The Board of Finance held a regular meeting on Monday, November 29, 2004 in the meeting room at Town Hall South, Main Street, CT. Chairman John Kortze called the meeting to order at 7:40 pm.
PRESENT: John Kortze, Harrison Waterbury, Michael Portnoy, Peter Giarratano, Joseph Kearney ABSENT: James Gaston
ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal, Finance Director Ben Spragg, Schools Superintendent Dr. Evan Pitkoff, Schools Business Manager Ron Bienkowski, Board of Education Chairman Elaine McClure, Board of Education members Andrew Buzzi, David Nanavaty, Paul Mangiafico, Tom Gissen, three members of public, one member of press
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: None noted at this time
COMMUNICATIONS: Chairman John Kortze received a letter from Schools Business Manager Ron Bienkowski stating that he does not understand comments made at the Board of Finance meeting held on 10/28/04. He believes the remarks are unfounded and slanderous, and it was wrong to have an individual be characterized in that way through hearsay information. Prior to that evening, he had not spoken with any Board of Finance members for several months. He has had subsequent conversations with John Kortze and Jim Gaston. Mr. Portnoy pointed out that the remarks were made by an individual and were not a consensus of the Board of Finance.
ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Upon motion by Mr. Portnoy, the minutes of the 10/28/04 meeting were unanimously approved. (Mr. Giarratano arrived after minutes were approved.)
FINANCE DIRECTOR: Mr. Spragg advised that two days ago, he, along with the First Selectman, the Assistant Finance Director, Community Development Director and our Financial Advisor gave a presentation to Moodys for a possible bond rating upgrade. We will be borrowing $12 million next month. Newtown currently has an Aa2 rating with only 20 communities in the state having higher, most of them being in Fairfield County. We should hear the decision next week. First Selectman Rosenthal stated that Mr. Spragg did an excellent job and we were well prepared. He thought we compared very favorably with other towns that have higher ratings. He felt that Moody’s was impressed with our CIP and the fact that we are trying to plan for capital projects. They
were impressed with the Board of Finance and Legislative Council resolutions about debt levels and the Capital Reserve Fund for mill rate stabilization.
FIRST SELECTMAN REPORT: Mr. Rosenthal stated that he has to leave the meeting tonight before the discussion about health insurance alternatives. He did go through the material submitted by Mr. Giarratano. He believes programs like health savings accounts are becoming popular in the private sector but would be hard to implement in the public sector. We negotiate with so many different unions between the Board of Education and the Town.
ADD TO AGENDA: Mr. Kearney moved to ADD Discussion of Board of Finance assistance with upcoming Administrators Contract to the agenda. Motion seconded and unanimously carried.
Ms. McClure stated that it would be helpful to have a Board of Finance member be a part of the negotiating group. They will be meeting tomorrow evening in executive session and will meet with the Council on Wednesday evening to discuss negotiations. Mr. Portnoy will attend the Council meeting as a representative of the Board of Finance.
OLD BUSINESS
School Transportation Cost Alternatives
Mr. Gaston had questions regarding the school transportation costs but is not present tonight. Chairman Kortze advised that the board members need an explanation of the analysis that was supplied by Mr. Bienkowski. During the last budget process, there were things this board wanted to discuss for the future. Bussing issues was one because at some point, there was a discussion about different options. There was some question as to there being potential savings in one option vs. the other.
Dr. Pitkoff explained that the MLM contract was awarded to replace the contract of Art Bennett’s fleet of mini-buses and handicapped equipped vehicles. This process was different than the owner/operator system. When Mr. Bennett retired, we looked at having a company take over that segment and work in tandem with owner/operators. The RFP was put out and one of the responses was from a group of owner/operators who decided to come together and form their own small company.
Mr. Bienkowski stated that when Mr. Bennett retired, it was felt that this was an opportunity to have a “dual” system with owner/operators and a bus company. The RFP was based on a set criteria that may not reflect what exists today. After the contract was awarded to MLM, it was renegotiated from hourly rates to daily rates which was more favorable to the school district. After this renegotiation, MLM’s contract is actually $40,000 per year less than the proposal by First Student Transportation, the lowest original bidder. There was a general discussion. Mr. Gaston will be asked to put any questions he may have in writing.
First Selectman Rosenthal left the meeting at this time.
Health Insurance Alternatives
Mr. Giarratano had prepared an overview of Health Savings Accounts (attached). He explained that with this type of plan, there is an incentive for employees to hold down medical costs because they can keep the remainder of money in that account and roll it over. There was a general discussion.
Having no further business the meeting was adjourned at 9:05 pm.
Jan Andras, Clerk
Attachment: Overview – Health Savings Accounts
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