Finance Committee Meeting Minutes 3/29/2023
Joint meeting of the Finance Committee and Select Board
Minutes of the meeting 3/29/23
Meeting Date: Wednesday March 29,2023
Meeting Time: 5:00pm
Finance Committee members present: Frank Abbott, Michele Miller, Ilene Marcus
Other individuals present: Melissa Noe, Laurie McArthur (SB Secretary), Mary Makuc, Jim ?
Laurie Shaw, Mickey Jervas, Susan Cooper, Justin Makuc
Other individuals present remotely: Kenn Basler, Don Coburn, Sarah, Chris
Meeting Opened at: 5:00pm
- Continue review of FY24 proposed budget
a. Highway truck
The Select Board and Finance Committee discussed the 1-ton truck with Jim. Justin confirmed that the truck was a 1 ton and reported that Jim emailed the Select Board. Frank reported that he did not agree with the purchase due to the current vehicle having low mileage, is only five years old, has been checked over by the dealership, along with the financial costs associated with raises for DPW employees, and additional options for plowing. Frank suggested if they are able to delay capital cost, then they should do so. Jim discussed current maintenance costs along with concerns regarding increased maintenance costs for the 2016 truck. Jim reported that there is one vehicle on order to replace the 2014 truck. Susan asked if the repairs would extend the life of the vehicle or just to get by. Jim reported that the repairs are only to keep the vehicle running at this time. Jim said that they would auction the current truck off, and therefore the DPW would make some money from the current vehicle to put towards a new truck. Jim reported that he would expect the vehicle to be delivered late fall or early winter of this year. Jim said that this vehicle is used to monitor road conditions, project management, plowing, and to go purchase parts.
b. Accept tractor bid
Jim reported that the tractor bid closed yesterday at $16,200, and requested that the Select Board vote on whether to accept the tractor bid. Susan moved to accept the bid for the tractor. Justin seconded. Call a vote; Justin-yes, Susan-yes.
c. Tax Rate-
Michele discussed the tax rate and the discussion from last night’s meeting. Michele said that in totaling the budget the Finance Committee is looking at a 7.21 tax rate, and reported that if they were able to reduce the budget by approximately $235,000, then they would be able to keep the tax rate a little lower to be consistent with the rate from the previous year. Michele asked if they would like the funding to increase the tax rate. Ilene said that they could go to Special Town Meeting in the event a decision need to be made regarding something else.
d. DPW
Frank asked about supplies for the DPW. Frank provided figures for the budget for the previous year. Frank asked if the $46,000 might be able to be cut to help with costs. Jim reported that he was originally working under the previous supervisor’s budget and said that they used trends from 2022 to set the budget for 2023. Melissa reported that they have currently spent fifty-two percent of the budget. Jim reported that the maintenance on the heavy equipment is what the funds are currently being spent on. Jim discussed how the DPW arrived at the costs and pricing for the current budget. Jim reported that state aid is spent on actual road building.
e. Fire vehicle and other Fire Department items
Earlier in the meeting Melissa reported that Shawn updated his figures, so the Fire Department budget was currently $197,000. Susan clarified that this was for multiple items in the budget. Shawn reviewed the process for creating the budget, presenting original ideas for vehicles to access difficult homes. Shawn reported that the current plan involves purchasing a Ford Expedition along with consolidating two trucks into one. Shawn explained how they were planning to modify the truck and combine parts in order to create a vehicle that can more easily reach difficult locations.
Ilene inquired about the reasoning to have to find a special vehicle in order to access homes on private ways. Susan shared that she drafted a letter to the Monterey News that outlined potential concerns with non-maintained roadways and increased response times due to inaccessibility.
Shawn said he placed approximately $40,000 in a fund to help with making the alterations to the new vehicle. Susan inquired about the remaining portion of the $197,000 towards the budget. Shawn reported that the cost on the Hydraulic cutting tool is $52,000 and discussed the process for selling off the old equipment. Shawn said that the Fire Department needs pagers due to previous pagers falling apart, and reported that the cost is approximately $550 and they will need 12. Finally reported that the monitor on 172 has been having electrical issues, and said that $10,000 will buy a new nozzle that will help solve the problems. Justin said that he noticed an increase in the operating budget. Shawn discussed current issues with the tanker truck, and reported that if they can guarantee that they are able to replace some items, then other items could be let go. Justin clarified that it was five special articles for a total of $196,000.
f. Debt service financing options
Justin explained the discussion the Select Board had with David regarding remaining with one-year notes or transitioning to five-year financing. Justin said the Select Board was considering making the same principal payments as last year as well as the interest and sticking to a one-year note. Justin reported that the amount they had was $56,815 for the tandem axel truck with $50,000 being principal, and $135,000 for the library with $100,000 being principal. Justin said the Select Board was considering encumbering the remaining amount.
