Finance Committee Minutes
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Rutland Public Library
7:00 p.m.
Present: Karen Nahrwold, Lyndon Nichols, Sheryl Vernon, Tom Ruchala
Absent: Iain McKinlay, Deb Kristoff, Carl Bindoo
Others: Margaret Nartowicz – Town Administrator, Leroy Clark – Select Board, Laura Scannell – Secretary
Mr. Nichols opened the meeting at 7:08 p.m. The meeting was recorded by Channel 191 for later broadcast.
APPOINTMENTS
7:00 p.m.: Fire/EMS
Chief Seth Knipe was in attendance to present the FY19 Fire/EMS budget. Chief Knipe presented an update on FY18. There has been a significant breakdown in vehicles – both ambulances, and several repairs to fire apparatus. The department budgeted $8,000 for vehicle repairs and has incurred over $20,000. Other funds were used to cover the repairs. $43,000 surplus ambulance wages should cover deficits.
Ambulance revenue is on track to exceed estimate for the year and should produce free cash. Taking out contractual allowances, there is a 94% collection rate. $290,877.42 has been collected as of February 2018.
Fire:
Chief Knipe presented the FY19 budget. Notable increases correspond to wage lines. Chief's salary includes a contractual increase, and holiday wages increased to coincide with three additional days holiday pay. Part-time on-call wages projected to have a $500 deficit that will have to be looked at – this is due to significant fires. They are looking to increase this line $39,000 ($29,000 for the increase in call response and $10,000 for training). Chief Knipe would like these positions included if the Town does a classification and compensation study, would like to bring wages in line with the state's fire association survey. There are 40 on-call, non-union personnel. Increase includes a 5% adjustment but not COLA. There would be a rate and hours increase.
Purchased Services revolves around vehicle maintenance. DPW is doing the best they can with limited availability and expertise on the fire apparatus. Some equipment is out of warranty, needs to be prepared for replacement. Increase of $14,000 total requested for Purchased Services.
Supplies – total requested increase $3,000. Supplies line includes general office supplies (including items carried on apparatus, e.g. binders), general custodial & apparatus maintenance, bulk oil purchases. DPW does oil changes in July and August.
Other Charges includes membership dues, training, professional development. Level funded.
Additional Equipment - $5,000 requested. Replacement Equipment - $17,000 requested – includes four sets of turnout gear, hose replacement (1,900 feet of hose lost due to wear). $3,500 will go replacing aging equipment.
Chief Knipe will submit an article before the Special Town meeting to purchase new turnout gear. This is a contractual item – 7 additional sets are needed for full-time staff to have two sets each.
Emergency Management:
Wages level funded. Other Charge and Expenditures increased to $3,000. $2,780 EMPG grant matching funds (50% match). The grant funds allowed the department to purchase a large-scale printer/scanner/plotter - up to 36" wide maps, can scan building plans. The printer is shared with PD and Dispatch. Builders can use it to digitize plans – no ink costs. Ms. Nartowicz added that scanned plans could also be uploaded into an e-permitting software.
Ambulance:
Ambulance Wages increased to $643,095.06 - split into full-time and over-time. In 2001 the Town voted for a staffing study that recommended 9 FT personnel, the department is currently at 7. Based on the population formula used in the 2001 study, the Town should currently have 11.5 FT personnel. If any large projects (e.g. Christopher House) come in they would need to look to increase staffing – at least 3 per shift for 24 hours.
Purchased Services includes estimated share of billing company collections (5% fee of estimated $450,000 receipts). Supplies – $25,000 requested; going through tires quicker – $2,200 to put tires on, about every 18 months doing a new set. Medical supplies increased to cover call volume.
Other charges – includes medical control/CMEMS fee to UMASS, monitoring radio traffic to hospital, recertification fees for ambulance. Uniform allowance – Fire Brigade has purchased in the past (badges, etc.) at about $1,000/year spending. Transferring back to the Fire Department where it's more appropriate. There was discussion about uniform allowance.
Chief Knipe discussed the department's capital plan. The biggest item this year is an ambulance lease. Other equipment includes replacement of Squad 1, Car 1 (Chief's vehicle), Ladder Tower 1. The Public Safety roof needs replacement, original to 2003. Chief Knipe has met with CIPC.
