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Town of Newbury
Finance Committee Meeting
Tuesday Mar. 6, 2012 7:00 pm, Town Hall
Meeting Summary
In attendance (alphabetical): Gene Case (Vice Chair), Bob Connors, Erica Jacobsen, Frank Remley (Chair), Frank Wetenkamp
Ex-Officio: Tracy Blais, Town Administrator/Finance Director
1. Jan 18 Meeting Summary: Unanimously approved as is.
2. FY 13 Budget progress: The Town Administrator distributed copies of the current proposed general fund budget for FY13 of $17,168,468. This budget has previously been presented to the BOS and will be further reviewed. The current projection results in a $480,002.42 or 2.9% increase in the general fund for FY13 over FY12. The TA has also recommended a $440,000 override request to be voted on in the spring election to be held on May 8. The BOS must vote on a warrant for this override request next week.
3. Prospective override for FY13: Preliminary revenue projections for FY13 were estimated at approximately $275,000 without an override. Projected expenditure growth is $480,002 per above. An override of $440,000 has been proposed. This override estimate is broken down as follows:
Gen’l Gov’t $30,000
Education 147,000
Public Safety 200,000
DPW 70,000
Culture & Rec. 34,000
TOTAL $440,000
After some discussion, the Committee voted unanimously to recommend to the Board of Selectmen that a single override of $440k be sought in the election on May 8. It was further recommended that the ballot include a single lump sum override request of $440,000, and not to divide the vote into specific subcategories or components as above. Finally, it was strongly recommended that the consequences of not achieving this request in terms of specific FY13 budget cuts be communicated to the public in advance of the May 8 election.
4. Capital Planning Committee update: Bob Connors, CPC chair, discussed progress on the CPC draft plan, of which a copy was distributed. He explained that additional information is still needed mostly regarding a list of current assets, and department head recommendations on near term funding needs. A request was made to also include potential funding sources, and current funds available in each.
5. Other issues: Frank Remley asked the committee to consider a request to Rick Harris of the Personnel Board to conduct a teaming session at a future meeting. Rick, who is a professional organizational consultant, has previously conducted such pro-bono sessions with the Library Board, Town administrator and management team, and BOS. They have apparently been well received. The purpose of such an informal session would be to help clarify FinCom roles and key priorities, relationships with other boards and with staff in general, business processes, basic goals and priorities, operational effectiveness (how can we do things better), etc. We can establish our own goals for the session which could be conducted in an evening meeting. Frank asked those in attendance to consider this, when it might be conducted, and what
it should seek from such a session for future discussion.
6. Next Meeting: Tuesday, Mar. 20, 7:00 pm, Library (Tentative)
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