MINUTES
BOARD OF FINANCE
FEBRUARY 17, 2004
A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Finance was held on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 in the Council Chambers.
Those attending the meeting included Mayor Owen J. Quinn, Jr., members of the Board of Finance Theodore Miasek, James Zeller, Roger Dickinson, and Bruce Cornish. Also present were Corp. Counsel Albert Vasko, and Comptroller Alice Proulx. Board of Finance member Diane Libby was absent.
Mayor Quinn called the meeting to order at 4:07 p.m.
MINUTES # 010
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held January 20, 2004.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC #020
On a motion by Mr. Zeller, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, the board voted to open the meeting to the public. There was no public participation.
SCULLY & WOLF #030
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mr. Miasek, discussion took place in regard to the status of Scully & Wolf.
Ms. Proulx indicated that they would work on making the Chart of Accounts more user friendly in terms of reporting.
Payroll at the Board of Education was working well, and they were working on reconciliations.
Ms. Proulx informed the board that the audit was complete and that she would schedule them to make their presentation in March. The Board of Finance was pleased with the fact that the audit did not include a Management Letter.
The board expressed their wish to have the auditors explain how recording the unfunded teacher’s liability would appear in the documents.
Ms. Proulx indicated that she would be booking a liability and reducing the fund balance and that it wouldn’t show up as an expense.
Mr. Dickinson thought it would merely be a balance sheet type of issue.
Mayor Quinn indicated that there would not be an opportunity for a $2.6 million worth of excess spending.
Mr. Cornish stated that an accounting procedure should take effect to eliminate that sort of issue from ever resurfacing in the future and emphasized the importance of everyone being on the same page.
Ms. Proulx informed the board that Scully & Wolf would probably have a proposal ready by mid March in regard to the possibility of integrating the finance departments together.
MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS PROJECT #360
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mr. Miasek, the board voted after a brief discussion to accept the Council’s request for $15,000.00 from Contingency for architectural fees to perform the necessary updates to the Municipal Buildings Project, including investigations of the consolidation of Board of Education Business Services within City Hall and for a Financial Analysis of the Public/Private concept to determine the most cost-effective project for the City of Torrington.
Mayor Quinn informed the board that Gerry Rollett and the Municipal Building Committee were still in the information gathering mode in regard to the Public/Private concept and that they would report back to the City Council and the Board of Finance when completed.
Corp. Counsel Vasko added that the original plan needed some updating because it was several years old, plus they had to look at how merging the financial departments would affect the project.
UNITED NATIONAL INS. CO. #540
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mr. Miasek, the board voted to accept the Council’s request for the payment of $347.04 from Contingency to United National Insurance Co. for the city’s deductible in the McElroy matter.
GORDON, MUIR & FOLEY #560
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mr. Cornish, the board voted after a brief explanation from Corp. Counsel Vasko, to accept the Council’s request for the payment of $2,030.00 from Contingency to Gordon, Muir & Foley, LLP for professional services rendered in the Southwest School matter.
BUS: MAYOR & MEMBERS #670
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mr. Miasek, the board voted to consider business presented by Mayor Quinn and members of the Board of Finance.
Mr. Miasek inquired whether the issue concerning the reimbursement rate for the Torringford Elementary School had been resolved.
Mayor Quinn said he would call John Calkins for an update.
It was noted that the Equipment Maintenance budget was being monitored closely since its expenditures were nearing 100% due to the inclusion of Board of Education vehicles.
Ms. Proulx explained the pre-paid tax collection.
Mr. Cornish stated that he had been sitting in on Board of Education budget discussions and reported several missed opportunities in regard to vehicles purchased. Additionally, he had observed peaks and valleys in their five year capital improvement plan, specifically in 2005-06, that could be leveled off to prevent the bottom line from being thrown out of whack.
Mr. Dickinson said it was important not to lose sight of savings that are a direct result of a significant project, such as the window wall at the high school. Such savings usually get lost in the mix and so the budget ends up remaining the same, plus 2 or 3% from the savings. The Director of Finance should be able to do that kind of accounting.
On the positive side, Mr. Cornish indicated that the Board of Ed was starting to outline some of their programs and will review the performance of four or five major programs during budget discussions.
Mayor Quinn said he had issued a dictate of zero growth from the city for the upcoming budget.
Mr. Zeller gave a brief update on solid waste. He stated that comments received by the committee concerning the automated collection were overwhelmingly positive.
He would report back in the near future in regard to the alleged increase in trash costs from CRRA.
Mr. Dickinson pointed out that he ran across a new company in Connecticut that was actually negotiating electric costs for companies/municipalities. They watch the market and execute one year contracts when the price is low.
Mayor Quinn said they had recently talked about fuel consumption in the same way. Fuel contracts have typically been executed at budget time, when it isn’t necessarily the best time to sign up.
Ms. Proulx stated that CCM also works with a contractor who does the same thing. She and the Purchasing Agent had recently attended a discussion on the matter but was uncertain as to whether or not anything further had been done about it.
Mr. Dickinson would furnish Ms. Proulx with the name of the company he was aware of.
In regard to the Keysan System, Mr. Dickinson stated that they had two different Five Year Plans totally different from the current plan at the Fire Department, and that a steering committee would be appointed by Mayor Quinn to work through the process and to determine what direction the city should take.
Mayor Quinn indicated that he would appoint a steering committee post haste.
ADJOURNMENT #2160
On a motion by Mr. Dickinson, seconded by Mr. Cornish, the board voted to adjourn at 5:08 p.m.
ATTEST: JOLINE LeBLANC
ASST. CITY CLERK
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