Minutes of the Board of Finance meeting held on Thursday, December 16, 2004 at 4:30 PM at the Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall.
Present: Regular Members: Wayne Devoe, H.P. Garvin, III, Christopher Kerr,
Andrew Russell, David Woolley
Alternate Members: Raymond Gorman, Jr., Judith Read
Timothy Griswold, ex-officio and Doris Johnson, Finance Administrator
Absent: Regular Member:
Alternate Member: Janet Sturges
Guests: Bonnie A. Reemsnyder, Selectwoman
Skip Sibley, Selectman
Ron Nossek and Nicole Stajduhar – Kostin Ruffkess & Company, LLC
Mr. Diebolt called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. stating that Mr. Devoe has an excused absence this evening, therefore, a motion was made by Mr. Kerr, seconded by Mr. Russell and passed unanimously to have Mr. Gorman vote for Mr. Devoe in his absence. Mr. Diebolt requested switching the Agenda around in order to accommodate this evening’s guests.
Annual Financial Report Budget Draft: Mr. Rafal distributed an Aggregate Portfolio for the Library stating that the Library’s Portfolio Value is presently $3,480,964. The analysis composition of account allocation is 60% US Stocks, 25% in Bonds, 8% cash, 5% in Non-US Stocks, and 2% Other. The Library favors a conservative Value Investment Style and a high quality Fixed-Income Investment style. Mrs. Sturges inquired on the reasons for using endowment funds for operating expenses. Questions were asked regarding fund raising efforts and Mrs. Fiorelli stated that the Annual Fund Drive is presently on target for this year.
Old Lyme Fire Department Update: Rob McCarthy highlighted the expenses relating to the Fire Department. The air compressor purchase is in the works, however, is being held up by the vendor. Painting and cupola project is near completion, but it hasn’t been invoiced yet. The air bottles scheduled for this year are being filled and the protective equipment is presently on order, however, it hasn’t been received.
The Fire Department’s operating budget is on target for the first half of the fiscal year. Mr. McCarthy explained about a Grant that is designed to update the frequency range and repeater process of their radio system. The system will cost approximately $114,000 and a matching amount of 10% is required, therefore, the Grant would cover approximately $104,000 of that expense. The Firemen’s Incentive plan is in place and monies have been allocated to fifty-eight active members that qualified. Mr. Beebe asked if a cost of living increase to individual accounts could be considered in order to keep amounts in line of an incentive plan moving mounts into the future. Mr. Beebe also explained that the newer apparatus made has lengthened in size over the years and an extension to the Lyme
Street Fire station may be necessary in order to accommodate the growing truck sizes. Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Beebe invited the Board of Finance members to the Lyme Street Station to tour the newly painted interior and review the trucks and equipment so to have a better understanding of their operations. Capital Outlay includes budgeting for a hose tender truck and replacing the 1967 Dodge Power Wagon, the forestry truck, with a multi-purpose utility truck.
Review the Minutes of November 23, 2004 Meeting: The minutes of November 23rd were reviewed. There being no corrections necessary, a motion was made by Mr. Kerr, seconded by Mr. Woolley and passed unanimously to approve the minutes as written.
Chart of Accounts: Mrs. Johnson detailed the Revenue Report stating that Arrears of Property Tax collection rate is ahead of schedule with 31% remaining to be collected for the second half of the fiscal year. The sale of the Roche property is reflected under the Miscellaneous Income line. The Expenditure Report was reviewed and Mrs. Johnson stated that the salary for the Selectman/Selectwoman needs to be adjusted to reflect the same amount. She will investigate why the salary amounts are different. Under the Special Deductions, the Unemployment Insurance line represents two past employees that are presently collecting benefits. Questions as to the need for a septic system inspector were raised since the salary amount has not been used. The radio repair for Public Works ended up
costing more than anticipated therefore creating an overage in that particular line. Mrs. Johnson explained that the Gas/Diesel/Motor Oil line under Public Works purchases still needs to be distributed to the various areas that use the pumps at the Town Garage, such as Animal Control, Police, and Fire Department. The Ambulance uses the pumps, however, pays for their own gas out of their budget. There was a discussion about certain items of the Senior Center kitchen equipment that needs repairing or replacing. Mr. Woolley stated that the Senior Center is ten years old and items will start needing repair due to the age and perhaps those items should fall under Capital Outlay rather than part of their operating expenses.
