Finance Committee Meeting Minutes 1/2/20
FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING
January 2, 2020
MINUTES
ATTENDING MEMBERS: SELECT BOARD:
GEORGE CAIN, CHAIR KENN BASLER, CHAIR MELISSA NOE
JON SYLBERT DON COBURN
REBECCA WOLIN STEVEN WEISZ
The regular monthly meeting with the Select Board was called to order at 6:14 PM at the Town Hall. The Finance Committee recommended that for Fiscal 2021 the wages and salary budgets should reflect a 2.0 % increase over the approved FY 2020 numbers. It was noted that inflation was up 1.5%, which would leave a 0.5% cushion for absolute growth. The Select Board decided to further review this recommendation, but approved using it in the initial budgeting worksheets.
The Southern Berkshire County Ambulance Service request for financial support was discussed and a recommendation will be included in the final budget for FY 2021.
The Select Board and Finance Committee discussed the approach to the Fiscal 2021 Budget process, and it was agreed to hold joint meetings for the major departments. The dates for these meetings were confirmed. The Finance Committee agreed to publish dates for the balance of the budgeted areas to be reviewed by individual members of the Finance Committee so as to provide the opportunity for insights/recommendations from individual Select Board members.
The possibility of an IT Review was also discussed with the Select Board. It was agreed that Jon Sylbert would request one or two qualified IT consulting firms to perform a preliminary review free of charge as a way to determine if a further formal review would be warranted.
The idea of looking closing at Revenue projections was also discussed. Kenn provided a summary of key revenue areas. The potential of a closer look at revenues remains a possibility.
At its own meeting after the completion of the SB meeting, the Finance Committee approved the Minutes from the December 10th meeting. Rebecca Wolin also agreed to provide the full summary pages for all budgeted data.
Meeting adjourned at 7:38 PM.