FinCom & Selectmen FY18 Budget Hearing January 30, 2017 Meeting Minutes
Present: FinCom Members; Chairman Marshall Carroll, Susan Murphy, Bruce Golden,
Vicki Divoll, Adam DeBettencourt, Eric Glasgow and Rob Hannemann.
Selectmen; Bill Rossi and Jim Malkin Chairman Doty not present. Others: Tim Carroll,
Diana DeBlase, Ellen Biskis, Andy Goldman, Jessica Bradlee, Pam Bunker, Lenny Jason,
Wayne Iacono, Margaret Maida, Clarissa Allen, Jen Wlodyka, Ann Wallace, David Vigneault,
Liz Oliver, Jessica Roddy and Martina Mastromonaco.
At 7:00 PM Chairman Carroll called meeting to order in the Selectmen’s meeting room.
Selectmen Malkin supplied a draft letter to the West Tisbury Selectmen and Island Newspapers in response to the meeting the other night. Chairman Carroll recommended this be discussed after the hearings scheduled for tonight.
# 146 Tax Collector:
Tax Collector Jessica Bradley presented this budget. Chairman Carroll asked for an explanation for the 12.06% increase to salary. The Tax Collector position has been re-graded and an increase to hours from 35 to 37.5 per week. Line #5248 Software Maintenance / License has been raised $521.73 for a total of $10,956.23. Ms. Bradlee said the software increase is about 5% every year. Chairman Carroll asked how things were going with the new software. Tim Carroll explained that the tax collection system is not new and is one of the older systems.
Ms. Bradlee said she is not a fan. Ms. Bradlee has been researching and asking other collectors their recommendations and experiences with different software to assess what may be a better system. Ms. Bradlee said that what other towns on the island complain about the size of the programs. Ms. Bradlee clarified that the software package is to big that the contract has too many services attached causing the price to be very high. Town Accountant Ellen Biskis said costing upwards of $125,000.00.
Ms. Biskis said what Ms. Bradlee is having to do to keep the different software working is redundant and very time consuming. There was discussion that the finance team will work together in identifying what will work with the software company we are using. Tim Carroll said there will be some warrant articles to help with interfacing the software and purchasing the updates we need.
Chairman Carroll thanked Ms. Bradlee for the presentation.
#141 Assessors:
Assistant Assessor Pam Bunker and Assessors Clarissa Allen, Liz Oliver and Lenny Jason were present for this budget. The salary line is increase only by 1% COLA. Ms. Bunker explained that the expenses are being adjusted upward in preparations for a re-evaluation year. Line #5248 Software Maintenance / License has been raised $1,125.5 (5.47%) for a total of $21,700.00 also slight increases to Instate Travel, Mileage Allowance and Mapping Services. Bringing the total increase to the Assessor’s budget 1.90% compared to last year. Ms. Bunker will be submitting a warrant article of $50,000.00 for the re-evaluation. The primary cost is for the consultant that is required to be hired and who will be interacting with the DOR. Ms. Bunker said 25% of the properties will be reviewed during this re-evaluation.
#141 Assessors Continued…
Mr. Rossi asked if having the assessment information on the town website has reduced the calls to her office. Ms. Bunker said it has and she is glad there was no negative feedback from the residents about their assessments being available on our site. Chairman Carroll thanked the Assessing department for their presentation.
#630 Beach Department:
Beach Committee members: Clarissa Allen, Wayne Iacono, Jen Wlodyka and Margaret Maida were present for this budget. Beach Superintendent Martina Mastromonaco arrived a little later. Ms. Allen said the committee worked diligently to request salary for what they need. Hours were diminished and guard shifts were removed from Squibnocket, Lucy Vincent and Menemsha. The Beach Committee believes that the coverage is good that there was over coverage last year. The poor condition of Squibnocket was a major factor in these reductions.
Ms. Divoll said she believed that line #5293 Rubbish Disposal should be at $2,500.00 instead of $2,200.00 discussion ensued it was agreed to raise this to the recommended $2,500.00.
Discussion turned to revenue. Ms. Biskis said she figured the season revenues using June of FY16 and July, August and September of FY17 the total is $200,630.00. Since 2011 the revenues have gone up steadily and are $90,000.00 higher than 2011. Ms. Allen said the Committee has been working very hard over the past 4 years to make this a zero budget. The total being requested for this budget is $235,260.02. Chairman Carroll said you are very close to that goal. Ms. Mastromonaco Menemsha is managed and staffed without any fee to offset its running expenses.
