MINUTES
BOARD OF FINANCE
FEBRUARY 18, 2003
A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Finance was held on Tuesday, February 18, 2003 in the Council Chambers.
Those in attendance included Mayor Owen J. Quinn, Jr., members of the Board of Finance Theodore Miasek, Michael Nejaime, Diane Libby, Roger Dickinson, and Bruce Cornish. Also present were Corp. Counsel Albert Vasko, and Comptroller Alice Proulx.
Mayor Quinn called the meeting to order at 4:10P.M.
MINUTES #045
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mr. Nejaime, the board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held 01/21/03.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC #055
On a motion by Mr. Nejaime, seconded by Mr. Miasek, the board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public. There was no public participation.
SCULLY & WOLF # 070
Ms. Proulx stated that she was scheduled to meet with Mike LeBlanc to review the city’s consolidation with the Board of Education in regard to the financial management system and decentralized payroll however, she was unable to do so. She would be talking with him soon to see what could be set up.
Mrs. Libby indicated that the focus should be to set up a calendar of due dates concerning shared services so the Board of Finance, the City Council and the Board of Education would all be on the same page.
Mr. Murphy indicated that the Board of Education had given their approval to the financial accounting package and were discussing the vehicle maintenance program.
BUDGET PROCESS #140
Ms. Proulx indicated that all department heads had submitted their budgets, with back up documentation. The initial budget document was to be submitted to the City Council later on that evening. Dates will be scheduled for Mayor Quinn and the City Council to review budgets with department heads.
Mrs. Libby asked to be supplied with a list of dates and departments to be reviewed so she could determine which ones she wanted to attend.
Mayor Quinn noted that department heads had responded in a timely manner, however, some had not adhered to the dictate of zero percent growth, minus contractual. He expected to sit with department heads to fine tune those budgets in the next week. He noted that the city’s budget, as well as the Board of Education’s Superintendent’s Budget, looked quite different from last year’s in that they are not in the double digit increases that are sometimes presented early on. He was thinking of dividing the budgets into two nights, whereby department heads will be able to answer any questions presented by the City Council and the Board of Finance.
Once the entire budget is analyzed, Mayor Quinn plans to glean some information from the Board of Finance and the City Council as far as overall direction and come up with a Mayor’s Budget that could be presented as a finalized document that would, for the first time, look at revenues and expenditures to get a fix on a possible mill rate.
Mayor Quinn indicated that joint meetings of the City Council and the Board of Finance would be beneficial once the City Council had completed their charge of reviewing all budgets with department heads. He thought the Board of Education should be included as well. Mayor Quinn said he was pleased that the Board of Education had consented to the financial management system. He was certain that, overall, it would save money for the City of Torrington.
Through observation, Mayor Quinn said it was discovered that vehicle repairs had not occurred to the standards of the street department and that the life of the vehicles, whether they are city vehicles or Board of Education vehicles, could be extended with regular maintenance. This would save tax dollars for the City of Torrington. Mayor Quinn commended Hugh Murphy for attending all the meetings that were held concerning vehicle maintenance.
Mr. Murphy indicated that the savings was greater on the vehicle maintenance than on the financial accounting system. Extending the life of the vehicles by three years would save them about $6,000.00 a year in depreciation costs.
Mr. Dickinson indicated that Groton had figured out a way to account for this (vehicle maintenance ?) on an on-going basis so they could actually see the savings from one year to the next. In his hope to capture each of these ideas, he asked Ms. Proulx to take a look at it when she had time.
SCOTTSDALE INSURANCE CO. #590
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Miasek, the board voted unanimously to
authorize the payment of $407.90 from Contingency to Scottsdale Insurance Company for the deductible in the Carpenter matter. (Contingent upon Council’s approval.)
MURDOCK CLAIM MGMT - FBO THE HANOVER CO. #620
On a motion by Mr. Nejaime, seconded by Mrs. Libby, the board voted unanimously to
authorize the payment of $967.07 from Contingency to Murdock Claim Management Corporation FBO The Hanover Insurance Company for the deductible in the Zavatkay matter. (Contingent upon Council’s approval.)
