George Ferguson, Chair
Kathy Fetchick, Vice Chair
Dan Amaral
Mitch Bolinsky
Mary Ann Jacob
Dan Wiedemann
Legislative Council Finance and Administration Committee
Draft Minutes of the Meeting of February 1, 2012
Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Lane, Newtown, CT
Committee Members Present: Dan Wiedemann, Mary Ann Jacob, Kathy Fetchick, George Ferguson, Mitch Bolinsky, Dan Amaral, and Jeff Capeci, ex officio
Others Present: Joseph Centofanti, CPA, CFE, FCPA, CFF, CCFM, Partner, J.H. Cohn, LLP, Accountants & Consultants, John Voket, Newtown Bee, Linda Zukauskus, Voices Newspaper
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.
Public Participation
There were no members of the public present
Review and Approval of Minutes
Mr. Bolinky moved to approve the minutes of January 18, 2012. Mr. Wiedemann seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Committee Discussion and Action:
Town of Newtown’s Comprehensive Financial Report:
Mr. Centofanti presented the Town of Newtown’s Comprehensive Financial Report (110 pages) an attendant bulleted PowerPoint presentation (13 pages). The Committee and Mr. Centofanti engaged in an interactive discussion of the report for approximately 45 minutes. In general the Auditor expressed high levels of confidence in Newtown’s management and control procedures, its financial position and its commitment to solid financial practice.
Ms. Fetchick moved to accept the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the Town of Newtown for the year ended June 30, 2011. Mr. Wiedemann seconded. Approved unanimously.
Management Letter prepared by Kostin Ruffkess & Company:
A discussion of the Management Letter included questions from committee members regarding the concerns expressed by the auditors relating to off-ledger and off-system accounting practices utilized by the Education Department. Questions pertained to the nature of the accounts and details pertaining to the revenues, expenditures and management practices. Following this discussion:
Ms Fetchik moved to accept the Management Letter prepared by Kofkin Ruffkess. Dan Wiedemann seconded. Approved unanimously.
Appointment of an Auditor for the Town of Newtown for fiscal year ending June 30, 2012.
During our prior meeting, the Committee discussed the Appointment of an Auditor for the Town of Newtown for fiscal year ending June 30, 2012 and subsequently:
Dan Amaral moved to recommend to the Legislative Council the appointment of Kostin Ruffkiss to be the auditor for the Town of Newtown for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012. Dan Wiedemann seconded. Motion passed Unanimously.
The above action is reflected in the minutes, however, as the name of the firm has changed due to a recent merger the firm was reappointed as follows:
Ms. Fetchick moved to appoint J.H. Cohn LLP to serve as the Auditor for the Town of Newtown for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012. Seconded by Mitch Bolinsky. Approved unanimously.
Capital Improvement Plan (2013-18) for the Town of Newtown. Review and make a recommendation to the Council.
Mr. Ferguson advised that Mr. Tait had prepared Capital Improvement Plan binders for those that had ordered them, and these were distributed. As time was running late, the LC Finance & Administration Committee agreed to table this discussion until a future meeting.
Capital Non-recurring Fund and Board of Education Reserve Fund Statute. Review the proposed Capital Non-Recurring Fund and Board of Education Reserve Fund Policy and Report Back to the Council.
The Committee briefly discussed these items. The Capital Non-Recurring fund was noticed for possible discussion and action at the Legislative Council Meeting immediately succeeding this meeting. Committee were in general agreement on the action to formalize and commit to writing existing practices because of their importance to the rating agencies and sound fiscal practices.
The Board of Education Reserve Fund Statute is part of the Connecticut General Statutes and reads as follows:
Sec. 10-248a. Unexpended education funds account. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, and each fiscal year thereafter, notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes or any special act, municipal charter, home rule ordinance or other ordinance, the board of finance in each town having a board of finance, the board of selectman in each town having no board of finance or the authority making appropriations for the school district for each town may deposit into a nonlapsing account any unexpended funds from the prior fiscal year from the budgeted appropriation for education for the town, provided such amount does not exceed one per cent of the total budgeted appropriation for education for such prior fiscal year. | 
