Town of Newbury
Finance Committee Meeting
Tuesday June 21, 2011 at 7:00 pm, Byfield Fire Hall
Meeting Agenda
Committee: Gene Case, Bob Connors, Larry Guay, Marshal Jespersen, Dick Passeri, Frank Remley
(Chair)
Ex-Officio: Tracy Blais, Town Administrator/Finance Director
1. May 11 and May 24 Meeting Summaries: Unanimously approved.
2. May YTD Revenue and Expense Summaries:
a. Revenues: RE tax and MV Excise tax revenues remain ahead of projections.
Larry Guay requested a breakdown of RE tax collections between FY 11
revenues and those for previous years. PILOT payments for the Federal
Wildlife reservation remain uncollected, although they are often made late in
the year. Same for State Aid, which is largely made up of MSBA school
capital subsidy for Newbury Elementary School Overall, if these payables are
collected by June 30, revenues should finish ahead of projections and may
help to create a free cash surplus, but at least prevent a further deficit.
b. Expenditures: YTD expenditures are slightly below budget through June,
although some line items may need adjustment once June 30 results are in. A
meeting has been scheduled for July 12 at 7:00 am to review and approved
year end transfers. At this juncture the budget appears to be in-balance for the
year. However, it was noted that some line items were under-expended for
the year, such as the BOH expenses (67.73%), and call fire wage line items at
82.63% (Byfield) and 85.35% (Newbury). Since depletion of these line items
in June, which are “as incurred” expenses, may negatively affect the year end
results, any unusual draw in these or other line-items for the month of June
should be fully justified.
3. Financial Policies draft document: This document has been submitted to the BOS
in draft form, but tabled for review by the Finance Committee. Marshall has
submitted a detailed mark-up for consideration. As a result, additional clarifications
and improvements may be made. Tracy Blais confirmed that the Financial Policies
and Objectives statement was still a “work-in-progress” and in draft form. She will
meet with Marshall when possible to review his comments and questions. (They have
subsequently been circulated to the Finance Committee.) Moreover, it is meant to be
continuously updated as financial needs and conditions evolve. It will be further
reviewed this summer for initial introduction in September.
4. Restart of Capital Planning Committee: Tracy has proposed to restart the Capital
Planning Committee. According to the by-law, this committee includes two members
of the Finance Committee, two “at-large” members from the community, and the
Town Administrator/Finance Director. The two FinCom representatives are Bob
Connors and Anna Tenaglia. At large members include Frank Visconti. Two others,
Kathleen Pearson and Leigh Ardrey have also been mentioned as candidates. Tracy
will check with Town Counsel on any constraints, and talk to both. Since the by-law
restricts the committee to five as noted above, one may be identified as an alternate.
5. Town Barn repair status (Town Administrator): Tracy has met with
representatives of the Governor’s Academy regarding use of the 3 acre parcel
previously offered to the Town via a long term, low cost lease. The site would
include water and sewer service. A current possibility is to initially mover the Town
Garage to this site with a light weight building, with the idea of later locating the
police dept. there as well. Bob Connors will confer with Tracy regarding this and the
other option of renovating the current Town Barn. Tracy expressed concern that the
Barn might not be resolved before the winter season begins. For this reason, time is
of the essence.
6. Next Meeting: Tuesday July 12, 7:00 am, Town Hall
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