Town of Greenfield
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday – May 21, 2009 – 6:00 pm
Present: Chairwoman, Karen Day; Selectman, Selectman, Aaron Kullgren
Absent: Jarvis Adams, IV
Minutes: Administrative Assistant, Deb Davidson
Call to order: Chairwoman Day called the meeting to order at 6:10 pm.
Appointments:
6:15 – Library Trustees - Maryanne Grant & Eric Leonardi were present to discuss the library roof. Mrs. Grant presented (3) three proposals, which were reviewed and discussed. Prices varied from $15,000-$33,000.
Discussion followed –
Purchase orders were discussed – Mrs. Grant will get together with Administrative Assistant, Davidson and work out a purchase order to ensure the project moves forward.
Bill Harper from West Rindge Builders was the most likely candidate to win the award.
Motion by Selectman Kullgren to accept the bid from West Rindge Builders for $15,500 – Mr. Harper is aware this project will be staged over 2 years; $10,000.00 being utilized from the Capital Reserve Fund established at the 2009 Town Meeting. Chairwoman Day seconded the motion. There was no discussion - Voted: 2-0 – Adams was absent from this vote.
Motion as carries as stated.
6:30 – Financial Departments – Selectmen invited the Finance Department to the meeting for the purpose of discussing “internal controls” – present was Treasurer, Katherine Heck; Accounting Director, Catherine Shaw; Tax Collector, Kathy Valliere; Town Clerk, Edith Sleeper; Administrative Assistant, Deb Davidson –
Chairwoman Day opened this meeting by stating she wanted to discuss internal controls, and wanted to have the departments here to discuss what needs to be done to keep the town going financially. Day stated she basically knows what has to happen, but she wants to know what each employee does and why.
Accounting Director, Catherine Shaw was asked by Day to explain her job and procedures first –
Accounts Payable –
Shaw stated bills come in get approved by Dept. Heads, the invoices then go to Selectmen for approval, the bills get paid, Katherine Heck comes in to signs checks and if necessary, Heck then transfer funds to cover A/P.
Payroll
Shaw stated that twice a year, when tax bills go out, we don’t have to worry too much about town funds. The Board approves payroll in the beginning of the week to assure the funds can be released. The Selectmen’s must approve the manifest before any funds can be released.
Shaw stated she receives a copy of deposits from the Treasurer, Town Clerk & Tax Collector to know where we are financially with the bank balance. She gets copies from the Treasurer of every single bank statement. We keep two different books, one for the Accounting Dept., one for the Treasurer. There are a total of twelve (12) accounts, they are reconciled each month, and then Mrs. Shaw is satisfied with bank balances.
Mrs. Shaw stated she also gets a balance from the Tax Collector – the Tax Collector is responsible for the Land Use Change Tax, Waste Water funds, Tax Liens and Tax Bills, they must also reconcile monthly.
Mrs. Shaw and the Town Clerk do not reconcile monthly; that is done at the end of the year.
Mrs. Shaw went on to give a lengthy explanation as to how the procedure works and how the reconciliation’s work within each department (i.e. town clerk, tax collector, treasurer)
Discussion of purchase orders followed – no decisions were made.
Kullgren asked are monthly reconciliation’s enough or would weekly be better.
Shaw stated she thinks they are fine being completed monthly.
Treasurer, Katherine Heck discussed ways in which to conserve funds for departments, (i.e. working with only a percentage of budgets in the months that are lean with cash vs. purchasing big ticket items when funds are flowing)
Town Clerk –Dee Sleeper – discussed her procedures next – Ms. Sleeper stated occasionally she interacts with the Police Department, however in terms of funds the only department she works with is the Treasurer. Sleeper has a breakdown of the revenues & deposits she creates and they reconcile every night. At this time the nightly reconciliation’s aren’t provided to the Treasurer, as Sleeper doesn’t have any general ledger numbers in her computer yet.
Sleeper discussed general ledger numbers and why the #s the State provides won’t work. She is going to put her own #s into the system.
Kullgren asked Tax Collector, Valliere if GL #s would work for her.
Valliere stated yes, she further stated that exporting files to Ms. Shaw from her tax files would make it easier for her.
Both departments give a transmittal form daily to the treasurer.
Discussed doing monthly reconciliation’s with the treasurer and central office. Sleeper stated she would work on getting the GL #’s set up, but that she needs training. She stated she would work on this.
Tax Collector, Kathy Valliere discussed her procedures – she stated she receives a warrant from the Selectmen, posted taxes in Avitar, reconciles the amount provided in the warrant, in October when tax rate set the Department of Revenue Administration asks the tax collector to verify the tax for accuracy within ½% - she signs the verification sheet, verifies what date the last tax bill goes out and returns the verification sheet to the DRA.
Then she collects taxes, at the end of the day she does a day sheet, verifies the amount, signs & prepares a deposit.
Valliere noted that she has changed policy, she has her Deputy, Pam Crook make deposits on Tuesday & Friday mornings, Crook will bring back the copy of deposit slips, and original deposit slip with breakdown and will copy them to the Treasurer.