Mr. DeBettencourt asked if there was a log of lifeguard interventions/ rescues. Ms. Mastromonaco said every lifeguard fills out an incident report for everything from a jellyfish stings to a water rescues. Ms. Mastromonaco gave a full description on the 72 reports from this past season. Chairman Carroll thanked the Beach department for their presentation.
#241 Building Department:
Building Inspector Lenny Jason presented this budget. Tim Carroll said the Gas, Electrical and Plumbing inspector lines were raised to actuals. Mr. Jason said the number of building permits is increasing compared to last year. The solar arrays account for a big number of the permit increases. Mr. Jason said Chilmark has the lowest fees on the island for permits; $50 is the minimum and the maximum permit fee is $1,000.00.
Mr. Jason reported 3 cases of individuals not getting a larger home (addition to existing homes) permit because of the new bylaw. Chairman Carroll thanked Mr. Jason for this presentation.
#185 Housing Committee:
Andy Goldman, Jess Roddy, Ann Wallace and David Vigneault were present for this budget.
The increases to this budget are Administrative Salary increase by step and COLA. The other increase to the budget is to line #5700 Housing Assessment. This line is due to an increase in Chilmark’s assessment from the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority (DCRHA) using the 50/50 formula. The increase to this line is $1,605.00 with a total of $36,592.00.
#185 Housing Committee Continued…
Mr. Malkin said last year during the budget hearing you said there was 300-500 families looking for year-round rentals what is your figure now? Mr. Vigneault said 400-500 families. Mr. Malkin said we are not making any progress. Mr. Vigneault said there is a definite need for rentals. Mr. Malkin asked how many year-round rentals are run through the DCRHA. Mr. Vigneault said a total of 200 including the rental assistance program which Chilmark has been participating in for over 13 years. Mr. Goldman said the Housing Committee participated in the Housing Production Plan and will get together concerning the plan in the future with the Chilmark Planning Board. Tim Carroll said that the Executive Summary of the Housing Production Plan will be on the Selectmen’s Agenda for the February 7, 2017 meeting.
Chairman Carroll thanked the Housing department for their report.
#151 Legal:
Tim Carroll said this budget will remain at $55,000.00 with a 0% increase. Chilmark resident and Town Counsel Ron Rappaport gives so much of his time. Mr. Carroll often Mr. Rappaport will deduct a large portion of his bill to the town. Mr. Carroll did say the hourly figure that Mr. Rappaport charges is considerably lower than other legal counsel we know this as sometimes Mr. Rappaport has a conflict of interest and we need to get counsel elsewhere. Chairman Carroll supported the control procedure that Selectmen placed on who and how to request legal counsel.
#Accountant:
Town Accountant Ellen Biskis presented this budget. Ms. Biskis said the salaries line are increased by COLA and step for herself and Assistant. The Assistant is an 8 hour a week trial possession. Ms. Biskis increased line #5248 Software Maintenance / License by $780.00 for a total of $7,000.00 this is to cover the updates. Accountant has submitted a warrant article for $15,000.00 at the Annual Town Meeting to cover software integration needs. Mr. Carroll explained we are contracting with licensing fees annually rather than purchasing new software.
Chairman Carroll thanked Ms. Biskis for this presentation.
#945 Liability Insurance:
Executive Secretary Tim Carroll presented this budget. Mr. Carroll explained that most of insurance needs are covered by MIIA or Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association. MIIA is a non-profit organization created to serve over 400 cities and towns in Massachusetts.
Ms. Biskis (having received new insurance figures since binder was printed) gave a correction to line #5740 Insurance Premiums from $150,000.00 to $153,750.00. There was also a correction to line 5746 Firefighter/ Policeman Chapter 111F Insurance. Changed from $$38,000.00 to $38,950.00. The total for Property & Liability Insurance $205,700.00 bringing this budget up 2.34% increase from FY17.
Mr. Carroll said we list Beach liability (for Lucy Vincent) insurance on this page we carry through MV Insurance for the Beach Department and that premium is $6,000.00
Having completed the budgets scheduled for tonight Chairman Carroll returned to the draft letter Mr. Malkin presented at the beginning of the meeting. The committee reviewed the response letter and revised it slightly. Mr. Malkin said he would make these revisions and this would then be sent to the West Tisbury Selectmen along with the island newspapers.
At 9:15 PM with no further items for discussion Mr. Glasgow moved to adjourn. Mr. DeBettencourt seconded the motion.
SO VOTED: FinCom: 7 Ayes, Selectmen: 2 Ayes, 1 not present
Minutes respectfully submitted by Diana DeBlase
Approved 02/06/17
In addition to the Budget Binder / Document List:
- MVC explanation of certified budget
- Draft response letter from FinCom to West Tisbury Selectmen
| 