Public Safety Purchased Services is seeing an electricity line cut due to projected solar savings. They are still in the process of transitioning to a system of solar credits. The building's energy upgrade is being financed at $540/month on the electric bill – Chief Knipe will have a better understanding of how this balances out with the solar credits over the next few months.
There was discussion about building security and public access to Town buildings during closures for weather.
There was discussion about the status of Countryside Estates. The department was fortunate to have several part-time personnel available that day to respond to the call. The building is currently limited access due to asbestos – all apartments deadbolted, locks changed.
7:30 p.m.: Police/Regional ACO – Budget Presentation & Discussion of Police K9 Grant
Police:
Chief Nick Monaco discussed the Stanton Foundation K9 Grant he had presented to the Select Board at their last meeting. The Select Board approved him to apply for the grant with the request that he present the information to the Finance Committee for review first. The Stanton Foundation provides a non-competitive $25,000 grant to pay all start-up costs of obtaining a police dog. The grant pays for the purchase of the dog, training, cruiser retrofitting, kennel, and all equipment, as well as 3 years of food and veterinary care. The grant will also pay $1,000 backfill wages while the handler is in training, and an addition $4,000 for specialized training. There should be no cost to the Town.
The dog would be trained for patrol (tracking, searches, aggression training) and narcotics. There would be no bomb training – only done for departments affiliated with a bomb squad. The trainers will help the department pick the best dog for the handler and for the community. The dog could be taken to schools for demonstrations.
Chief Monaco would have to sit down with the chosen handler and union to determine a plan for the officer's standard duties while taking care of the dog. Would most likely have the officer work a 7-hour shift instead of 8 to account for dog care.
These grant programs are typically sustained after the 3-year mark with fundraising and donations. Chief Monaco has already found some local vets willing to provide free or highly discounted care to police dogs.
Ms. Vernon moved to support Chief Monaco's request to apply for the Stanton Foundation K9 Grant. Ms. Nahrwold 2nd. Vote unanimous.
Chief Monaco presented the FY19 Police Department budget and discussed the current status of the department. Wage and Expense lines fine, Purchased Services empty and Other Charges close to empty. FY18 started with more in Supplies than Purchased Services – ended up paying a lot of Purchased Services out of the Supplies line. There is a surplus available for transfer from Quinn Bill Wages not being paid anymore.
At the November Special Town Meeting, they got approval for two new positions. The nationwide police-to-population ration is at 2 FT officers per 1,000 people. Rutland is currently at 1.25, the new officers will bring it to 1.5 - still low, but better off. There are at least two officers for every 24/7 shift. The new officers account for most of the budget increase – 8.6% total.
Chief Monaco reviewed the FY19 budget request. Chief's salary line includes a 4% contractual increase to $94,000. Holiday wages decreased slightly due to contract changes. Clerical wages level funded, request doesn't include COLA. Police wages are increasing a bit; sergeants are currently in contract negotiations. Fulltime Wages includes an increase for the two new positions, and a union negotiated increase. Part-time officers have a wage increase in their contract; there are 6 part-time officers obligated to work at least 1 shift per month.
Overtime Wages have been built into the budget for the first time. There are 12 personnel between fulltime and sergeants – contractually obligated to 1,040 hours of vacation leave and 240 hours personal leave. With the two new officers, the department will have better coverage and be less reliant on overtime. There was discussion about holiday wages and pay.
The Purchased Services line has decreased dramatically in the past few years, leaving the department to use other line items to make payments. Chief Monaco is requesting $12,739.50 for FY19. Purchased Services includes vehicle maintenance and repair, radar maintenance and repair, department cell phones, dry cleaning, postage, printing, new hire training, and psychological, medical & fitness testing. Taser Assurance Plan ($1,110 paid to Taser annually for maintenance – units are replaced after 5 years). Prisoner meals – budgeted $260 – can fluctuate from year to year.
Supplies – requesting $18,300. Supplies line includes office supplies, parts for vehicle repair and maintenance (labor paid from Purchased Services). Uniforms and equipment make up the largest portion of Supplies – $2,000 per new officer; each officer gets a $250 incidental allowance. Chief Monaco would eventually like to transition to a regular uniform allowance. Miscellaneous supplies include tools and hardware for minor repairs, improvements, and maintenance around the station.
