MINUTES
BOARD OF FINANCE
OCTOBER 18, 2011
A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Finance was held in the City Hall Auditorium on Tuesday, October 18, 2011.
Present were Mayor Ryan Bingham, Corporation Counsel Ernestine Yuille Weaver, Board of Finance members Laurene Pesce, Mark Bushka, Daniel Farley, Brian Paganini and Wendy Traub. Board of Finance Member Thomas Scoville was absent.
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
MINUTES
On an amended motion by Mr. Buska, seconded by Mr. Farley, the Board voted unanimously to approve the corrected minutes of the Special Meeting held on September 27, 2011. Mr. Farley requested the word 'taxpayer' be changed to 'tax collector' in the last paragraph of page two.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
On a motion by Mr. Paganini, seconded by Mrs. Traub, the Board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public. There was no one who wished to speak.
BUDGET TRANSFERS FROM FY10/11
On a motion by Mrs. Traub, seconded by Mrs. Pesce, the board voted unanimously to table the authorization of budget transfers for FY2010/2011 identified in the Comptroller's Memo dated October 12, 2011, having been approved by City Council on October 17, 2011.
Mr. Farley noted that the $140,000 transfer of funds to the outside duty police was totally reimbursable and is simply an offset. Mayor Bingham said there might be other questions and suggested the Board contact Ms. Proulx.
BUSINESS: MAYOR & BOARD MEMBERS
On a motion by Mr. Farley, seconded by Mrs. Traub, the Board voted unanimously to consider business by the Mayor and the Board of Finance.
Mayor Bingham addressed Mr. Farley's question from the last meeting regarding a back up plan for the tax collector. He said that, although there is no concern at this point because Mr. Crovo is in compliance with his current contract, if for some reason we should have to remove the tax collector, we should have a back-up plan. Mayor Bingham contacted Union Savings Bank as they have a financial interest in the City's tax collection, including a multi-million dollar line of credit. He was assured that Union Savings Bank would be willing to work with the City to provide a back-up plan, and the process has been ongoing. Mayor Bingham said he should know more within the week, and at least solidify whether or not Union Savings Bank will work with us. If not, there are companies out there that do tax
collection as a business, he said, and they would be willing to provide some service or back up plan.
Mayor Bingham gave an update on the top issues being worked on for the tax collector such as additional phone lines, the website which is up and running, a policy statement, and monthly meetings with the Assessor's Office. He said the contract is being complied with at this point.
Mr. Farley spoke about the teacher negotiation process and noted some facts regarding the undesignated fund balance. He said Moody's labeled our rating with a 'negative outlook' due to our borrowing against that balance which is currently at 3.7%. Moody's credit rating would like to see it at 5%. Mr. Farley forwarded this information to Mr. Joslyn for his negotiations. He also discovered that Moody's has since changed the calculation formula for this percentage. In the past, gap expenses that occur in July and August were not considered, he said, and gave the example of $3,700,000 in summer payroll, early retirement payouts, and encumbrances for purchases and commitments ordered but not received. Mr. Farley said that Moody now wants those gap expenditures included when the undesignated fund
balance percentage is calculated, and when they are included in the Board of Education budget, the percentage becomes 2.61%. Mr. Bushka said the same numbers from the prior year should be backed out, and not counted twice. Mayor Bingham said the fund balance is one piece of many things considered in Moody's decision. He further noted that we didn't designate any of the fund balance this upcoming fiscal year and will be in a much better position next year.
Mrs. Traub said she would appreciate another Board member stepping forward to participate in the Board of Education negotiations, as her husband is representing the Board of Education on that committee. She asked for a summary of how the hurricane affected us financially, and if it can be safely absorbed in our budget. Mayor Bingham said that because it was declared an emergency by the President and the Governor, we will be reimbursed at about 70%.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Mrs. Pesce, seconded by Mrs. Traub, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn at 5:16 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
Respectfully Submitted,
Carol L. Anderson, CCTC
Asst. City Clerk
| 
