MINUTES:
Chilmark Board of Selectmen/Finance Committee Minutes January 18, 2006
BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEMBERS PRESENT: Warren Doty, Frank Fenner, and Riggs Parker
FINANCE COMMITTEE: Marshall Carroll (Chair), Sarah Mayhew Shipway, Frank Yeomans, Kathleen Cameron, William Randol, Katie Upson, Doug Sederholm,
TOWN HALL: Timothy Carroll, Melanie Becker,
POLICE, FIRE, AND EMS: Police Chief Tim Rich, Martina Mastromonaco,
Sergeant Klaren, Fire Chief David Norton, Sloane Hart, John Slocum
SCHOOL SYSTEM: Superintendent Dr. Jim Weiss, Principal Diane Gandy, Principal Michael Halt, Amy Tierney, Marge Harris, Mary Murphy Boyd, Peg Regan
UP ISLAND REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT MEMBERS: Skipper Manter, Susan Parker, Diane Wall, Roxanne Ackerman
ALSO PRESENT: Ian Fein
BUDGET MEETING ON EDUCATION AND PUBLIC SAFETY
The meeting was called to order at 7: 30 pm
Principal Gandy introduced the members of the School System present, and Superintendent Jim Weiss spoke first. He commented that the over all District budget includes some creative long term plans for capital expenditures and that he will be presenting an overview of the whole budget, which is in three sections. The first is for the District as a whole, the second is the Chilmark portion, and the third is for West Tisbury.
Dr. Weiss asked Principal Diane Gandy to present the Chilmark budget. She stated that the budget as presented is appropriate to provide for the needs of the students, and the needs of the building. She has included several specific line item requests in compliance with the requirements of the State Department of Education. The first is to cover costs for a student, who will be enrolled in 2006 and who will require a one on one teacher; there is a further provision for a substitute teacher. A second request is for mentor teachers and includes provision for translations for students requiring assistance in translating documents. She had a student who needed such help, and although the student is no longer enrolled, she has to be prepared. She has also budgeted for a half time
ESL/ELL teacher. She remarked that she has moved money around from existing accounts to reflect the needs of the system. She opened the meeting up to questions
Q: Approximately how many non-English speaking students do you now have?
A. Five Russian kids who are in an English speaking family but she is required to provide a certain amount of ELL (English Language Learning) programming time on a daily basis.
Q/A: Dr. Weiss stated that as the result of a Federal on sight review, each one of the school districts has been required to provide translation for all vital documents as necessary.
Q. Russian students – how long does the school system have to provide ELL for these students, and do they speak English?
A. They do speak English and the system is mandated and required to provide the ELL from K – 12 if necessary. Realistically they should be able to pass appropriate tests by the third year.
Q. The total Up Island budget is about $8 million – what is the fed/state reimbursement before the shift of funds around to the Charter School?
A. About $1 million or about 1/8th of the budget.
Principal Michael Halt presented the West Tisbury portion. He stated that in the budget they have made every effort to provide the best possible education for the students, and the best possible value to the taxpayers. He has also shifted funds around as necessary, similar to the Chilmark process.
Q. The enrollment has been decreasing – how is this reflected in the budget?
A. He has tried to scale down the teaching staff, and this budget shows two less teachers.
Q. The budget for 2007 is driven by a budget based on the census of October 2005. How do you predict the number of students?
A. We are estimating about 290 students…a rough number is calculated by adding the number of incoming K students to the total of students, then subtracting the number of graduating students and interpolating for the WT system which is only K - 8. Obviously students have choices and options for places to attend, even off-island, which affects enrollments.
Q: Numbers of special needs students Individualized Education Plan (IEP) 7 students in Chilmark are receiving ELL. Ms. Gandy estimates that about 12% of her students are “special needs”. In West Tisbury the percentage is about 26%. The state average is about 14 – 16%. The MVRHS is also 26%. The districts island wide range from 10 to 26% and vary from year to year.
