MINUTES
SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF FINANCE & BOARD OF COUNCILMEN
MAY 28, 2003
A SPECIAL JOINT MEETING of the Board of Finance and the City Council was held on Wednesday, May 28, 2003, in the Council Chambers.
In attendance were Mayor Owen J. Quinn, Jr., members of the Board of Finance Theodore Miasek, Michael Nejaime, Diane Libby, Roger Dickinson, and Bruce Cornish, City Councilors Thomas C. Jerram, Paul F. Samele, Jr., Marie P. Soliani, David M. Bascetta, Richard E. Dalla Valle, and James D. Reginatto, Corp. Counsel Albert Vasko, Comptroller Alice Proulx, and Treasurer Richard J. Friday.
Mayor Quinn called the meeting to order at 8:00 p.m.
It was noted that approximately $400,000.00 remained in the Blue Cross account that could be used to reduce next year’s budget. The projected total budget surplus for the current year was $936,000.00. If they were to make the adjustment for teacher’s salaries, it would cost about $2 million. There were no plans to use any part of the Unfunded Balance to make the teacher’s adjustment. Actual revenues from the state were still unavailable.
Councilor Jerram felt the city had overtaxed the Torrington taxpayers by $936,000.00 (the total surplus); therefore he felt the entire $936,000.00, rather than the suggested $800,000.00, should be returned to the taxpayers in the form of reducing next year’s operating budget.
Mrs. Libby noted that we still had a month to go. Additionally, she pointed out that a portion of the surplus was money from the Officials Line Item for contracts that may or may not have been settled. Occasionally, funds accumulate in that line item for a year or two before it gets paid out.
Councilor Jerram reported that the Council didn’t want to see any cuts in the Board of Safety budget because they felt it was important to have a fully funded Police & Fire Department and the Council approved the return of the $8,000.00 for police technology. He disagreed with Mr. Dickinson’s suggestion to cut the Fire Department budget by $100,000.00. If that had been an issue, it should have been identified in January rather than to go through the entire budget process. Not knowing where those cuts would come from would probably send a wrong message to public safety.
Mr. Dickinson indicated that a net budget adjustment of $100,000.00 to the Fire Department would include a combination of savings and revenue stream issues. He volunteered to work those issues out with the Fire Department. After speaking with the Deputy, they were almost in complete agreement in terms of the direction they should follow. The disagreement includes the timing and the adjustment of the cut at this particular time. The issue (responding to certain calls) was brought to light last fall when information was requested to justify that whole process and to understand the details. It was important for money spent by the city to be well spent. He wasn’t suggesting that this was a wasteful area, but perhaps the productivity issues could be better spent on
other items. Neither member of the Board of Finance meant to reduce the safety of the town. They were merely looking at a $100,000.00 cut from a $3.7 million dollar budget. He hoped they could start the dialogue and begin the process of getting that job done.
Councilor Jerram indicated that someone could perceive a situation as a non emergency while the person who dialed 911 could see it as very significant. He noted that youths are educated from a very early age to call 911 for any emergency.
Mr. Dickinson indicated that the dispatcher getting the 911 calls had options to choose from. Sending out the $1,600.00 fire truck probably wasn’t necessary for every call.
Councilor Jerram felt they should direct the Board of Safety to start identifying those areas going forward into next year’s budget instead of pulling the rug out from under the Fire Department at this late date.
Mr. Dickinson reported that the 4 X 4 Plan was to reduce the budgets by $4 million over a four-year period. Reductions could come from more efficiency, productivity, waste, etc. How it was processed was not the Board of Finance’s function. Their function was merely to find issues that could be tied into the 4 X 4 Plan, and this happened to be an opportunity that came in front of them.
In terms of a Finance Director, Councilor Jerram indicated that he understood the need and believed there could be significant benefits to the city to have such a position. Rather than jumping in on a full time, permanent position, he preferred to add the position on a contractual basis to make certain the position would provide the return the city was looking for. He preferred having a Finance Director identify areas of savings that would pay his/her wages and benefits rather than adding someone earning $120,000.00 +.