Unrelated to this particular matter, Mr. Miasek inquired whether claim management was being done on disability and health care.
Ms. Proulx noted that disability was administered by CIRMA and health care benefits were administered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and that she reviewed the claims on the city side. Mr. Murphy gets a similar copy for Board of Education claims.
Mayor Quinn informed the board that all active Workman’s Comp. claims had recently been reviewed with CIRMA, all property and casualty claims had been reviewed with Litchfield Insurance Group and the health insurance had been reviewed with John Calkins.
Additionally, Mr. Miasek requested a list of when all current labor contracts expired.
MURDOCK CLAIM MGMT - FBO THE HANOVER CO. #800
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Nejaime, the board voted unanimously to
authorize the payment of $2,925.80 from Contingency to Murdock Claim Management Corporation FBO The Hanover Insurance Company for the deductible in the Williams matter. (Contingent upon Council’s approval.)
BUSINESS: MAYOR & MEMBERS #820
On a motion by Mrs. Libby, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, the board voted unanimously to consider business presented by Mayor Quinn and members of the Board of Finance.
Mr. Cornish inquired whether a grand list figure was available.
Ms. Proulx stated that the Tax Assessor thought it would remain flat.
Mr. Cornish asked if revenues such as vehicle taxes and permits and fees from the City Clerk’s Office would immediately become available to offset deficiencies, like storm damage costs, or if they would need to be reallocated by the Board of Finance to move them into various accounts. In other words, if more than $86 million was received in revenues from all sources, would it be available without any action from this board?
Mrs. Libby indicated that a vote by the Board of Finance would be required to increase the line item.
Ms. Proulx noted that those revenues were part of the General Fund Revenue.
It was determined that most, if not all storm related expenditures were included in the statements the Board of Finance had before them.
Mr. Cornish commended the street department for running at 42% of budget with 60% of the year gone by, including having obligated 102% of their sand and salt budget.
Mr. Miasek commended the street department for a great cleanup job in regard to the latest snow storm.
Mr. Miasek inquired whether the city was dipping into the fund balance to pay for any of the expenditures that the city expected the state to pay for.
Ms. Proulx indicated that the city was not using monies from the fund balance.
Mr. Dickinson stated that the memo from Chief Field listing all calls made in 2002 had precipitated a question relative to the 4 x 4 Plan. He noted that 2,283 calls made during the year from two fire stations operating on two shifts boiled down to 1.3 calls per shift, per station, which didn’t seem like many calls. The cost associated with each time the truck left the building was $1,600.00. That seemed like a lot of money and he needed to understand why. He suggested that Chief Field look at other municipalities to see if their statistics were similar.
Mr. Nejaime suggested getting the same breakdown from the Police Department.
Mrs. Libby stated that the Fire Department was somewhat unique in that each truck has a number of firefighters while there is usually only one police officer to a cruiser.
Mayor Quinn stated that he would get further answers. It was his belief that the city would benefit from a full examination of public safety costs based on usage versus population. He thought it was a wise endeavor to try to position the city with comparable towns.
Mrs. Libby said one of the questions that should be raised is “What is contractual versus what is policy?”
Mr. Nejaime commended the Street Department.
He also complimented Mayor Quinn’s participation in the budget process. He felt the budget was a lot further along than it was at this time last year. He expected a much smoother process in a very difficult time.
Mrs. Libby reported that the Mastery Test scores were better than what was actually
reported last month. The final numbers would be forthcoming.
She noted that the principal of Torrington High School was asking parents to sign a petition in favor of the education budget, however, that budget was not readily available to those signing the petition. She said she polled some of those parents by asking them if they were willing to pay more tax dollars if they wanted to spend more on education, and where would they be willing to cut services. All seemed to be in favor of paying more taxes to allow for more spending on education.
Mrs. Libby thought it would be beneficial for the boards to ask those who come forward during the public hearing favoring an increase in the budget to answer these two questions:
1) Are you willing to pay more taxes since you’re asking for additional funding for either education or something on the city side?
