Town of Lyme
Budget Committee
February 15th, 2006
7:00PM
Fire Station Training Room
APPROVED: April 5, 2006
Present at this meeting: Selectmen: Judith Shelnutt Brotman & Richard Jones. Budget Committee Members: Gibb Cornwell, Mike Smith, Chairman Barney Brannen, Wayne Tullar, Dave Caffry. School Board Representative Laszlo Bardos. Staff: Administrative Assistant Carole Bont & Bookkeeper/Selectmen’s Secretary & Scribe Dina Cutting.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Chair Brannen.
1) Mr. Bardos moved to approve the minutes of the January 18th, 2006 meeting. Seconded by Mr. Smith. Corrections were offered. The motion was voted Mr. Cornwell, Mr. Caffry, Mr. Brannen, Mr. Bardos, Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman and Mr. Tullar in favor. Mr. Smith abstained because he was not present at that meeting. The motion passed.
2) Mr. Brannen reviewed what needed to be done at tonight’s meeting.
a. Discussion and vote on Town warrant articles.
b. Discussion and vote on School warrant articles.
c. Vote on the Total budget amounts for the Town and School.
Mr. Cornwell requested an explanation and clarification of Articles 16 & 17. Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman reviewed these articles. Article 16 is to create the special revenue fund to hold the money received from the sale of cemetery lots. The Treasurer will be responsible for this fund. Article 17 is to create a capital reserve fund for the money to be moved into at the end of each year. The Trustees will be responsible for this fund. The initial money for Article 17 is coming from the New Cemetery Fund that was closed last year by mistake. The reason for the change in structure of this Cemetery Fund account is because it was discovered that a Capital Reserve Fund can not have regular deposits made to it. There was a discussion concerning the confusion the wording of this article creates. Ms. Bont
read the following explanation that will appear in the Town report. Note: The “New Cemetery Fund” was initially created in 1967. In 2005 we discontinued the “New Cemetery Fund” in error. This is the fund in which fees associated with the sale of lots were deposited. The fees were to be accumulated in this fund to be used to purchase additional replacement cemetery space or lands in the future. When the “New Cemetery Fund” was discontinued it had a balance of $10,461.97 as of 12/31/04. In 2005 deposits of $2,700 came in for the sale of cemetery lots plus that money earned interest in 2005 in the amount of $242.71 for a total of $13,404.68. (See the Report of the Town Trustees.) In
trying to reestablish the cemetery trust fund, we learned that we cannot use a capital reserve fund to receive regular deposits. Furthermore, we cannot use a special revenue fund to accumulate monies with which to buy land. Consequently, we have to establish two separate funds – one to receive monies from the sale of lots and the other to accumulate monies to buy land for a new cemetery in the future. Monies for special revenue funds are to be kept in the hands of the Treasurer, not the Trustees of the Trust Funds. Monies for capital reserve funds are kept in the hands of the Trustees of the Trust Funds. If the town wishes to move the monies from the New Cemetery Special Revenue Fund to the New Cemetery Capital Reserve Fund it may do so at the following town meeting. The Budget Committee wanted to make sure the
wording was broad enough to include not just land purchases. The cremation garden was discussed. It is necessary to make sure this money can be used for both purposes. The Selectmen explained that if the wording is changed now the document has to go back through the DRA and the Town’s attorney. At this point because of the print date deadline, we do not have the time to send it back. It was suggested the Budget Committee make the vote at tonight’s meeting with the understanding that Ms. Bont will check with the DRA and the Attorney concerning the word change. If this is acceptable to both parties, she will change the document.
3) Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman moved that Articles 16 & 17 be approved with the understanding that the following wording change may be made: change “purchasing” to “create”. If this change can not be made, the article will stay as is. Seconded by Mr. Cornwell. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
4) Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman moved to approve Article 18 for the sum of up to $19,000.00. Seconded by Mr. Bardos. Followed was a brief discussion and clarification of this article. The Overseer of the Town Poor is the only person authorized to expend these funds. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
5) Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman moved to approve Article 19 Town Offices Building CRF for $25,000.00. Seconded by Mr. Bardos. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
6) Mr. Tullar moved to approve Article 20 Handicapped-accessible crosswalk for $6,000.00. Seconded by Mr. Bardos. The question “Why do we need a new crosswalk”? was asked. Mr. Bardos responded “to get to the other side” ha ha. Mr. Tullar reviewed the safety concerns with the present crosswalk in front of the library. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
7) Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman moved to approve Article 21 Capital Reserve and Expendable Trust Funds for $243,500.00. Seconded by Mr. Caffry. The totals for this article were reviewed and checked. After confirming the correct amount, the motion was voted unanimously in favor.
8) Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman moved to approve Article 22 from Capital Reserve and Trust Funds $456,311.00. Seconded by Mr. Bardos. Clarification on the increase in withdrawal from the Property Reappraisal CRF. The request for the Public Land Acquisition withdrawal was discussed. The town will be discussing and voting on a warrant article prior to this article that will give the Selectmen permission to act on this money. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
9) Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman moved to approve Article 23 Independence Day Celebration $8,300.00. Seconded by Mr. Bardos. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
10) Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman moved to approve Article 24 Internet/Broadband communication infrastructure $6,500.00. Seconded by Mr. Bardos. The Communication Committee is recommending this article. Ms. Bont read from the Communication Committee’s report. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
11) Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman moved to approve Article 25. Seconded by Mr. Bardos. This article includes the total amount of the town budget: $1,822,438.00 plus articles 17,18,19,20,21,22,23, & 24. Total appropriations in this budget recommended by the Budget Committee are $2,592,154.00. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
12) The MS-7 was reviewed and discussed. It was noted a correction was needed on page 8. Mr. Jones will make this correction and e-mail to the Budget Committee.
*Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman moved to accept the MS-7 with correction noted.
Seconded by Mr. Smith. The motion voted unanimously in favor.
SCHOOL:
13) Mr. Bardos reviewed the various warrant articles. It was noted the dollar amounts in warrant Article # 5 collective bargaining agreements are an estimate.
14) Mr. Bardos moved to approve Article 2 “Operating Budget” for the 2006-2007 school year: $3,929,238.00. Seconded by Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
15) Mr. Bardos moved to approve Article 3 Special Education (from Trust Fund): $40,000.00. Seconded by Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
16) Mr. Bardos moved to approve Article 4 High School Trust (from surplus): $100,000.00. Seconded by Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
17) Mr. Bardos moved to approve Article 5 Teacher’s contract estimated at $48,506.00. Seconded by Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
18) Mr. Bardos moved to approve Article 6 Salaries for Treasurer: $800.00, Clerk: $75.00, & Moderator: $75.00. Seconded by Mrs. Shelnutt Brotman. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
TOTAL SCHOOL BUDGET: Total operating budget: $4,017,744.00.
Expense budget bottom line: $4,117,744.00.
19) The MS-27 was reviewed and discussed.
*Mr. Bardos moved to accept the MS-27. Seconded by Mrs.Shelnutt Brotman. The motion voted unanimously in favor.
20) There being no further business Mr. Smith moved to adjourn. Seconded by Mr. Caffry. The motion was voted unanimously in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dina Cutting
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