Administrative Assistant pointed out that no one, except the Board of Selectmen, has the authority to change policy. The updated policy is available for all departments and should be followed as written. The Treasurer should receive the “day sheet”, the pink copy of the deposit and the original deposit slip provided by the bank. This has been, and will continue to be the procedure, the Treasurer must know if funds are in route to the bank or not. This allows the Treasurer to be aware of how much TAN money to transfer if necessary.
Valliere stated she also does abatements, however she has no place to put an abatement after December 31st, as there is no way to access the Avitar tax program after the first of the year. If there is no invoice to apply, it is refunded with 6% interest.
Treasurer - Katherine Heck reported she has custody of all the funds belonging to the town, with the exception of the Trust Funds, she can only pay out funds upon order of the Selectmen. That is the last piece of the puzzle before the checks go out. She is governed by Statute to manage accounts; there are very specific rules and regulations how to invest funds, she invests money if there are excess funds, those funds are invested in Certificate of Deposit and/or Investment Pools. Again, the NH State Statutes & the Town Investment Policy govern this position. She works closely with the Banks to obtain the best up to date options. Statute states she shall deposit all money in the public funds, however she can go to the RSA, which delegates the authority to allow others to make deposits. The Treasurer
has control of funds coming in to the Town, and must be assured they are being deposited in a timely manner. Her job to make sure the town has funds.
Mrs. Heck discussed how/when she makes deposits.
Discussion regarding deposits who can make them, when, how etc. followed.
Kullgren asked Deputy Town Clerk, Fran Kendall if she could make deposits on Tuesday & Fridays for the Tax Collector. Ms. Kendall agrees to this. She was encouraged to also begin charging for mileage.
Kathy Valliere stated she doesn’t understand why if we set a tax rate, bringing in over $3,000,000.00/year, the Town of Greenfield is short of funds in February.
Kullgren explained that we need to be clear about spending freezes and overseeing that there are NO unnecessary expenditures unless the board states spending freeze is lifted and funds are available.
Cash Receipts policy needs to be amended to be sure the policy includes Mrs. Kendall making deposits for the Tax Collector.
Catherine Shaw discussed that she was upset that Kullgren wanted the position of Accounting Director changed to Bookkeeper in the Cash Receipts Policy, she wanted Kullgren to know she has had the title of Accounting Director since 2004. This title was given by a previous Board of Selectmen.
Treasurer, Heck provided the Board with an updated RSA regarding revolving accounts. Discussion followed regarding the revolving funds, what to spend and on what. It was discussed the Recreation Committee does not have the ability to spend any of the revolving funds. Only the Board of Selectmen has the authority to spend the funds.
A letter will be written to the Recreation Committee inviting them to a Selectmen’s Meeting, to discuss ideas of spending some of the revolving account. Administrative Assistant was instructed to contact Lori Weeks to get the minutes from the last meeting and/or any meetings that have taken place that the Selectboard is not aware of.
Jamboree – The Board discussed the Jamboree Committee and further noted this Committee is not a town sponsored committee, they receive no funding from the town and the committee has no authority to authorize expenditures of town funds. Discussion followed regarding how the Jamboree is going.
GIVers – Selectmen would like to send the GIVers a letter inviting them to come to the next meeting to discuss various topics.
RSA 91A:3 II (d) at 9:00 pm motion by Selectman Kullgren to enter into a non-public session. Seconded by Day. No discussion.
9:15 motion by Kullgren to enter out of the non-public session. Seconded by Day.
Decision: To have Day and the Administrative Assistant contact legal counsel for advisement.
Selectmen Signed the following Documents:
A/P invoices
Notice of Doomage –
- R6-31 & 31-3
- R6-24-2
- R3-5 – R3-8
- R2-17-2
- R9-6 –19 & 19-1
Affirmation of Award – USEPA – Crotched Mountain
Warrant – CDBG Funds – Weston & Sampson
Abatements –
Letter of acceptance to Auditors – chairman signed this letter
Old Business:
Annual review of Town Policies – Cash receipts to be updated to include Mrs. Kendall making deposits for the Tax Collector on Tuesday & Friday.
Mountaineers Agreement - BOS deliberation - Selectmen tabled this at this time, it will be discussed at their next meeting.
New business:
Selectmen received a letter from John Erdman
Misc. Mail
Administrative Assistant, Deb Davidson stated the Board received a letter from the DRA referencing RSA 35:3. The letter noted the amendments to warrant articles (3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 22), that relate to the CRF, are all non-binding amendments the letter further stated the Board is not authorized by law to hold a public hearing before spending funds from the CRF. However, the Board may hold a public hearing, as a courtesy to the voters.
Selectmen & the Administrative Assistant will be attending the Selectmen’s Regional Meeting in Dublin on Thursday, May 28, 2009.
Adjournment: With no further business the meeting adjourned at 9:35 pm. The next scheduled Selectmen’s Meeting will be on Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 6:00pm.
| 