LONG TERM PROJECTS:
Amy Tierney: Excess & Deficiencies – they will 1. put $295,000 towards FY 07 budget; 2. purchase 2 school buses for $110,000 w/trades of buses – this will keep a level funding for the buses as the costs of the buses purchased 5 years ago are paid off; 3. $150,000 will be allocated to the replacement of a WT school roof. Dr. Weiss inserted that the E & D fund for 2006 is $250,000 while the budget for FY2007 is $295,000.
The E & D will total about $420,000, when certified; it is normally capped at 5% annually. It will vary according to unanticipated revenues, etc. One factor is the payments for the Charter School, which are hard to quantify in advance. Another factor which impacts the budget is that the reimbursements from the state can fluctuate. They used to reimburse 100% for regional transportation plans, then the reimbursement went to 32% and since then it has been gradually rising.
Q. Is it possible to get a Charter School Budget?
A. We haven’t so far; they do a lot of fund raising. They do provide a school census.
A. Roxanne Ackerman stated that as a board, the Finance Committee could request the budget but the school committee has been unsuccessful at obtaining one.
Q. Chilmark’s budget has increased by $123,000 for FY 2007 – or about 14.5%. Why? A. Because the spec. Ed teacher is $58,292 for the one on one teacher; and there is a ½ time EEL teacher for a total of $80,000.
WT reduced staff by equivalent of 2 full time teachers, and Chilmark has increased by the equivalent of 1.5 but Chilmark’s share of the regional budget is going down as there are more WT kids attending the Chilmark School.
Discussion ensued about: Busing costs – currently the costs are running less than projected. Payroll obligations: These are the amounts paid for staff payroll obligations such as Medicare, WC, FUTA, Dukes County Retirement System, etc.
Questions were asked about the DCR System and whether the current contributions are being allocated to unfunded liabilities or for present employees. Skipper Manter replied that it’s a mix.
Warren Doty: With so many school officials present he would like to make it clear that after the many years (five or so) of discussions about the formulas for reimbursement between WT and CH he feels that Chilmark is paying its fair share. The Chilmark School is expensive, but good, and the Town feels it is worth the cost. We are willing to review this if the consultant comes back with another opinion. We support the Chilmark School and are willing to fund it. If the formula does not work, we need to review again.
Frank Fenner asked about $88,000 for Professional Enhancement. Amy Tierney responded that this is used to fund graduate level courses and is available to any teacher on the island (in any district). Is this money normally spent? Not always. More graduate level courses are being brought to the island, and if there is a sabbatical year, it affects the amounts spent. There were also problems with some Town Meeting (TM) not approving payments, so a fund was created and now every TM allocates a share of the funding.
Several years ago it had built up (as it had not been used completely) to about $100,000 and this was disbursed back to the Towns and the fund was started over. The School Committees have decided never to let the fund grow over $88,000 again.
Discussion ensued about what will happen to the $420,000 E & D money. There is a lot of confusion about how it is handled, and when it becomes “free cash”. It becomes “free cash” in the future.
Q About the preschool program, and the finances.
A. Currently the preschool program has 10 students and runs Monday through Thursday; it is paying rent, at a minimal amount, and for all of its own expenses (staff, insurance, etc.). The school has a board, which meets monthly. The students are sharing some programs with the regular school so that they feel integrated into the school. They are thriving. There is a $1000 escrow fund, which will be used to pay for any unfunded expenses, and the budget will be reviewed at the end of the year. Currently Ms. Gandy does not know of any unmet costs for electricity or fuel.
MVRHS: Peg Regan presented the budget, which is in three sections. The first section is for Administration, the second for Curriculum and Instruction/ School and Community Services, and the third section is for the Fixed Costs. As with a Town Budget the costs of staff salaries, benefits, etc are all shown. Tim had highlighted the areas which concern Chilmark. Chilmark shows a reduction in assessment of $112,029 for the reduction of 9 students in the school. The overall budget has increased by about 2.77%. Chilmark also benefits because there has been a reduction in cost for busing since the school has taken over the buses (239, 240, 241). They have also exceeded their E & D budget of $775,000 and there will be a reduction as they are over their 5% cap by about $440,000
so there will be a refund from the High School in the 3rd quarter. Their Chapter 70 and Chapter 71 reimbursements come in at odd times, and some bills and income may be received outside of the FY dates. They always try to use the E & D as much as possible for capital expenses and for projects undertaken during the summer; these are outside of the operating budget. They hope to get a budget including all the operating and capital expenses to the Town by May, and then will have a 2 to 5 year plan as well.
