TOWN OF EAST WINDSOR
BOARD OF FINANCE MEETING
January 17, 2006
JOINT MEETING WITH BOARD OF SELECTMAN
The Board of Finance split from the joint meeting with the Board of Selectman and the Board of Finance meeting was called to order at 10:05 p.m. at the East Windsor Town Hall.
Members Present:
Paul Catino, Chairman
Dale Nelson
Maria DeSousa
Tammy Sorensen-Duray
Noreen Farmers
William Dove
Leo Szymanski (alternate)
Jack Mannette (alternate)
Members Absent:
Linda Roberts, First Selectman
Mary Szabo, Town Treasurer
APPOINTMENT OF ALTERNATES
Quorum – no alternates voted in.
PREVIOUS MINUTES
Regular Meeting - December 21, 2005
Motion: To accept the minutes of the December 21, 2005 Board Meeting as written.
Ms. Nelson / Ms. Desousa / Unanimous / Ms Farmers Abstane
COMMUNICATIONS
During the Board of Selectmen’s portion of the meeting, it was announced that Holly Roberts has resigned as an Alternate to the Board of Finance. The Board of Selectmen then appointed Jack Mannette to replace her as Alternate.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Not discussed. Mary Szabo on vacation.
REQUESTS/RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN
A. Request for Republican Representation from the Board of Finance for the following committees:
· Municipal Facilities Study Committee
· Volunteer Incentive Committee
· Warehouse Point Library Study Committee
The following volunteers were made for the following committees to represent the Board of Finance:
· Municipal Facilities Study Committee – Jack Mannette
· Volunteer Incentive Committee – William Dove
· Warehouse Point Library Study Committee
Dale Nelson – Democrat
Tammy Sorensen-Duray - Republican
OLD BUSINESS
Letter to Town department, agencies and commissions regarding input for Annual Report. Annual Report to be provided.
Linda received the final disk and is reproducing it now.
Participation in Charter Revision.
This matter will be tabled until the next meeting for further discussions.
NEW BUSINESS
Department Audits for Discussion – Fire and Cemetery – 3-Tier Audit Requirements and Final Structure of Fire Departments.
This matter is tabled until the next meeting for further discussions.
Appointment of Replacement for Position Vacated by Al Floyd.
Appointment made at a Special Meeting held on December 29th – Noreen Farmer.
George Grant and Farmland Preservation
George Grant was present to discuss Farmland Preservation. This is just a discussion to present information to the Board of Finance. He will need to go back to the Board of Selectman and go through the normal process. Farmland Preservation is a long term investment and not for the 2006-2007 budget process.
Mr. Grant gives the following example to the Board:
An East Windsor house would need to have a market value of $471,000 in order to generate enough taxes to send 1 student to school, there are not many houses in East Windsor with that value. It takes a house with a market value of $1.3m to generate enough taxes to support all the other services provided by the town. With these numbers there presents a shortfall in the budget to support the lack of house market values. However, the Town can spend some dollars to conserve the land and slow down building. This would also slow down the number of residents receiving services from the Town that are not covered through generated revenue of taxes. By preserving the Farmland, it would preserve the use of the land for farming, etc.
The point was made that the Town purchased the Kogut property to preserve the land for future use by the town. It was bonded to purchase.
Some of the issues that the Board of Finance has that they would like to see clarified for the next round of the process:
1. Have some policy or means of procedure as to how parcels are identified. Who approves the parcels and how will the process work.
2. Idea of a November Ballot is great, but come June everyone wants to cut. Question of referendum. Should consider showing up in April, which is a better time because it is the same budget session.
3. What is land or rights worth – show concrete examples (ie: acres, current use, development rights worth “X”), etc.
4. Educate the voters prior to the Referendum.
It was also mentioned that the State and Federal Government have matching grants, which leaves the cost to the Town much less than market value because it is shared with the State or Federal Government. A policy and procedure needs to be developed to present in general how many acres. The largest acreage is approximately 400 acres minimum, the smaller the less worth it is, they generally don’t go less than 20 acres.
The financial aspects of the proposal have been preliminarily examined by the Board of Finance and will continue to be developed as the proposal is re-introduced.
Discussion of FY2007 Budget
The 2006-2007 FY Budget calendar was distributed and no discussion beyond that at the Joint Meeting at this time.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: To adjourn at 10:46 p.m.
Ms. Nelson / Ms. Sorensen-Duray / unanimous
| 
