North Stonington Board of Finance
Draft Meeting Minutes
of
Wednesday November 14, 2012
New Town Hall
North Stonington, CT
1. Call to Order: Chairman Dan Spring called the meeting to order at 7:33 P.M. Brent Woodward, Mustapha Ratib and Emile Pavolvics were present. Peter Nimirowski and Mike Urgo were absent.
2. Public Comments and Questions: No comments or questions.
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3. Audit 2011-2012 – Review: The audit findings presented by Meyers and Company at the November 7, 2012 BOF meeting were discussed by the Board and the three members of the BOS. Key points included the following:
· Numerous bank book accounts need to be better defined, which First Selectmen Nick Mullane agreed to do.
· The $50,900 performance bond, which has no accountability, will be taken up with Planning and Zoning by Nick Mullane.
· Grant money may be better controlled if upon receipt it is put into a separate account.
· Establishing compatibility between the Government and Education budgets may be beneficial.
· A step in streamlining the tax collection process could be to have a dedicated account.
· Town Hall employees’ sick and vacation time accrual needs to be better defined.
· Tax collections need standardization.
· Town Hall salaries need to be reconciled between what is approved and the actuals.
A motion was made by Dan Spring recommending that the deobligation of $130,000, from the Capital Nonrecurring Fund (Other post employment benefits), be brought to a Town meeting. The motion was seconded by Mustapha Ratib and passed 4-0-0.
4. BOS: QDS/Storm Sandy: Status and After Action: Revised tax bills being prepared by Data Quality Service should be available in time to meet the December 1, 2012 distribution date.
Nick Mullane and others were in agreement that the preparations and execution of storm related activities was far better than the previous year during hurricane Irene. Nick Mullane will estimate the cost to the Town incurred by hurricane Sandy. With budgets already strained, the addition cost of storm related damages is a problem not only for small towns like North Stonington, but larger municipalities and states as noted in an article published on November 14, 2012 in The Wall Street Journal.
5. BOE: RISSA: The “Repair and Improvement of School Structure Account” continues to be under review.
Dan Spring noted that a second request, by the BOF to the BOE, had been made for submitting oversight procedures stemming from the discovery audit.
Reconciliation reports for the months of October and November were received from the BOE.
6. Tax Reports: Current year tax report dated October 31, 2012 was reviewed and compared to the previous year of the same date. Uncollected taxes are higher than the year before.
7. Previous Minutes:
Dan Spring moved to approve the minutes of October 17, 2012 as presented. The motion was seconded by Mustapha Ratib and passed 4-0-0.
Dan Spring moved to approve the minutes of October 24, 2012 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mustapha Ratib and passed 4-0-0. See note below.
Dan Spring moved to approve the minutes of October 24, 2012 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mustapha Ratib and passed 4-0-0. See note below.
Dan Spring moved to approve the minutes of November 7, 2012 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mustapha Ratib and passed 3-0-1. Emile Pavolvics abstained.
Note: Two special meetings were held October 24, 2012.
8. Future Strategies: Review BOS update of audit actions, receive status of narrow band radio upgrade and review status of proposal from Meyers and Company for financial assistance.
9. Additional Approval:
Dan Spring moved to approve the 2013 BOF schedule of meetings. The motion was seconded by Mustapha Ratib and passed 4-0-0.
10. Adjournment:
A motion was made by Dan Spring to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Brent Woodward and passed 4-0-0. The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 PM
Respectfully Submitted
Brent Woodward
Secretary, Board of Finance
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