Biggest savings have been in transportation (because of running ourselves) and cuts in other expenses. An additional student is going into residential situation next year but a student with visual problems is graduating this year.
Warren Doty: The MVRHS is currently serving 842 students – built for 800 – what are projections for future needs. Peg Regan things it will stay stable – about 812 or so. Could change somewhat as Charter enrollments or migration patterns change. Have a large EEL/ESL component which will impact school.
The Athletic Department is a large cost because of a very complex athletic department schedule and program. There are over 650 students participating, with many scheduling factors/transportation/off island games, etc. The Athletic director has a very complicated job and a very time consuming job due to the numbers of kids participating and due to on/off island games. Mrs. Regan feels it’s a very good program as there are things for a wide range of kids – both M & F – fall, winter, and spring.
The school has a very good deal with the Fast Ferry service. Participation with off-island schools provides very favorable experiences for both island and off-island kids. And it’s worked out much better than driving to Woods Hole. There is actually $20,000 income from the hockey and football teams. These go for extras such as skates, uniforms, pads, etc.
Dr. Jim Weiss: The superintendent’s budget has increased slightly due to personnel and staff salary increases. The EEL director has been decreased to half time. There is an increase in autism ($25,000) service, which will keep it at the same level with no additional services.
Q Number of autism kids increased?
A. Has increased significantly. Over K – 12 there are between 60 and 65 kids involved. Costs of providing education for Special Needs students has varied and increased because the state originally provided the bulk of the funding and no longer does so.
The budget is essentially level funded.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT:
Tim Carroll: $2500 is the total budget item -- $1000, to man shelter in times of emergency. $1500 is to cover costs if supplies or services are needed.
Q. Are emergency generators fully operational?
A. Just about complete – conduit is in place to lead wires, but wiring needs to be led.
Fire Chief Norton: Has composed budget line by line by line and can review it for audience that way or do it piece meal.
Q. Are fire fighters paid?
A. Yes, and he’s asking for increased pay for firemen and officers. He’s increasing pay for the firemen from $500 to $750 annually – this will help to cover some of their costs for wear and tear on automobiles, clothes, and for time taken from work. It has not changed in five years although the cost of living has increased substantially.
Q. How many fires does the fire department go to annually?
A. Chief Norton goes to numerous fires, but the trucks may not actually roll or firefighters be called out for all of them. The number of fires is increasing annually. The number of firemen has been declining. He currently has 28 active firemen, down from 38 last year. There are 3 new recruits who will need to attend classes (which may not be in Chilmark) and that takes a lot of time. He is trying to be very flexible as some people can put in more time than others. If someone completes the courses and gets certificated he pays them $200 the first year -- The time involved could be 4 evenings and two Sundays a month from now until summer which is a substantial commitment. This is included in the costs of training in the budget. Also includes materials
included in the training.
Q. Should we be looking at the Fire Chief’s compensation?
A. Yes, down the road…it’s becoming more of a half-time/three quarter/full time position. His time has increased over the years, and the state mandates inspections and time to check codes, fill in paper work, etc.
Q. How long since his compensation has been adjusted?
A. A year ago, but still does not cover actual time and costs.
Q. How often do you answer alarms that go off?
A. On average they go off every third day…on Friday the 13th he was called out 4 times.
Q. False alarm charges?
A. By-law mandated some charges – PD sends out the bills. He keeps track of FD responses to fire alarms and the number has increased. PD sends out the warnings about abuse of alarms. He believes that the payments go to the general funds. He mentioned that alarms can be stipulated by insurance companies and we have to respond to calls.
Should get the Personnel Board to review the compensation? Tim commented that it’s a stipend so it’s being paid at a very low level.