Mr. Dickinson indicated that the Board of Finance agreed that the Finance Director should find savings to pay for his/her wages and benefits.
Councilor Jerram supported the idea of having a Director of Finance and funding it from monies within the approved budget through implied savings that this Director of Finance will bring to the city, rather than adding any dollars because he felt dollars were already included in the budget.
Mrs. Libby didn’t think it was realistic that a Finance Director could walk in the door and start identifying areas of savings within this budget period without knowing our system. A person coming into that position should be given directives in terms of issues that the Board of Finance thinks are worthwhile researching and given time to go through a budget season to start working on them. Savings should be accomplished in the next budget season.
Councilor Jerram thought the Director of Finance should be given a three-year contract with several extensions. That amount of time should provide the city with the support that the position will benefit the city.
Councilor Dalla Valle indicated that, if the Board of Finance believed an analysis needed to be done in the Fire Department to look at ways to save, than an analysis should be done in each and every department of the City of Torrington.
He noted that his original request for a 15% decrease in all city budgets would have probably resulted in a zero increase to the bottom line, including contractual obligations and any unforeseen decreases in state revenues.
He disagreed with the recommendation to decrease $1 million from the Board of Education versus the $1.3 million decrease that was originally talked about.
Councilor Dalla Valle would continue to oppose any budget in the City of Torrington that raised the mill rate by any amount.
Councilor Bascetta inquired about the process to create the position of Director of Finance.
Mr. Nejaime assumed they would research other towns that already had a Finance Director and alter their job description to fit the needs of the City of Torrington.
Mr. Dickinson indicated that the 4 X 4 Plan had a lot of information about the responsibilities of this position.
Mr. Bascetta inquired whether anyone had considered a Town Manager, eliminating the need for the top elected official.
Mr. Nejaime noted that a Town Manager has the potential to become the top official of a community where the Mayor is more of a ceremonial position, however, he didn’t believe a Director of Finance would jeopardize the position of the Mayor. He was not particularly favorable of a Town Manager’s position.
Councilor Bascetta did not agree with the $100,000.00 cut to the Board of Safety budget. He preferred starting fresh with the 2004 budget.
Councilor Reginatto thought the budget was still too high. He indicated that Mrs. Libby repeated the same comments she made last year and he felt they were in the same predicament as they were in last year. He noted that the city was able to get through the current budget year with almost $1.5 million less, between cuts imposed on the Council last year of $688,000.00 and cuts of $700,000.00 derived from the state, and the city still has a surplus of $936,000.00.
Councilor Reginatto indicated that the city was still faced with a 1.5 mill increase despite the $1 million increase in revenue from the grand list and a decrease of $1.3 million from tipping fees. He commended Mr. Dickinson for seeking permanent cuts.
His recommendation was to set the mill rate at .5 or zero, set a final number and let the Council work with department heads during the next twelve months to find cuts needed to keep the mill rate down. He thought all departments needed to be revisited for possible lay offs. Together, with the right mind set, we could get through the year without an increase.
Councilor Samele preferred leaving the Fire Department’s budget intact, that a Finance Director would be a positive thing for the city, and that the Board of Education should be cut by $1.3 million.
Councilor Soliani supported a Finance Director. She opposed the $100,000.00 cut to the Fire Department budget because each department head had worked extremely hard to meet the Mayor’s directive for a zero increase.
Councilor Dalla Valle hoped to get a collaborative report from the Board of Finance in terms of their plan. He noted that the only thing the Council was certain of was, the entire Board of Finance supported the hiring of a Finance Director.
Mrs. Libby believed the entire board favored including funds for a Finance Director. It appeared that the largest controversial item was the $100,000.00 cut from the Fire Department’s budget.
Mrs. Libby pointed out that she was the person who advocated a zero based budget. Even if they couldn’t realize that goal because of contractual obligations, they needed to head in that direction. When you come in at zero, you can look at the list to see what really needs to be added to it. This is a way for the highest priorities to float to the top. For the most part, Mayor Quinn and the City Council had done just that, making the Board of Finance’s job easier.
In terms of the Board of Education budget, Mrs. Libby indicated that the Board of Finance could merely set a bottom line number. They couldn’t direct them where to cut or how to spend their money.
