302 Main Street Old Saybrook, Connecticut 06475-1741
BOARD OF FINANCE MINUTES REGULAR MEETING FEBRUARY 16, 2016 at 7:00 P.M. |
BOF Attendant Members Absent Members
David LaMay, Chairman Breck Lindley
Tom Stevenson Brad Thorpe, Vice Chairman
John O’Brien
Greg Gernhardt
Barry O’Nell
In Attendance
Selectman Carl Fortuna
Larry Hayden, IT Director
Lee Ann Palladino, Interim Finance Director
Call to order
Mr. LaMay called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM
Pledge of Allegiance
Mr. LaMay led the pledge.
Mr. LaMay called for a moment of silence in respect for recent passing of Finance Director Lisa Carver.
MINUTES
A motion to approve the minutes of the February 2, 2016 meeting was made by Barry O’Nell and seconded by John O’Brien. There was no discussion and the minutes were approved unanimously.
FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT
Ms. Palladino addressed Tom Stevenson’s previous request to clarify the statement on the annual audit report on page 55, relative to pending law suits against the town, not having material effect on the financial position of the town. She explained there are 6 pending suits, one for Breach of Employment contract, a minor auto claim, a warrantless search of property related to swatting, a motor vehicle/motorcycle accident, auto claim relating to a prisoner breaking an auto antenna and kicking damage to a vehicle, and general liability claim for a fall at the Kate. She also stated that our insurance provider CIRMA is handling the claims and much of these if any will be covered by CIRMA.
Carl Fortuna stated that there are other potential suits lingering but have not come to fruition at this time.
Ms. Palladino stated that we have contracted with an industrial appraisal firm to inventory and label all town assets. They will start the project in a month. This is one of 5 audit findings that we are correcting. We are 80% complete verifying rates of pay for all town employees per one of the other audit recommendations, only needing selectman approval to complete.
John O’Brien asked if the job description is equivalent to the pay rate. Carl stated it was, but mentioned that some of the description were written years before and should be upgraded, however this type of HR work could cost $7500 to upgrade all the job descriptions.
Tom Stevenson asked about capital items being inventoried if they were $5000 and above.
Ms. Palladino stated the answer was yes, however we will be inventorying items valued at $1000 or more such as computers.
Motion was made by Barry O’Nell to approve the reimbursable Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery Planning Grant in the amount of $125,000 to perform a Community Costal Resilience Study & Infrastructure Evaluation to go to town meeting. John Obrien seconded motion.
Tom Stevenson inquired given the financial state of affairs for the state if there is a possibility the state would not reimburse the funds.
Cart Fortuna stated that the money has been funded and bonded and is available.
No further discussion motion passed unanimously.
Motion was made by John O’Brien to approve the appropriation for a reimbursable Brownfield Area wide Revitalization (BAR) Planning Grant in the amount of $200,000. Second Barry O’Nell, no discussion, motion was passed unanimously.
Selectman’s Report:
Carl spoke about the loss of Lisa Carver and how much she will be missed. He said she was a selfless employee who never wanted the lime light for her work and was only concerned with doing the best for the town and making her bosses look good. Lisa brought the budgeting and financing of Old Saybrook to the 21st century.
Dave LaMay on behalf of the Board of Finance echoed Carl’s praises and expressed appreciation for all that Lisa had done for our board.
Carl stated that the state made a midyear cut in our funding and we will not receive $88,000 originally anticipated from the state. However, Senate bill 1 was passed creating a Municipal Revenue Sharing Account (MRSA) and it is projected that we will receive $140,000 in revenue from the state in the 16/17 budget year and this will be projected on the revenue side of our budget.
Carl attended a Council of Small towns meeting and there are colossal obligations facing the state starting within the 2017-2018 budget seasons. The $550 million short fall this year and the $770 million budget deficit anticipated in the 2016-2017 budgets is small compared to the obligations to the state teachers and other state retirement obligations in the 2017-2018 budgets. They are talking 15 years of obligations and we’re talking $2 billion.
The municipalities are asking the legislature to stop placing unfunded mandates on the towns.
The town is looking at the purchase of a surplus Coast Guard Vessel and trailer for the Marine Patrol. There were 6 boats on Cape Cod that Sgt Walsh and DePerry were sent to review and they returned with a hull number of a boat they felt was in good condition for our use. The cost of the boat is $25K. Carl has contracted with a pre-purchase boat surveyor for $450.00 to survey the boat and should have the results by 2/17/2016. If the survey is good and the purchase is approved by the BOF and forwarded to town meeting for approval, the boat will have to be paid for and removed from federal property by March 9. 2016. The boat will not go into the water until July 1, 2016 if approved. It will not be out of the question for us to call a special meeting to discuss this matter.
Carl informed the board that the budget is almost complete and it will be a little more than a 2% increase. He is trying to maneuver on the health insurance as they are looking at a 13% increase. A state partnership plan on health care would be a 1% to 5% increase and could save the town $130,000. We have been able to hold health care to 7% increase over the past 5 years. Maneuvering the town health insurance to the partnership plan will be $1.3 million but we need a 3 year commitment in the bigger pool. The coverage for the employees will be great but will require annual physicals. He will have the budget to the Board of Finance by March 1, 2016.
There will be no new positions in the new budget; however there are 12-15 more hours of work.
There is $40k more in the Fire Dept Pension, $50K more for water, $25K more added to the pension program and the payroll is up 2.25% and that will be an addition of over $200K. They are trying hard to control the increases.
Public Comment:
Renee Shippee inquired about the Cadillac tax on the town health plan? Carl stated that our current plan for a family of 4 is about $26K with HSA, and if we go with the state plan it will be $24K without HSA. He also stated that the tax has been put off until 2020 and our 3 year commitment will be ended by then.
Fern Tryon stated that we were fortunate to have Lisa Carver as our Financial Director. Lisa was a special person and she was happy to see her working for the town and she is sorry for her loss.
Chairman LaMay stated that as soon as we get a budget package, he will get it to all BOF members and asked the members to look them over and get back to him identifying the departments we would like discuss their budgets. He also stated that we have a joint meeting with the Board of Education at 6PM, Monday 3/1/2016 at the Middle school library. The annual budget meeting is scheduled for May 2, so the BOF should be finished with the budget by April 18th.
Motion to adjourn at 8:05 PM by John O’Brien, seconded by Tom Stevenson. Motion passed.
Submitted:
Barry O’Nell
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