Chief Norton: Pay for fire fighters is based on attendance and commitment; number of officers (try to meet monthly) has declined. They drill once a month and they look over the equipment to make sure that equipment is maintained. The Chief also attends other meetings throughout the County for various reasons.
Q. At what point is the service no longer viable if numbers of firemen continues to decline?
A. The service will always be viable as long as there is one fireman, and it is fortunate that there is back up and mutual aid between the 6 towns, because this is what makes it all work on the island. He is very appreciative of the volunteer efforts, particularly considering the cost of living in town.
Q. How many firemen live in town?
A. Half to three quarters live in Chilmark, and several actually live in VH. There are several from WT, one from Aquinnah, etc.
The budget is now around $10,000, which is a bit up from the absolute bare bones budget that he has presented for the past couple of years. He has included $3000 for staffing in cases of emergency manning ($15 x 200 hours) – if need someone to man a post at the Fire Station. This allows someone to be available when needed (someone who is already at the Station and does not have to drive there) to assist the public, to provide EMTs for possible medical assistance, and to provide direction for possible assistance in the case of a blizzard, hurricane, or other emergency. He noted that some of the money for administrative assistant is being returned, as the hours have not been needed. He is hoping for some volunteer assistance to help in emergencies.
POLICE DEPARTMENT: Chief Rich: Alarm By-Law: Is really outdated and does not include fire alarms. The fee structure needs to be reviewed for charges for false alarms – this was really brought home when he was in Seven Gates for a false alarm at 0230 and found a crabby caretaker who opined that he’s getting $100 – 125 in addition to his caretaking fees for responding to alarms. Why should the Fire or Police Departments’ responses be uncompensated? Alarms are a good thing as they protect property but the time consumed by false alarms needs to be compensated.
Q Is there a proposal for revisions?
A Chief Rich will put one together and provide to the Exec. Sec.
Budget for salaries reflects pay rates mandated by the Personnel By-law. Other costs are level funded except that the cost of heating oil has increased dramatically. For instance they are already $1200 into the year out of the budget amount of $2000. They have installed storm windows which should help. Have learned some tricks of the furnace, which should also help reduce costs.
Q. Does it make sense to replace the elderly furnace?
A. It has been updated, and the furnace will be shut down for the summer.
Budget includes a 40% increase for gasoline…another increase for building maintenance and grounds. Telephone and modems/Fax system costs have gone up.
Q. Professional Development/ Parking Tickets: Why is this included since nothing has been disbursed?
A. The vendor actually takes their fees from the incomes generated by tickets so the income is net of expenses. This appears to be an illegal process. The parking tickets are, in the main, processed by the County, but parts of the process are subbed out. We need to include the line item in case the process changes.
Q. Do you continue to need professional development?
A. Yes. Even regular officers need professional training on a periodic basis. This helps to cover costs of providing training on the island and all the towns participate. This helps to keep costs lower, and means that approximately 60 officers do not have to travel off-island. Martha’s Vineyard is currently the only place where there is training for armed officers. This will change – as there is now a mandated 3-week training period for many types of officers (police, first responders, etc.) -- but not this year.
Another increase is for fuel, which will continue to rise in cost.
Q. Overtime costs: $51,000 is included for over time and stand by costs. There was discussion about traffic officers being paid over time and Chief Rich will research this to see whether this is being charged as it should be.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICES:
Martina Mastromonaco, Tim Rich, Sloan Hart, John Slocum all serve in various capacities. Correction on line 5165 which should read $40,987.44 for ALS Coordinator. The Coordinator’s salary has been increased for longevity (normally 8 steps in 10 years) and there have been some adjustments. {The tape is virtually inaudible for this portion] We are working to get a performance evaluation included by the Personnel as a part of this. Martina: Assistant’s position has been separated into clerical and mechanical work. The mechanical has remained as a stipend, and the clerical is Grade 6 step 1. EMT incentive has a base pay of $400 at Christmas, and a payment for number of runs over 100. There is also incentive pay for various duties and
levels for training. Seasonal EMT’s – there is a $10,000 deduction in this item although there is one EMT for each of three ambulances (Grade 6 step 4). ALS coordinator’s salary has a big increase. It was costing $11,000 plus per town (including health insurance) so part time several positions were lumped together and increased to 40 hours. With several positions, the benefits tipped it to a greater overall cost and a full position is actually more cost effective. Martina noted that we rely almost 100% for paramedical services on folks from down island. ALS are defined as providing intermediate care (EMT basic), Paramedics can administer drugs – definitions depends upon on level of service provided.
