Town of Lyme
Budget Committee
December 1, 2004
7:00PM
Lyme town Offices
APPROVED: December 8, 2004
Present at this meeting: Selectmen: Judith Shelnutt Brotman, Richard Jones and Peter Bleyler. Budget Committee Members: Gibb Cornwell, Jeff Lehman, Josh Kilham, Chairman Barney Brannen, Earl Strout, David Caffry, Wayne Tullar and Freda Swan.
Staff: Administrative assistant Carole Bont, Assessing Clerk/Selectmen’s Clerk Elise Garrity, Planning and Zoning Administrator Victoria Davis, Police Chief Pauline Field, Fire Chief Michael Hinsley, Lyme Fire Association Treasurer Hank Flickinger. Road Agent Fred Stearns III, Town Clerk Patricia Jenks, School Board Chairman Laszlo Bardos. Conservation Commission members: Joan Goldburg, Laura McDaniel and Lee Larson. Librarian Betsy Eaton. Library Trustees: Judith Russell, Judy Thrasher, Ann Hartmann, Letitia Smith. Members of the public: Kathy Larson, Myra Klee, David Roby, Barbra Roby, Paul Klee, and Scribe Dina Cutting.
1) Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman moved to adjourn the meeting of November 17, 2004. Seconded by Mr. Cornwell. This meeting was originally recessed in order for the Budget Committee to meet to stuff and label envelopes for a town wide mailing they are hoping to send out. Motion voted unanimously in favor.
2) This meeting was called to order at 7:10pm by Chair Brannen.
3) Chair Brannen listed for the Committee all of the points he wished to cover at tonight’s meeting.
* The procedure for draft minutes will be discussed.
* The Budget Committee will spend a reasonable time on public comments. They have a lot of work to do this evening.
* Email communications will be discussed.
* Chair Brannen informed the public that the Committee may need to go into non-public session if discussions about personnel pertain to the employee, not the position.
4) Mr. Bardos moved to approve the minutes of the November 17, 2004, meeting. Seconded by Mr. Cornwell. Corrections were offered. Mr. Brannen explained that he had made corrections to the minutes and they had been sent out with his corrections highlighted. Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman cautioned the Budget Committee about changing minutes before they go out in draft form. She noted there was a section that Mr. Brannen wished changed that did not reflect what she felt Mr. Brannen had said. Followed was a discussion concerning changes and clarification of who said what. Mrs. Cutting cautioned the Budget Committee against requesting that the minutes reflect exactly who said what. It is hard to accurately record these kinds of conversations. The minutes should reflect the sense of the meeting and
general discussion points. It was the sense of the Budget Committee that its members should vote the section of the minutes under dispute separately.
The vote on the section pertaining to Mr. Brannen’s comment was as follows: Mrs. Shellnutt Brotman opposed. Mr. Strout, Mr. Caffry, Mr. Tullar, Mr. Cornwell, Mr. Lehmann, Mr. Kilham in favor. Mr. Brannen and Mrs. Swan abstained from this vote. The remaining sections of the minutes were voted on. Mr. Strout, Mr. Caffry, Mr. Tullar, Mr. Cornwell, Mr. Lehmann, Mr. Kilham in favor. Mr. Brannen, Mrs. Swan and Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman abstained.
5) E-mail communications: Mr. Brannen explained he had researched this topic. According to Mr. Brannen, the New Hampshire Municipal Association’s recommended best practice for e-mail communications is to limit the content to logistical matters. Work, deliberation on matters and votes should take place in meetings. Mr. Brannen feels the Budget Committee should follow these recommendations with the following exceptions:
A. If the Committee is faced with a time sensitive issue (the tax payer’s letter is an example of this).
B. If the Chair is contacted by e-mail and he feels the e-mail should be shared with all Budget Committee members he will send this communication out to all Budget Committee members. Then this communication will be discussed at the next meeting.
Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman and Adair Mulligan both sent e-mails to be attached to these minutes.
Followed was a lengthy discussion concerning the following points:
* May discussions, but not votes take place over e-mail?
* What kind of business needs to be taken care of by the Budget Committee in an official meeting?
* The Chair of the Budget Committee can receive input and ideas but should not be responding.
* How should the Budget Committee respond to inaccurate information?
* Committee members could and should listen to community members, thank them for their input and encourage them to come to the next Budget Committee meeting.
* The Budget Committee was cautioned about having discussions over e-mail, and how the quorum regulations play a part in this.
The letter prepared by Mr. Brannen to send to members of the Community was not sent. Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman had some concerns about sending this letter so the Budget Committee did not meet to stuff the envelopes. The Budget Committee discussed whether they wanted to still send this letter or not.
Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman moved to put a similar letter in the Town report. Seconded by Mrs. Swan. Followed was a discussion about what the intent of this letter was. The discussion moved back to the e-mail communications and what Chair Brannen’s policy would be on this matter.