2) If you are unwilling to pay more taxes but you want to see more money going toward education and/or city services, what things would you like to see cut from the budget?
Mrs. Libby said it came to her attention that the Board of Education was covering children who were no longer full time students between the ages of 22 and 25 on the city’s health insurance policies. She asked Mr. Murphy to look into the matter. He reported that 31 children whose parents were teachers fell in that range. The cost was approximately $86,000.00 in insurance premiums. The criteria needed were the following: Up to 25 years whether they are a student or not. They have to fit the IRS definition of a dependent, which is anyone who earns less than their exemption amount of $3,000.00. Not eligible if they are a full time worker. Coverage over age 25 only if physically or mentally disabled and approved.
Mr. Murphy indicated that forms are sent out and reviewed by the Board of Education benefits person, who has been asked to bring forward anything that is questionable.
Mr. Nejaime felt that W-2's should be supplied as proof.
Mayor Quinn asked Mr. Murphy to conduct an investigation into the matter and come back with further information, including the policy and procedure used and what verification is required. A strategy for going forward, as well as one of past abuse, should be formulated.
Mrs. Libby indicated that it was the insured’s responsibility to obtain written verification at least once a year from the colleges that their children attend as full time students and the insured’s responsibility to furnish their employer with that information on a timely basis.
Ms. Proulx said, “We request verification for dependents. When I went back and researched it, I found the change from when we went from a full indemnity plan to a PPO Plan, and that is a line within that policy that you actually need to get a rider that doesn’t allow those people to be on the policy to change it to the full time student up through age 25.” According to Personnel, Ms. Proulx noted that it was not negotiated.
Mr. Nejaime inquired about the future of the portables at Forbes.
Mr. Murphy indicated that the plan was to remove them in two to three years. That would be accomplished with the present structure absorbing the student population or with additional space at Torringford School and possibly shifting some of the population from Forbes to Torringford.
Mr. Nejaime inquired about the Board of Education’s line item for expanding the parking lot and play area at Vogel.
Mr. Nejaime informed Mr. Murphy that the lot at the end of the building was for visitor parking and never meant to be for staff. Unbeknownst to Mr. Murphy, the Board of Education was supposed to be allotted as many parking spaces in the municipal lot as needed for staff. (This could result in a $50,000.00 savings.)
In regard to the play area, they were looking to extend the black top area.
Mr. Miasek inquired whether the $219,000.00 issue with the Board of Education had been resolved.
Mrs. Libby indicated that she had not heard anything on her proposal.
Mayor Quinn said he would send a letter to the Chairman of the Board of Education.
Mrs. Libby asked that the following be researched. Whether there was a mechanism within the State of Connecticut that would allow for a separate school or education tax that the Board of Finance could look at. Perhaps the city could totally separate the taxes into a school tax and a city tax. If that was impossible, could the city fund education to the tune of x dollars per pupil and anything in addition to that would have to be raised by the Board of Education as a separate tax? If this separate tax for additional funding toward education was possible, would it have to be assessed against all taxpayers or could it be assessed only against those who have students in school?
Mrs. Libby wasn’t suggesting that they go this route, however, when you look at the rising cost of education and hear parents say they are willing to pay more taxes to have better funding for education, she wondered whether there was a way to make that happen in Torrington.
Mr. Dickinson indicated that it would also be worthwhile for the Board of Finance to know whether the city could use a referendum as a procedure for taxes.
In regard to trash collection, Mrs. Libby suggested that perhaps recyclables could be collected every other week instead of on a weekly basis. She also noted that some towns limit homeowners to one, large trash can and everything above that amount requires a special permit that the homeowner has to purchase.
Mayor Quinn said he thought everyone was working collectively to come up with a fiscally sound budget and complimented everyone involved in the budget process for proceeding in the right direction.
ADJOURNMENT #3080
On a motion by Mr. Nejaime, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, the board voted unanimously to adjourn at 5:25 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO
CITY CLERK
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