Tim Rich: Referred to meeting in which there was discussion that there will be increasing costs along the way for the ambulance runs. Need to consider possibility of providing 40 hours a week paramedic coverage for ambulance (particularly in an “aging town”).
Q. Where will the paramedic covered ambulance be based?
A. Reviewing this now. Not necessarily will mean an ambulance that is manned 40 hours as there is time required to attend meetings, perform three inspections weekly to inventory ambulance supplies, etc. Tim Rich commented that providing a paramedic manned ambulance in the Tri-Town area makes sense as the population ages.
The ALS coordinator is also a paramedic who can respond to calls, and can cover for the paramedic time. The Down Island towns do provide a paramedic staffed ambulance (which is on call) and pay for nighttime coverage. In summer, Tri-Town always tries to put the highest level of medical training person in the middle shift. It was noted that various jobs do have to be advertised.
Gasoline line seems to be too low on line 5481 and should be revised. Tim: budget is flexible as funds can be shifted around. The budget is subject to approval by all three towns. Committee voted to move forward to formulating charges for ambulance calls. Aquinnah voted down an “Enterprise Fund,” which would be earmarked for ambulance costs. Warren Doty, and John Early are on a committee with Aquinnah’s Selectman Jim Newman and interest in establishing the Fund has been renewed, in order to move ahead.
It is possible that in the future the various ambulance services will send out bills to insurance companies for calls. Walter Delaney added up potential income for 2004 and it would have brought in $200,000. It will be necessary to have a program to accommodate people who do not have insurance and important to make people comfortable that they will be served irrespective of ability to pay. There will be a fund to cover the costs. Every town will have a chance to set it up to best serve their town. We are moving towards an Ambulance budget which could cost $350,000 – $400,000, setting up an Enterprise Fund could cut costs in half. Funds would only be used for ambulance services, including capital purchases. The fund can be rolled over to offset an increased budget.
Chilmark is investigating setting up an Enterprise Fund. Hope to do this as a Tri-Town project, but is contingent on all three towns participating.
Final comment: increased services are coming and the budget will need to be adjusted. Tri-Town has been granted waivers but waiver time is expiring and increased service will be mandated by the state.
BEACH:
Amendment: Supervisor’s line should be reduced to $42,510.96 (lower)
Superintendent – salary has increased 10% – part of this is COLA of 4% superintendent and assistant should be on the Seasonal chart. Last year $27.81 (Grade 9 Step 8 is $29.83 this year) so there is an increase. COLA is built into chart. There is training involved. Some of the new people will be earning less. Line 5156 is Life guards – need the hours which were taken away -- Menemsha is currently 2 shifts and would like to have two people there from 0830 to 1730 instead as it’s a safety issue. Menemsha accounts for $10,000 of life guard costs. Menemsha is the beach where there are the most liability issues, and where there tend to be medical problems. Really need two guards there at all times. Other increase is in budgeting for
returning people at an increased grade/step level. Would like to consider increasing coverage for Squibnocket beyond current manning levels as there is so much usage. Need to review costs for Squibnocket as the Beach there can change radically from year to year.
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: Motion to approve the minutes. MSV: with a slight modification and correction of typos. Tim asked for e-mail return of any recommended changes/revisions as there were comments about typos and grammatical errors, which can be corrected by e-mail while substantive errors may not
PARK AND REC was discussed and there were no changes, revisions or corrections.
Respectfully submitted,
Virginia C. Jones.
Voted and approved by Finance Committee 1/25/2006
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