COS (Coordinator of Support) had been for Chuck Hodgkinson, but currently the Personnel Board had utilized Chuck H. for their Administrative Assistant. He noted that 3 hours a week had been deemed for Coordinator of Support, and 4 hours a week for Admin Asst. Projects.
There was a brief discussion about hourly rare of pay versus salary and which department employees work for. Riggs P. said he prefers to see employees who may work multiple departments to be paid by salary, and not hourly. Tim C. said that if those employees were all 40 hour a week employees that would work well, however almost all of them are not. He suggested giving Members a summary report. Kathleen C. said she thought that was an excellent idea, and there was a brief discussion about summary reports.
FINANCE COMMITTEE:
Tim C. said there was $ 270.00 in the Finance Committee budget that was set aside for sending out two mailings which never happened, therefore was not used. He said he thought he would use the $ 270.00 to pay for the video taping of the Finance Committee meetings, but the cameraman did not arrive tonight.
LEGAL:
Tim C. explained the increased budget of $ 60,000.00 in the legal line. He noted that $ 40,000.00 covers the legal expenses for normal Town business what is not covered are special lawsuits. Warren D. explained Special Counsel. He said he wanted to keep Legal at $ 45, 000.00 and when there is a special legal problem, then come to the Finance Committee to get money through the Reserve Fund. He said that he was concerned that the legal bills will grow and that the Town would just pay it. He said that he wanted to take $ 40,000.00 out of the $ 64,000.00 for regular Town business, and that they should come to Finance Committee for more money for any special project, so that there is more control over legal expenses. He said that Riggs P. developed a new policy for who can call to get legal question
answered.
Riggs P. said he felt that legal counsel was getting more and more expensive and that the types of legal questions asked were more complicated such as land use, etc. Warren D. said that more money was spent using a Boston law firm and that there cost were more per hour that our local legal counsel. Tim C. said that the town needed to use the Boston law firm due to conflict of interest with out local counsel. Tim also noted that this year there were special, one time expenses such as the Homeport. There was a brief discussion on what legal counsel was used for this year, such as a Zoning appeal and on the Police contract. Warren D. reiterated that he wanted the money put in the Reserve Fund that the Finance Committee controls.
Tim C. noted that in the past year Reynolds, Rappaport & Kaplan had increased their hourly rate.
Doug S. said that he felt that the budget should be increased yearly accordingly to reflect any changes in legal counsel rates. Warren D. suggested that maybe the Reserve Fund should be increased by 10%. Doug S. asked if any Town Department had a legal budget besides the planning board and Tim C. said the CPA does.
TOWN OFFICE BUILDING & MAINTENANCE:
Tim C. said Custodian Rodney Bunker would receive a Step increase and 4% COLA, and that there was no longevity. He noted that the Janitor salary was increased last year at the request of the Custodian to pay for the cost of additional coverage needed for when he is out on vacations.
Tim C. noted that there was an increase in electricity even though the Town Hall was a more energy efficient building. He explained his ongoing efforts to reduce costs by turning down the thermostats in the building and making sure lights and computers were off during non business hours.
Katie U. asked what the software license/maintance budget was used for. Tim C. explained that the Town uses several different computer programs such as Microsoft Word, Access, Word Perfect, Excel, etc. and that this increase was needed to update the programs accordingly. He said they are good programs and wanted to encourage the staff to be able to share information with each other and that updating the software was costly. He also noted that he was encouraged by the insurance company to install a firewall and do offsite backing up computer of data at a cost of $ 1,500.
William R. suggested that the Town may be able to reduce electricity costs by installing solar panels in the building. Tim C. said that they had not had much luck with the solar panels at the CCC, that the Town building has no southern exposure for panels. But that the school has a flat roof that might be good.
William R. suggested that the electricity budget line be increased to $ 8,000.00 and fuel budget line be increased to $ 5,000.00. Katie U. said she thought that was too much, and Warren D. said he thought that the heating budget should be $ 3,500.00 and electricity budget $ 7,500.00.
BOARD OF SELECTMEN MAINTENANCE:
Tim C. said in the past that this budgeted line was $ 20,000.00 and that Warren D. had asked to increase this to $ 30,000.00. Warren D. said he had requested this increase because it is the only fund that the Board of Selectmen has direct control over. He said it allows the Board of Selectmen flexibility to do things as needed, such as repairs to the building and noted for instance that the Community Center had just had acoustical tile spray applied to the ceiling at the cost of $ 9,000.00 and that the Summer Program would pay the bill and then at Town Meeting we would ask for half of the $ 9,000.00 to pay the Town’s share of that project. He said if the money had been available in the Selectmen’s Maintenance then the Town’s half it could have been paid from there.
Frank F. noted that there are items at the Community Center, such as the cabinets that were rotten and in need of repair and that money in the Selectmen’s Maintenance would fund some of these type projects. Tim C. noted that in the past year they have not used the $ 20,000.00. Warren D. suggested that maybe
$ 25,000.00 for this year would work. Doug S. asked if Warren D. wanted an additional $ 5,000.00 or
$ 10,000.00 added to the line and Warren D. said he thought that and additional $ 5,000.00 would be fine.
Marshall C. asked if there were any more questions before they adjourned and there were none.
Tim C. noted that next week January 18th Annette A. would be on vacation and that Deb Cini would be taking the minutes, and that he would be on vacation the following week January 25th.
Doug S. said that he would be away February 1st.
Tim C. reminded the Members that next weeks meeting included the school budget.
Riggs P. moved to have the Board of Selectmen go into Executive Session.
Warren D. seconded the motion
Warren D. voted aye, Frank F. voted aye and Riggs P. voted aye. So voted at 9:30 PM
Meeting adjourned 9:31pm
Respectfully submitted,
Annette Anthony
Assistant to the Executive Secretary
Voted and approved by the Finance Committee on 1/18/2006
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