Councilor Dalla Valle noted that Mrs. Libby was attempting to add $60,000.00 to next year’s budget for a Finance Director, but, in all reality, the potential for that cost was $120,000.00, and not $60,000.00.
Mrs. Libby’s thinking was that the city would see at least a $60,000.00 saving in the next year by having a Finance Director, which would make up the other half.
By Charter, Councilor Dalla Valle noted that the Council had jurisdiction over setting pay rates and benefits.
Mrs. Libby stated that $60,000.00 was merely a figure that she felt comfortable with.
Mr. Nejaime commended Mr. Dickinson for his efforts. He would support the cut to the Fire Department if the Board of Finance was willing to commit funds from the contingency should the Fire Department not realize a savings of $100,000.00 to compensate for the difference.
Mayor Quinn commended everyone involved in the budget process for presenting a reasonable budget to the City of Torrington. He noted that all department heads had worked astonishingly well with him to present a budget that was $3,000.00 less than last year’s. He said, “At this time, I would like to see basic fairness. If we’ve asked everyone to live with the zero’s, then we should live with the zero’s, and if we asked every department to come in and scrutinize its budget, then let’s go to all of them and do the same thing. I applaud a $100,000.00 effort, but we should be looking at $100,000.00 across the board to all departments, not just one.” He assured the Board of Finance that he would provide results should he be issued a
challenge to implement a 4 X 4 throughout the city. He had accepted all challenges on fiscal responsibilities in the past and accomplished them.
Mayor Quinn said it was essential for all departments of the city to work together in a team approach for the betterment of the city. He believed in the 4 X 4 Plan, and that they needed to find savings across the board and not just from one department. If the $100,000.00 was a priority with the Board of Finance, Mayor Quinn asked that he, the Council and the Board of Safety be given the challenge to get it done. Although an $8,000.00 addition was not a big ticket item, it sent the wrong message. He urged the continuation of those meetings between Mr. Dickinson and the Chief because he thought they had been quite productive.
He noted that it was time to set the mill rate and look forward to the 2003-2004 year.
Mr. Dickinson indicated that the 4 X 4 Plan was a long term. If they wanted to back away from the $100,000.00 cut to the Fire Department, then he would accept the Mayor’s challenge for him to cut that amount across the board.
Mr. Dickinson continued to suggest adding $60,000.00 to the budget for a Finance Director, and whatever the board decided to do with the Board of Education.
Councilor Reginatto suggested having the Mayor cut $300,000.00 to $500,000.00.
Mr. Cornish disagreed with the amount suggested by Councilor Reginatto. He said Mrs. Libby had noted that she had not seen a deficit in the city’s budget in all the years she sat on the Board of Finance. He didn’t think that was a result of over taxation, but rather a result of good management by the Mayor and department heads. He would accept a mill rate increase of 1.5, knowing that they created 1.1 of it last year when they used $1.6 million worth of one-time revenues. He was confident that there was money in the budget that would get Mr. Dickinson’s $100,000.00 and keep the city at the 1.5 mill increase and allow the city to move forward in a way where we could pursue the issues of staffing, etc.
Councilor Dalla Valle noted that a challenge had just been issued to a budget that was even below last year’s budget amount. He suggested that perhaps the Board of Finance could cut the Board of Education’s budget by an additional $100,000.00 instead of the city budget, since the city side had met its directive to bring in a zero based budget.
Personally speaking, Councilor Soliani felt the 4 X 4 Plan, as well as the plan to “think outside of the box” was a super idea, however she disagreed with cutting $100,000.00 prior to knowing exactly where those cuts would come from.
Mr. Dickinson noted that the 4 X 4 Plan had a time frame of four years attached to it. His focus was to move down the path of saving that $4 million quickly. A lot of work will be needed in the accounting to make certain that any savings are recognized and reported.
Councilor Jerram inquired whether the Board of Finance was anticipating any further changes to the budget other than potential changes to the Fire Department and the Finance Director. (There were none.)
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Councilor Jerram, the boards voted unanimously to adjourn at 9:05 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CCTC, CMC
CITY CLERK
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