 |
TOWN COUNCIL WORK SESSION
COUNCIL CHAMBERS JANUARY 7, 2002
SOUTH WINDSOR TOWN HALL 7:00 P.M.
1. Call Meeting to Order
Mayor Aman called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.
2. Roll Call
Members Present: Mayor Aman
Deputy Mayor Streeter
Councillor Barbour
Councillor Delnicki
Councillor Fine
Councillor Havens
Councillor Lassman Fisher
Councillor Pelkey
Members Absent: Councillor Burnham
Also Absent: Town Manager Matthew B. Galligan
Also Present: Assistant to the Town Manager Judith Hall
Town Attorney Barry Guliano
3. Public Participation
4. Communications
5. Town Manager
6. Items for Discussion
A. General Purpose Financial Statements and Supplemental Schedules
Year Ended June 30, 2001 With Independent Auditor
Jerry Paradis of Scully & Wolf provided the following information as a review of the audit report:
6. A. (Continued)
The individual programs for which the Town expended federal funds totaled almost $800,000. The results of the Auditor
The expenditures for State programs totaled approximately $13 million. The results of the compliance testing and internal control testing for the State Programs indicated one instance of non-compliance
The Auditors have issued an unqualified or
Several reports were briefly reviewed by Mr. Paradis:
There has been a decline in overall assets due to net depreciation in the market as of June 30.
When asked about the Pension Fund, Mr. Paradis stated that it went from $15,993,000 to $14,159,000. Councillor Havens asked what that would do to the fund, and Mr. Paradis said that is a question which should be addressed to the Town
6. A. (Continued)
The General Fund balance is $6.1 million; the undesignated, unreserved portion of that is $4.2 million, which is about 7 percent of the budget. This is right in the range that most financial advisers are recommending as far as fund balance maintenance.
With regard to the detailed revenues and expenditures, the revenues came in $1 million over what was anticipated; and on the expenditure side, $664,000 less was spent than what was budgeted.
Current year tax collections were 98.55 percent of the total adjusted amount collectable, which is a very strong collection rate and a positive indicator of where things are going. Anything over 98 percent is good. The receivables are also in good shape.
Referencing an amount of $744,000 for uncompensated absences, Mayor Aman asked if this was for unclaimed sick days of employees. Mr. Paradis said that it was sick and vacation time for the Town and Board of Education employees.
The Management Letter is a written report done in accordance with government auditing standards, which deals with compliance and internal control over financial reporting. This document is used to report any material non-compliance, any reportable conditions, and material weaknesses which are serious. There are no significant problems, but the following comments and recommendations were made:
Fire Department bank reconciliations couldn't locate the bank reconciliations that had been done during
the year. They had to be recreated and provided to the auditors. It
was emphasized that bank reconciliations are a very important item.
Mr. Paradis stated that the documents were done subsequently, and
he didn
Volunteer Tax Abatement Program Auditors have raised some issues because the IRS has come out with
new rulings. He wished to make the Town cognizant of any tax
implications which come out of this and be certain that the Town is
complying with all of the IRS rules. The Town can contact a tax
attorney or someone who is familiar with the legal aspects as well
as the tax aspects of these programs.
6. A. (Continued)
Student Activity Fund summary of cash transactions for Pleasant ValleyAccount; and the bank reconciliation was not properly completed.
Mr. Paradis felt that this was not a major problem, but it was worth
mentioning.
The remainder were items which had been mentioned in previous reports, and have not been resolved:
Documentation - needed for even small fund areas.
Purchase orders - these were not used in a couple of instances. It is
important to use purchase orders, since they provide control over the
budgetary process.
Fixed assets - looking for an improvement in the system.
Referencing volunteer tax abatement programs and IRS decisions, Councillor Delnicki asked how other municipalities are handling these programs. Mr. Paradis explained that most Towns are just starting such programs, and some of them were unaware of the IRS rulings. He felt that there should be some type of a 1099 reporting in place. Other parts of the ruling indicate that it should be subject to FICA and Federal Withholding (which goes against the whole concept of the program.) Atty. Guliano said it was his belief that the ruling is in the process of being challenged, and he felt it might be necessary for the Town to get more heavy-duty tax advice.
The Work Session was recessed at 7:40 p.m. in order to call a Public Hearing to order.
7. Executive Session - None
8. Adjournment
The Work Session was adjourned at 7:55 immediately following the Public Hearing.
Respectfully submitted
Merlyn P. Guild
Assistant to the Clerk of the Council
| |