There was discussion about training and membership fees. District schools are looking into changing to the A.L.I.C.E. lockdown model, officers would need to be trained as well. The department pays initial academy training; many new officers put themselves through training, the two new hires have already completed the academy.
There was discussion about the police cruiser lease. One lease payment budgeted per year, the cars are on a 3-year lease and the department would need to wait 3 years to purchase a new vehicle. At the rate the Town and department are growing, the fleet won't last long on the current schedule. Chief Monaco is requesting an additional lease on next year's budget and reviewed the payment schedule. It takes a while for vehicles to cycle out of the fleet. Ideally, the department would budget one car per year purchased outright.
Fully equipped a new vehicle would cost a little over $40,000. There is only one Crown Victoria left in the fleet, all others are Ford Explorers. Once all vehicles are Explorers, the equipment would transfer over to new vehicles. There was discussion about the recent reserve fund transfer request and the vehicles repaired with the funds. Another issue was found on one of the vehicles during repair and funds had to come out of Purchased Services to cover.
Regional Animal Control
Chief Monaco presented the Regional ACO budget. There was discussion of moving the ACO from 34 hours to 40 hours a week, and OAD to MTP. The position would be salaried, non-exempt. There are some items she would not qualify for. A 40-hour FT position would allow for spreading assistants to cover the ACO's time off. There are currently 4 on-call Assistant ACOs, including a Dispatch employee, covering for the ACO who is on leave. A 4th assistant ACO wouldn't be necessary with a FT ACO.
Purchased Services is level funded, includes vehicle repair and maintenance, department issued cell phone, printing, and money for animal care, boarding, and euthanasia.
Supplies line increased to include ACO uniforms and identification. There was discussion about a need for ACOs who are on call to be able to identify themselves if responding from home, possibly badges or windbreakers that can be kept on hand.
Total budget request of $63,000 is broken down between Rutland, Barre, Princeton, and New Braintree. Rutland's share is 48% - $30,616.28 (increased from $24,953.11). Ms. Nartowicz discussed that they had hoped to mitigate costs by taking on Hardwick, but Hardwick could not join this year. They will continue reaching out to additional towns.
NEW BUSINESS
Finance Committee Budget
Mr. Nichols recommends level funding. The new Finance Committee secretary has been with the Town since October – through the bulk of budget season. Less than 30% of the budgeted salary has been used to date.
Mr. Ruchala moved to level fund the Finance Committee budget. Ms. Vernon 2nd. Vote unanimous.
MINUTES
Mr. Ruchala moved to accept the meeting minutes from February 15, 2018 as presented. Ms. Vernon 2nd. Vote unanimous.
Ms. Nartowicz presented and discussed the working budget. First revisions are off $240,673.65 and requests are off $288,155.65. A revised proposal was received for e-permitting software, bring it down from $47,900 to $38,420. Ms. Nartowicz has applied for grant funding.
RDIC represents a substantial increase, requested $25,000. Police and Fire both added staff this year. The budgets exceed 3.5%.
There was discussion about managed growth. Ms. Nahrwold suggested having Cable record Planning Board and ConCom meetings so residents can see the process of how buildings and subdivisions are approved. Mr. Craine stated that Cable doesn't currently have the manpower; they are finishing up job descriptions to hire new personnel.
Ms. Nartowicz stated the slides from the managed growth presentation will be available on the Town website. There was discussion about showing them at Town Meeting or including them in a handout.
There was discussion about ambulance replacement and possible debt exclusion. It's not a bad idea to have replacement built in, but the revenues can't support it. Ms. Nartowicz is looking into long-term strategies to begin programmatic replacements.
There was discussion about the Towns' responses to the WRSD budget and inviting a representative from the school district to an upcoming Finance Committee meeting for further questions. The School Committee will vote on March 12th, no deviations on what the Towns get.
Mr. Ruchala moved to adjourn. Ms. Vernon 2nd. Vote unanimous.
The meeting adjourned at 8:48 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
_______________________ Laura Scannell, Secretary
Approved on: ___________
_______________________ Lyndon Nichols, Chairman
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