Finance Committee Minutes – 10 April 2007, Hildreth House
Meeting called to order at 7:35 p.m.
Members present: Colwell, Mead, Ricci, Russo, Sobalvarro
Administrators present: Bragan, Leonard
Minutes from prior meetings will be discussed and reviewed at the next FinCom meeting, tentatively scheduled for May 8.
FY07 Local Receipts:
A review of the current year finances was presented. Local Receipts through March 31st are $441k less than projected on the recap for FY07, although the FY07 recap projection was for receipts through the close of the FY. (Note that the FY07 budget number of $1.61M was revised downward to $1.522M for the recap.) The two largest drivers for local receipts are motor vehicle excise ($634k as of 3/31 versus $810k projected through 6/30) and trash disposal ($75k as of 3/31 versus $250k projected through 6/30). Lorraine expects that trash disposal will increase by ~$200k before the close of the fiscal year, as the sticker renewal date causes an influx of sticker purchases.
The current estimates for local receipts are probably too high, and we should consider revising them. FinCom decided to postpone making any adjustments until a future meeting when we will have more information on current year receipts.
Building permits for the Ayer Road and Littleton Road developments will likely be pulled (and paid) in FY08.
Motor vehicle excise collections are expected to continue to come in; the billing period for excise bills is set by the RMV, not the Town.
Tim to follow-up and confirm that the sticker checks will be occurring at the transfer station.
FY07 Budget Analysis:
For non-school omnibus accounts, there is a total of $94k in identified deficits, driven primarily by a settlement and $27k for the beach septic system. There is no PO system for the Town; the current PO system for the school does not permit splitting purchases across accounts.
The schools continue to project a $250k deficit. The non-school Town departments have a potential $15k deficit in addition to the reserve funds already transferred or encumbered. The latter includes a legal settlement ($51.3k), Beach Septic ($27k) and a new safe ($1.1k).
Tim to follow-up with (a) Liz Allard regarding purchased services, and determine what’s being purchased, (b) the Board of Health regarding the hours for the assistant, and (c) the ConsCom and ZBA regarding whether some of the bills submitted can be passed to the developer(s). Tim to continue to follow-up with departments to reinforce a process that will ensure that spending in Town departments exceeds the department’s allocated budget.
Pre- and post-Town Meeting recap sheets were distributed. The shift in cherry sheet assessments has resulted in a $146k surplus as of this projection.
We are still awaiting information from DOE regarding our circuit breaker ‘extraordinary aid’ reimbursement. The total claim submitted was for $672k – Lorraine expects we may receive up to $100k in extraordinary aid, but this is dependent upon the total dollars submitted by other towns (claimants). She will keep us posted.
Lorraine discussed upcoming potential training, and requested funds to go to additional training. The FY08 training budget for her department is adequate for planned trainings; the additional FY07 trainings may require additional monies. A vote was taken (5-0) to encumber the funds for additional training subject to the approval of the Board of Selectmen.
Other business:
A discussion of considerations for next year’s budget process occurred. One suggestion was to break out the total budget for a department (e.g., schools, DPW) indicating:
Total Budget = Other Funding + Town Request
The meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m.
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