TOWN OF SOUTH WINDSOR
SPECIAL BUDGET WORK SESSION MINUTES
TOWN COUNCIL MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011
COUNCIL CHAMBERS TIME: 8:00 P.M.
1. Call Meeting to Order
Mayor Pelkey called the meeting to order at 8:00 p.m. and then recessed the Work Session in order to finish the Special Meeting. The Special Budget Work Session reconvened at 8:50 p.m.
2. Roll Call
Members Present: Mayor John Pelkey
Deputy Mayor Ed Havens
Councillor Saud M. Anwar
Councillor Gary Bazzano
Councillor Tom Delnicki
Councillor Janice Favreau
Councillor Kevin McCann
Councillor Cary Prague
Councillor Keith Yagaloff
Also Present: Town Manager, Matthew B. Galligan
3. Public Participation
Mr. Don Gonsalves, 40 Bayberry Trail stated that during the approval of the Board of Education budget, Mayor Pelkey suggested amending the resolution to allow the school budget to be reopened and lowered if the State takes funding away. Mr. Gonsalves said he was disappointed that the Council did not approve the amendment. The way it stands now, the taxpayers are going to pay for the funds or the Town budget is going to pay for the funds if the State does take funding away. The budget for the General Government tonight should be subject to what happens with the State funding.
4. Communications
None
5. Town Manager’s Report
None
ITEM:
6. Items for Discussion
A. General Government Budget
Town Manager, Matthew B. Galligan stated he has recommended $635,000 to be cut from the Capital Projects. There are items coming in which could help with the capital budget. There is approximately $1,400,000 of items to cut within the budget. Mr. Galligan then reviewed items from Councillor Yagaloff’s list of cuts that he felt could be eliminated from the budget for this year which is $27,000 for the tower near VMP, wash station, and other items totaling approximately $175,000 to $200,000 worth of cuts. Do not want to see the revenues touched at this time but there are projects coming in next year that if there is a tremendous amount of revenues coming in, the Council has the ability to open up the budget under the Charter and change the bottom line. Do not want to devastate the entire
budget in case something happens later. Mr. Galligan stated that concerns he does have are with the snow removal, Public Works rentals and leases and overtime in the Parks Division for leaf pickup. Some of these cuts the Council can do but will affect the way the Town does business. If the Town Council were to take the $635,000 and then come up with $175,000 of other cuts the Town could be down to 2.1% or 2.2% tax increase. To go any further than that could hurt the Town’s programs.
At 7:15 p.m. Mayor Pelkey recessed the Work Session in order to hold a Public Hearing. The Work Session reconvened at 7:20 p.m.
Councillor Yagaloff explained that when he made the list of cuts, the purpose was to get some dialogue going with the rest of the Council. Councillor Yagaloff stated he was trying to find small items that could be cut and would add up to a large number; and also tried to accomplish not having any layoffs. Also did not want to create any loss in services to residents. Regarding the snow removal, Councillor Yagaloff stated he just removed the increase.
Mr. Galligan stated that last year’s budget for snow removal was $285,900 and had to put an extra amount in which made the budget increase to $304,690. Taking $60,000 out brings the budget down to $244,000. Councilor Yagaloff stated he just wanted to go back to what was in the budget last year. Councillor Yagaloff reviewed the other items where he has proposed cuts, as shown in attached Exhibit A, stating that his proposals add up to approximately $1,400,000 in reductions. Then taking $750,000 from Capital Projects and taking $400,000 from the tax lien leads to a negative spending increase and a tax increase of approximately ¾%.
Mayor Pelkey stated that the Town Council needs to recognize that the Town has paid staff and the number the Town Manager has discussed is a 2.1% increase which is an average of the past six years. The Town Manager can determine where the extra $175,000 in cuts can be taken from. Mayor Pelkey questioned if the credit card fees are being subsidized by the Town?
ITEM:
6. A. (Continued)
Mr. Galligan explained that credit card fees are part of the Special Revenue Fund and are built into the fee so it is not tax based. Sixty-seven percent of the people who register for Recreation programs use credit cards. Twenty-six percent pay by check and 7% pay cash. Residents have requested to be allowed to pay their taxes by credit card but the Town does not do that because it would affect the general fund.
Councillor Prague stated that there needs to be something for everyone in Town. The Town needs to offer the services that they expect at reasonable prices. There are items that are done that can not get more efficient. It is important to be careful as the Town Council deliberates that services are kept at a certain level.
Answering questions from the Councilor Prague, Mr. Favreau who is the Director of Recreation explained that $14,000 under VMP Temp wages equals the cost of payroll to staff the swimming pool for two weeks. The only thing the Town pays for with the credit card fees is the processing fee when someone uses it. The credit card provided is through the active network company as well. There are no licensing fees and the fees are built into the user fees as an expense. Advertising is necessary because if you want to make money you have to spend money. The Verizon wireless cards are used for laptops which are used for remote applications. Part time workers also use them because there is not enough office space and they also use them at remote areas. The uniform budget is used for campers as
well as staff and is necessary to be able to identify campers if you are on a field trip. The fees for this are also built into the user fees.
Councillor Prague felt the Town Council has to be very careful that the programs are not being impacted. The budget should be reduced somewhat tonight but the services have to be maintained.
Councillor Favreau felt that the Town Council should decide on how much to cut the budget and let the Town Manager and staff decide where to take those cuts from. The quality of life in South Windsor has to be maintained.
Councillor Delnicki stated that the Town Council has to base decisions on wants and needs. Tools to save lives are not discretionary spending and should not be considered to be cut. Councillor Delnicki felt that the Zoning Enforcement Officer position should be reviewed to see if that is a necessary position. Councillor Delnicki then questioned what is being proposed with the $635,000 from Capital Projects?
ITEM:
6. A. (Continued)
Mr. Galligan stated that he feels a subcommittee should be established of the Council to question what projects should be funded now and what projects should be held off until other monies are available. The Council should be reviewing those projects and setting priorities or maybe even have public hearings regarding these projects as were done in last year’s budget. When monies come in from the sale of the old firehouse, those funds would be placed in Capital Non-Recurring as voted on in a referendum.
7. Executive Session
None
8. Adjournment
At 8:02 p.m. the Work Session was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah W. Reid
Recording Secretary
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