Old Business: Mr. Diebolt stated that on October 19th he attended an Eastern CT Board of Finance Chairman Association meeting. At that meeting he learned various strategies with one of them being that he can request from David Klein a separate line item as to what the State of CT is not funding and how it potentially affects the property owners taxes as a result.
Selectman’s Report: Mr. Griswold stated that the recreational building at the Town Woods Road sports facility is progressing along with the foundation and framing completed. It is scheduled to be finished by March 2005.
The installation of granite curbing along Lyme Street should be completed by the end of November. Because of the late start, the paving portion of the reconstruction project will be postponed until the spring. There was one change order noted which included pouring concrete behind the curbing segments to hold it more securely in place.
A preliminary design presentation took place at the Congregational Church for the abutting property owners around Church Corner. There was a discussion about the traffic patterns for the new Christ the King Church and questions were raised as to why access from Route 156 could not be obtained from the State. Other areas of concern included the width of Ferry Road as well as the on street parking situation in that area. Since the Church Corner Committee is still refining the preliminary draft, additional meetings will be held in the future.
Mr. Griswold stated that the Town will have a new web site soon and the Information Technology Committee is getting closer to selecting a GIS vendor. To insure that the employees are comfortable with the new technology, two training groups and sessions were set up at the High School. The website not up and running yet, however, it should be operational within the next couple of weeks.
The value of real estate in Town has increased over the past four year by an average of sixty-eight percent. Once the grand list is complete and the current mill rate of 25.5 will be adjusted downward to compensate for the grand list increase. Properties on Long Island Sound and the Connecticut River had the largest increases.
In Connecticut, property tax is based on the property’s assessed value, which the state sets at seventy percent of fair market value. The last time Old Lyme properties were physically appraised was in 2000, when market rates were abnormally low. A physical inspection for revaluation was done every ten years but the State changed the cycle to twelve years. In our case, there would be two statistical revals (2004 and 2008) and a physical in 2012. That is why we are doing the statistical reval this year. To confuse things more, the State has just adopted a ten year cycle. Property appraisals and assessments can be viewed at www.visionappraisal.com. Revaluation assessments hearings are continuing through mid-December and office space has been arranged at 44 Lyme Street to hold scheduled hearings.
The Household Hazardous Waste facility cost the Town approximately $10,000 through October 30th when it closed for the 2004 season. Being the first year in operation, the system will be refined in order to meet the minimum requirements. There was a suggestion to have more predictable dates, such as first Saturday of the month, etc., rather than the irregular dates offered in order to cut down on random visits. There was talk about having small commercial businesses participate as well in order to boost attendance records. Approximately 12% of the expense related to the nine towns not meeting the 100 car minimum.
Mr. Griswold distributed a schedule of dates for various aspects of the upcoming budget preparation process, outlining timeframes and assignment lists. Budget Request Forms and Capital Request Forms will be sent out the first week of December to spending agencies. During the first week of January, the budget sheets are due back and Mr. Griswold will confer with Mr. William Swords about a general wage percentage increase for Town employees. In he month of January, scheduled meetings between spending agencies and Mr. Griswold will take place and the Board of Selectmen will review the various budgets. The budget books are scheduled to be distributed to the Board of Finance members by February 15th and the budget season process begins on February 22, 2005 with weekly meetings through April.
Mr. Griswold stated that CL&P representatives reviewed lighting needs for six municipal buildings. The present lights would be upgraded to efficient energy saving lighting for approximately $31,000for the six municipal buildings. If approved by the Town and by CL&P, there will be a 68% reimbursement for the renovations.
Mr. Diebolt stated that two volunteers are needed to act as liaisons to Regional School District #18. Mrs. Read and Mrs. Sturges volunteered to represent the Board of Finance at the Board of Educations budget meetings. Discussions will include Regional School District #18 FY2006 budget, and June review of a report concerning the High School renovation project.
The next Board of Finance meeting is scheduled for January 18, 2005 at 7:30 p.m.
A motion was made by Mr. Kerr, seconded by Mr. Russell and passed unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 9:14 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Michele Hayes-Finn
Secretary
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