MINUTES -- SPECIAL MEETING
BOARD OF FINANCE
OCTOBER 26, 2011
A SPECIAL MEETING of the Board of Finance was held in the City Hall Auditorium on Wednesday,
October 26, 2011.
Present were Mayor Ryan Bingham, Board of Finance members Laurene Pesce, Mark Bushka, Daniel Farley, Brian Paganini, Thomas Scoville and Wendy Traub, and Comptroller Alice Proulx.
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
BUDGET TRANSFERS
On a motion by Mr. Farley, seconded by Mr. Paganini, the Board considered the 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. Paganini asked for clarification on the transfer from Contingency to the Tax Collector.
Ms. Proulx explained that since Mr. Crovo pays the City 100% of the tax liability, any adjustments one way or the other need to be made. Because there were a substantial number of bankruptcies for which the Tax Collector is unable to collect funds, the City must reimburse him for the lost revenue. Also, due to the Revaluation, numerous taxpayers appealed their assessment, resulting in more modifications to tax liabilities. When modifications resulting in deletions are made to the Grand List, Mr. Crovo is entitled to receive those monies back, or if they result in additions, the City would in turn receive money back. This transfer is the net of those kinds of transactions, she said.
Ms. Proulx explained the following transfers:
Veteran's Administration had overages based on increased fuel consumption and unanticipated building repairs that had to be done.
Overtime Transfer in the Purchasing Dept. was due to the implementation of a new financial management system while being short one staff person.
Software for IT was for Microsoft Office licenses to be budgeted for and purchased in 2012.
Outside Duty for Police consisted of road projects which receive grant revenue.
Mrs. Pesce asked why money is being transferred internally for grant funded projects. Ms. Proulx explained there is the option of both increasing the expenditure and increasing the revenue sides of the budget or transferring from other lines to cover the overdraft on the expense side. Mrs. Pesce said it looks odd that there is extra money to move in Regular Wages.
Ms. Proulx continued to explain:
Police Dept. Overtime had an excess in Regular Wages which were the direct result of vacancies in that Department that were not filled right away. Two other factors were having budgeted forFireworks and reduced Detective Overtime since crimes are down due to community policing projects.
Heart and Hypertension includes budgeting for claims settlements based on information from our workmen's compensation carrier. If those claims are not settled within the current year, she said, then we budget for them in the following year. These will show up at some point in time, but it is not known when the claims will be settled.
Emergency Management has money available to transfer from Salary to Equipment because the Director wasn't hired until September.
Mayor Bingham read a prepared statement regarding Acting Officers' Salary which noted that two officers were on, or continue to be on, sick leave or injury leave for extended periods of time. This expense was unexpected and accounts for a large increase in funding for this line item.
Mrs. Traub said this goes back to a contractual obligation in writing that states that there always has to be an acting officer at the fire house. She expressed concern that this line item is growing exponentially, doubled from the year before, and now represents another 78% on top of what was budgeted. She said this contract language is putting a financial burden on the City's ability to maintain this line item, and asked for a serious review of this.
Ms. Proulx continued her budget transfer explanations:
Fire Dept. Electric was under budgeted in 2011, although expenses were trending fairly normally. In 2011/2012 this budget was increased to $50,000.
Uniform Allowance is budgeted for both replacement uniforms and new officers' uniforms.
Traffic Electric did not have a budget sufficient for what it needed to be for the new building.
Mayor Bingham added that some fans were installed on the Traffic building's overhead heaters, and some adjustments made to remedy the heat issues and reduce electric costs.
Refuse Collection was overrun due to a fuel adjustment expense, some of which was invoiced back to responsible property owners.
Probate was established as a City Department for budget purposes in January when Probate's structure was changed, and has expenditure lines and a revenue line because the other areas are charged for the Probate services.
Ms. Proulx addressed the question of taking approximately $167,000 out of Contingency to balance the budget and if shortages were discussed with the Finance Dept. as they were occurring. She said the budgets are controlled at the department level, but the financial management system does have controls in place to ensure clerks and staff members can't override a budget line item if there are not enough funds in that line item. She added that department heads do have the authority to override that, but the Purchasing Department is very diligent in letting the Comptroller know if there are any overdrafts. Ms. Proulx said that most of departments are very responsible, but some items cannot be controlled such as emergency repairs, lawsuits or bankruptcies.
Mrs. Traub recommended the Mayor ensure that communication is in place, giving an opportunity to keep better control of the Contingency line item. Mayor Bingham said most of these are unanticipated or justified expenses, which wouldn't otherwise get approved for purchase. Ms. Proulx added that departments aren't encouraged to consider Contingency as an option to cover any expenses that they have. She said the total Contingency budget had been $200,000, with $34,000 going to unanticipated legal liabilities, and the balance presented at this time. There will be $125.00 left in that line item.
Mrs. Pesce said it doesn't feel good to be moving money from Contingency at this time of the year and asked when the Tax Collector issue happened. Ms. Proulx replied that a cumulative report is received from the Tax Collector and the Assessor every month, but a final number isn't received until a month after the fiscal year. She added that these figures may look worse than they probably are because she didn't have time to put the transfers together on a quarterly basis.
Mayor Bingham noted that some big suits were settled this past year. Ms. Proulx said that although the additions and deletions budget was increased by $25,000, she doesn't want to put anything in the budget that isn't necessary.
Ms. Proulx pointed out that there were several small purchases of equipment for the Emergency Management Director -- moving day equipment to the new EOC at the Fire Dept. in the amount of $4800, projectors and speakers installation at the EOC for $3300, a microphone for $700, and a camera with GPS and compass for $800.
Regarding a Police Overtime transfer into the Clerk line item, Ms. Proulx said it is for all of the clerks at the Police Department who perform data entry, processing of FOI requests, and processing of court orders and attorney requests on overtime since they don't have time during the regular schedule to do a lot of this. Mrs. Traub asked if permission is obtained before the overtime is performed. Mayor Bingham explained that they were covering extra shifts because there was a retirement. He said that generally speaking, with administrative staff, permission is obtained first.
Ms. Proulx noted that the FY11/12 City Hall Electric budget is in better shape than the 10/11 budget now that we've had some time in the renovated building, but she doesn't know whether the overhaul they are doing to the air conditioning and heating system will have an impact on the consumption. Mrs. Traub thanked the Comptroller for all her efforts.
Mayor Bingham reminded the Board about emailing Department Heads with their questions. He said if they start engaging each other in an email format, that constitutes a meeting.
Mr. Farley asked if the processing of attorney requests on overtime is provided to them as a public service, how much time is spend in doing that, and how much it is costing the City to perform that function. Mayor Bingham offered to find out more from the Police Chief about the service. Ms. Proulx said the Police Department is reimbursed, but at a minimal rate. Mayor Bingham said he thinks we're charging significantly below what other communities do.
The vote was taken and the Board unanimously approved the 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.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Mrs. Traub, seconded by Mr. Scoville, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn at 5:27 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC CITY CLERK
Respectfully Submitted,
Carol L. Anderson, CCTC
Asst. City Clerk
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