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Finance Board Minutes 05/21/2014

         Town of Holland, MA—Finance Board      
          
                               Meeting Minutes

                                            May 21, 2014  

Call To Order

The Chairman called to order a meeting of the Holland Finance Board at 7:34 PM on May 21, 2014 at the Holland Town Hall.

Roll Call

Finance Board members present:  Andrew Harhay, Ernest Fancy, John Ebersold, John Phelps and Mike Brady. Selectboard member present: Lynn Arnold.

Approval of Minutes
    
The draft minutes of the April 30, 2014 had been previously distributed for review. The minutes were unanimously approved, as written.

New Business

The members performed a final review of the thirty-five (35) articles on the Warrant for the Annual Town Meeting on May 27, 2014 and then voted as to whether or not they recommended approval at the ATM.
  • Article #1, #2 and #35 were non-financial.
  • Unanimous approval (5-0) to recommend was given to the following twenty-six (26) articles: #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8 (to raise and appropriate), #9, #10, #11, #13, #14, #15, #17,  #21, #22, #23, #24, #25, #26, #28, #29, #30, #31, #32 and #33.
Article #12 duplicates Article #11 and should be tabled by the sponsor.
  • Article #16 was approved 4-1 to borrow an amount not to exceed $183,000.
The Board voted 5-0 not to provide a recommendation on Article #18. The Finance Board was not given any information on the topic and the BOS had also not been provided any detail.
After discussion of Articles #19 and #20, it was voted 5-0 to recommend approval of a single amended article that coupled raising the fee to $20 AND splitting the fee equally between the Collector and the Treasury. This would satisfy the Board’s intent that both the fee increase and the equal split occur at the start of FY15.
Article #27 was recommended for approval by a vote of 4-0 with 1 abstention.
Article #34 was approved for recommendation by a vote of 3-2.

Open Issues

  • Latest Revenue Projection: The most recent local aid figure is the Senate Ways and Means recommendation. That figure of $1,264,033 will be used in arriving at the FY15 Operating Budget of $6,312,204.
  • Review of FY15 Operating Budget Expense Lines: It was unanimously voted to adjust operating lines such that $5,221 could go toward the 2011 Storm Loan and $6,500 to fund the Dam Repair grant application and $3,842 for General Stabilization.
  • Review of Expenditures from Free Cash: The use of Free Cash in FY15 was unanimously recommended for the following – S&I Deficit ($53,540), October 2011 Storm Loan ($44,779) and Town Hall Flooring replacement ($10,000), for a total of $108,319.
Next Meetings

May 27, 2014 – ATM

Adjournment

The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 9:20 PM.

Minutes submitted by:  Andrew Harhay, Chairman