MINUTES
BOARD OF FINANCE
SEPTEMBER 20, 2005
A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Finance was held on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 in the Council Chambers.
Those in attendance included Mayor Owen J. Quinn, Jr., members of the Board of Finance Daniel Farley, James Zeller, James Nichol, Bruce Cornish, and Comptroller Alice Proulx. Absent was Board of Finance member Joseph Nader and Corp. Counsel Albert Vasko.
Mayor Quinn called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
MINUTES #020
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held 7/19/05.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC #025
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public. There was no public participation.
W. W. MANCHESTER #030
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to approve the payment of $39,385.00 from the Sanitary Sewer Capital Improvement Fund #490 to W. W. Manchester Const., Co. for work performed on the Brass Mill Dam Road Sanitary Sewer Extension project.
VALMARK ELECTRIC #040
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Farley, the board voted unanimously to approve the payment of $118.70 from the Sanitary Sewer Capital Improvement Fund #490 to Valmark Electric, LLC for repair services on the New Harwinton Road Sanitary Sewer Improvements.
YEAR-END PURCHASE ORDERS #045
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to approve the list of year end “City of Torrington” purchase orders for anticipated expenses for which no vendor has yet been selected.
BUDGET TRANSFERS #070
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Farley, the board voted unanimously to approve the budget transfers for fiscal year ending June 30, 2005, per the Comptroller’s memo dated August 10, 2005.
Comptroller Alice Proulx explained that these transfers needed to be placed into the financials for the 04-05 fiscal year so the city won’t have any overdrafts on the audit. She reported that such transfers will be presented to the board on a quarterly basis in the future to eliminate any confusion, help department heads to focus more closely on their budget, and highlight some of the problems that the Board of Finance may want to address during the budget process.
Mr. Farley reported that checking the transfers was an extremely tedious procedure and suggested typing the account names next to the figures.
Ms. Proulx indicated that she can produce another budgetary report as of 6/30/05 once the transfers are approved, so they can see where they are within the line items.
Mr. Zeller inquired whether the transfers were done at the auditor’s request.
Ms. Proulx informed the board that any transfer from one line item to another has to be approved by the City Council and the Board of Finance, per our City Charter. In the past, line items could be overdrawn as long as the bottom line wasn’t overdrawn; however, it’s her policy not to allow overdrafts in any of the line items.
Mayor Quinn said the Comptroller has already reviewed the transfers with the department heads. Once they are approved, a report will show how the line items have been affected. Mayor Quinn said he’d rather see Board of Finance members deal with more substantive issues than check each item, unless he felt more comfortable in doing so.
BYRNE & BYRNE #500
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Farley, the board voted unanimously to approve the payment of $2,450.00 from Contingency to Byrne & Byrne for professional services in connection with the Dziedzic Properties, LLC appeal from a Zoning Board of Appeals’ decision.
BUS: MAYOR & MEMBERS #540
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to consider business presented by Mayor Quinn and members of the Board of Finance.
Mr. Farley asked Mayor Quinn how in depth the Board of Finance should go over the items placed before them for approval, noting that he wasn’t comfortable approving the budget transfers unless he checked them all.
Mayor Quinn felt that a spot check of items placed before them would be sufficient in order to get an understanding of what they are approving. He noted that the board could also give Ms. Proulx a call with any issues they may have. He stated that the instinct of Board of Finance members to check and recheck is what makes them an important cog in municipal government.
Mr. Cornish said the Board of Education is entering teacher negotiations and is looking for a representative from the Board of Finance to oversee the proceedings. He was willing to volunteer for the position, but wouldn’t stand in the way of anyone else who may be interested. The representative would merely attend meetings with no decision making involvement. Secondly, he was informed that the Board of Education has a statutory responsibility to meet with the city’s financial authority prior to negotiations. Rather than meet with the Board of Finance to discuss what might interfere with their negotiation strategy, the Board of Education thought they could fill their statutory need by simply having the Board of Finance delegate the authority to a representative to sit in on
the first meeting.
If the Board of Finance is in agreement to let Mr. Cornish represent them, he would relay to the Board of Education that budgets are tight and that taxes are still disproportionately laid on property owners. Beyond that, the Board of Finance doesn’t have any say in the negotiations until the Board of Education budgets are submitted and the Board of Finance weighs them against their feeling of what the taxpayers can afford.
Mayor Quinn indicated that normally, when the Board of Education goes into contract negotiations, they ask him for input in broad parameters from the Board of Finance and the City Council, unlike the city’s procedure where the Mayor is responsible to collectively bargain with the Union.
Mr. Zeller said Mr. Cornish mentioned that the Board of Education had a statutory obligation to present itself before the Board of Finance. It may make more sense to duly charge Mr. Cornish to meet with the Board of Education, in executive session if necessary, and to carry out his role as the representative of the Board of Finance.
ADD TO AGENDA #830
Mr. Zeller made a motion to add an item to the agenda by 2/3rds vote to charge Bruce Cornish as the Board of Finance representative to the Board of Education to carry out the wishes of the Board of Finance in the Board of Education’s discussions over contract negotiations. Mr. Farley seconded the motion. Unanimous.
BRUCE CORNISH: REPRESENTATIVE #870
Mr. Zeller made a motion to charge Bruce Cornish with carrying out the mission of the Board of Finance to meet with the Board of Education in the course of the contract negotiations with the teachers. Mr. Farley seconded the motion. Unanimous.
Mr. Zeller informed the board that a composting program was approaching its end, and an electronics recycling will be held in the near future. The Solid Waste Advisory Committee was looking at how these programs were taking place in different municipalities and how it will affect the overall budget in terms of recyclables, revenue generation from recyclable materials, and tonnage costs. Within the next few months, they should have hard numbers on how the automated disposal program is working out. The initial numbers looked positive as a program in general that will ultimately benefit taxpayers.
Mr. Nichols stated that bankers present their budget in a comprehensive format that is condensed into a one page report, and that further information is available from a separate detailed report. He stated that he, and perhaps other newer members of the Board of Finance, would appreciate reviewing some of the reports with Ms. Proulx in hopes of getting a better understanding on what they should be looking for.
Mayor Quinn said it would be a good idea for the newer members of the Board of Finance to walk through the reports with Ms. Proulx.
ADJOURNMENT #1010
On a motion by Mr. Cornish, seconded by Mr. Zeller, the board voted unanimously to adjourn at 4:37 p.m.
ATTEST: JOLINE LeBLANC
ASST. CITY CLERK
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