Chair Brannen’s Policy about e-mail communications:
* Only if there is shortness of time will the Chair of the Budget Committee poll the Committee members and take the action necessary. The public will be informed about what actions the Budget Committee has taken at the next meeting.
* The e-mail communications will be shared with all of the members of the Budget Committee. These communications will be appended to the minutes of the next meeting. The Chair will not substantively respond to these e-mails but will inform the sender, that the matter will be brought up at the next meeting.
* The Chairman will exercise his discretion to decide what he will share with all the Budget Committee members via e-mail. He will send e-mails to all of the Budget Committee members only when he feels it is necessary
6) Mr. Brannen explained that Mr. Jones had prepared a memo entitled “Discussion Points” for the Budget Committee to work from. (See attached) This memo outlines the impact various program changes and budget cuts would have on the operating expenses budget. This memo was prepared by Richard Jones, in his individual capacity not the Selectmen. This memo is not a recommendation from the Selectmen and is in no way supported by the Selectmen. The memo will be reviewed and discussed after the public finishes making comments.
7) Public Comments:
Ms. Russell: requested Chair Brannen clarified the process and explained what has happened in the Budget process to date. Chair Brannen responded: The department heads submitted their requests. The Budget Committee reviewed the requests. The Selectmen gave the Budget Committee their requested budget. The Budget Committee is very concerned with back to back increases for the taxpayers. The Budget Committee is going to work hard to keep this budget to a minimum increase. The Budget Committee is trying to keep the combined 2005 tax rate increase to 1%. This means the Budget Committee needs to ask the school and the town to come up with the necessary funds to cut from their requested budgets. The Budget Committee asked Mr. Jones to come up with an array of revenue enhancements and potential expenditure cuts for this
requested budget.
Mr. Hinsley: Noted he would like the Budget Committee to send out the explanatory letter discussed earlier. As a taxpayer he would want to receive a letter explaining the increase.
Ms. Garrity: requested the Budget Committee draft an explanatory letter for the Selectmen’s Office to hand out to taxpayers, and to put on the Town’s web page.
Mr. Larson: Read from a prepared statement (See attached letter) Mr. Larson expected the taxes to rise 5% given the new highway garage. He feels a 1% increase is unrealistic.
Mrs. Eaton: Noticed the library assistants are on the “Discussion Points” memo as potential personnel to be cut. She informed the Budget Committee of everything the assistants do and the fact that this is the school’s library also. It is impossible to run the library for the school and the public with only volunteers. Mr. Brannen noted at this time that cutting the library assistant was never discussed by the Budget Committee.
Mr. Stearns: Asked “Are you going to cut employees”? Mr. Brannen reiterated the process the Budget Committee goes through concerning the budget. Mr. Brannen made it clear that the Budget Committee is not targeting any particular positions within the town departments. Chair Brannen discussed the taxpayers’ difficulty in paying higher taxes because property taxes are rising at a faster rate than the cost of living.
Ms. Davis: Asked the Budget Committee members to remember the cost of living is increasing at the same rate for the employees.
Mrs. Larson: We live in Lyme because it is a great place. We have many services and we appreciate them. We can afford them, and we should do something for the ones that can’t. Employees and Town services come first.
Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman: A 1% increase is not realistic.
Mr. Jones explained the part-time positions listed on the discussion memo were listed only because they are part-time positions that are above and beyond another full or part time position in the same department.
Mr. Brannen informed everyone that the Budget Committee will not be going through the budget and voting the budget line-by-line until next week’s meeting. Mr. Brannen reminded the department heads and community members that the meeting on December 15th is for rebuttals if necessary. The Budget Committee will be meeting on December 8th for further discussion. The Budget Committee thanked all Community members, employees and committee members for coming and encouraged them to come again.
Mrs. Swan: Mrs. Swan wanted the community members, employees, and committee members to know it is very difficult for all involved with the budget process. The Budget Committee may bring up difficult potential budget cuts for discussion. It doesn’t mean the proposed cuts will happen. It only means they will be discussing the issue.
8) Mr. Hinsley: Reported the Fire Department is in good shape. Mutual aid is working well and Lyme can now be called upon by other towns. The ISO rating is still being worked on. The Fire Department will be requesting a decrease of about $10,000.00 in their operating budget. The Fire Department would like to start a Capital Reserve Fund to prevent the Town from getting into the situation they were in a few years ago with equipment.
9) At 8:15 pm discussion on the Budget:
The Budget Committee requested Mr. Jones to insert the % for the bottom line amounts for each department on the budget worksheet. The budget increase and the need to cut money from the requested budget were reviewed again.
10) School: Mr. Bardos reported the School Board received the message loud and clear to be tough. The School Board has just received the administrations proposed budget at the last School Boards meeting. Followed was a discussion concerning the High School Tuition Trust Fund, the Special Education Trust Fund and what is available in these funds. The projected surplus of $50,000.00 from the 2004-2005 budget year will be available to go into the High School Tuition Fund. Mr. Bardos reported the School Board is looking into the possible savings if the town designates Thetford Academy as its sole designated high school as requested at the last meeting. The School Board is investigating having full time kindergarten. This will not affect this year’s budget. The early intervention update will be
made at the regular budget meeting for the school.
11) Budget discussions: The budget committee needed to find $165,000.00 in additional funds to cover any proposed increase. The school has been able to shift some funds from Capital Reserve Funds. It looks like the amount needed to be cut will be closer to $70,000.00 after the school is done. It seems reasonable to think the budget committee will be able to find these funds.
A) Followed was a discussion concerning Short Term Disability Insurance and the possibility of using a self insurance account instead of the Local Government Center. It was the sense of the Committee to have the Short Term Disability Insurance looked at to see if it is cost effective. The Committee requested Mrs. Cutting put together a report on claims and premiums over the past three years.
B) The personnel policy and how it determines the level of health insurance benefits offered to the town employees was discussed. Mr. Jones reported that the Selectmen have discussed the following issues:
· Employees making partial payments towards these benefits
· Some employees receive full payment of family health insurance and some do not.
· Changing all employees to the same benefits. The Select board would need to get a legal opinion on this issue.
C) The Town Clerk position: Chair Brannen cautioned people to limit their discussion to the position not the employee otherwise the Budget Committee would need to go into non-public session. Mrs. Jenks reviewed the request for increased salary for this position. The Town Clerk’s job is very demanding. It answers to many different state agencies. Traditionally, this position has been paid a salary and the fees received from car registrations (an in on the revenue side of the budget, so this is an in and out). This request is for an hourly pay and no fees. The fee would be revenue for the town. This change doesn’t have to be done this year but the Budget Committee needs to be thinking about this. When the present Town Clerk is gone you will have trouble finding
someone to do this job for this money.
D) Mr. Roby encouraged the Budget Committee to look closely at the employee benefits the town is paying for. This seems costly. A suggestion was made that the town should investigate the possibility of setting up a medical account to draw from for medical expenses. The administrative costs were discussed. The town needs to reduce the cost of employee benefits to the town not the scope of benefits for the employees. The Budget Committee would like a general review of the benefits package for the employees at some time.
E) Discussion Point: Mr. Jones requested the Budget Committee give some direction and recommendation for employee salaries. It will take time to calculate the pay and benefits for different employees and have the spread sheets ready for the next meeting. Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman and Mr. Bleyler requested the Budget Committee look at all the other possibilities before looking at the employees. Budget Committee members agreed to look at other issues raised by the “discussion points” memo first, hoping they will gain enough money from those revenue enhancements and budget cuts to reduce the impact on town employees.
F) Conservation Fund: Followed was a discussion concerning the Land Use Change Tax. This would be a reasonable place to find some of the needed monies. This would be better then cutting money out of employee lines in the budget. The Town used to receive this revenue. Town meeting voted to use 100% of the Land Use Change Tax penalties for the Conservation Commission.
Mr. Strout moved to have the Budget Committee recommend the Land Use Change Tax presently going to the Conservation Fund be decreased from 100% to 50%. Seconded by Mr. Caffry. This motion was voted unanimously in favor.
G) Construction and Demolition Debris and Solid Waste: Followed was a discussion concerning the use of the construction and demolition debris at the transfer station. This should not be used by contractors, it is for home use. The town presently does not have the setup to regulate this. Mr. Bleyler recommended that the Budget Committee wait until next week to address this issue because he may have more information by then. The Transfer Station Study Committee is moving towards a per bag charge and charging for the use of the C&D dumpster.
12) Followed was a brief discussion concerning the letter to be sent to the taxpayers.
Mr. Caffry moved the Budget Committee give Mr. Brannen the authority to finish the letter to the taxpayers, get it mailed, have copies made to pass out in the Town Office, and put the letter on the Town web page. Seconded by Mr. Lehmenn. The motion was voted as follows: Mrs. Swan opposed. Mr. Strout, Mr. Caffry, Mr. Tullar, Mr. Cornwell, Mr. Lehmann, Mr. Kilham in favor. Mr. Brannen and Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman abstained.
13) Chase Beach: Followed was a brief discussion concerning whether it was even worth discussing this topic. Would the town even think of discontinuing the pond program and life guarded beach?
14) It was the sense of the Committee because of the late hour to stop here and continue next week.
15) Mr. Bardos did note he wanted to double check his figures before the Budget Committee got too much farther in their planning.
At 9:50 pm Mr. Lehmann moved to adjourn. Seconded by Mr. Cornwell. Voted unanimously in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dina Cutting
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