Sarah reported that $20,373.79 would be encumbered. She reported that they did not use the full $200,000 so they will also be paying down $29,626.21, which will be paid in November and is not part of the FY24 budget. Ilene clarified that the items that must be paid, include the tandem axel and the library loan. Sarah said that the $160,000 is for the new truck where the loan will be taken in June. She said that if there is room in the budget to pay some of this down in FY24 then they can do so, but if the budget is too tight there is an option to do a ban, where they can pay just the interest and not the principal for three years. The interest is not currently calculated since the loan has not been taken out as of this time. Sarah offered options for a six month note, called a multi-purpose loan, where they could pay a little towards the vehicle in addition to the interest.
Justin said he was in favor of the six-month loan for the new truck. Sarah recommended taking the six month loan and rolling it in with the other loan, and said they would only owe a portion of the interest since it was a six month payment.
Justin said he was in favor of putting $4,000 on the side to pay the interest for the new vehicle. Susan seconded the decision.
Sarah recommended putting more down towards the loans. Justin suggested putting $40,000 towards the principal and $4,000 towards the interest for the new truck. Justin moved to pay $135,000 for the library loan, $56,815 for the tandem axel loan, and $44,000 for the new truck loan. Susan seconded. Call a vote: Susan-yes, Justin-yes.
Ilene discussed the concerns with the Community Center budget. Ilene discussed the fee for yoga with alternatives siting that some programs got changed and others not and that should be reviewed, and a plan should be devised, along with the tent for the Pavilion. Michele asked if the Town would continue to subsidize yoga, or if they should ask people to pay. Frank discussed alternative funding sources for yoga. Melissa reported that if the funding for yoga were removed, then the patrons would pay the instructor directly. The Select Board and Finance Committee decided not to remove yoga from the budget.
Susan returned to discuss the tax issue, along with the tax analysis that Frank had sent to everyone this morning. Susan discussed the tax rate in prior years, along with the rates to bring employees to a more competitive salary range. She reported that the rate will still be lower than what it would have been in 2022. Susan said that she did not agree that several hundred thousand of dollars’ worth of items needed to be cut from the budget, but she was open to cutting out items that made sense to take out. The Finance Committee discussed their concerns with the tax rate and discussions they had to try and cut out items in order to try and decrease that rate.
Melissa asked about the highway truck. Justin said that he would like to hold off on the purchase of the $78,000 purchase, and then if they wanted to place that money into stabilization then they would be able to do that.
g. Town Hall repairs
The truck, feasibility study, and town hall repairs were the items that Melissa questioned whether they were staying in. Justin reported that $59,600 would get the roof repaired, power washing, painting, boiler, and HVAC work completed. Susan said that in her conversation with Jim the boiler could wait a few years. Justin said if the boiler could wait, then he would suggest lowering the number to $49,600 for Town Hall maintenance and repairs.
Justin said he was not in favor of the Feasibility Study. He felt the current space could still be used for what is needed to be accomplished. He suggested addressing the repairs in order to keep the building maintained. Michele asked if there was a way to have a study done on how to complete the records. Susan said in her conversation with Melissa they were able to identify some ways to help with record storage. She reported that there was some talk of a shared service that could possibly use temporarily. Susan said that in a previous SB meeting concerns over a large Feasibility study were expressed, and she concerned how the moisture problems in the basement were affecting the building. Susan inquired about rectifying the space or determining whether the basement was affecting the overall integrity of the building.
Michele said she agreed with using the $49,600 for maintenance and not completing a feasibility study but having a conversation at some point to deal with the record issue. Melissa confirmed that the feasibility study will be removed, the truck will be removed from the budget and the funds will be moved to another account, and to decrease the Town Hall maintenance figure. The Select Board and the Finance Committee discussed the free cash account and options to determine whether it should be placed in stabilization. Melissa said that they could utilize the free cash to pay for some of the Fire Department articles, and then borrow the remaining amount to help purchase the vehicles.
Melissa reported that the ConCom chair was not in favor of providing funding for the baseball field. However, they were in favor of the trail. Justin reported that the Playground project was moving forward, but the Pavilion was not moving forward. The Select Board and the Finance Committee discussed concerns and options for the Parks budget, and Susan provided an update regarding questions and requests she had made to the Parks department during a prior meeting.
Justin mentioned borrowing $89,000 for the Fire vehicle, and reported this seemed reasonable based on the state contract. He reported that for the $40,000 he requested that Shawn obtain an estimate.
The Finance Committee and the Select Board will tentatively meet on Tuesday at 1pm. And the Finance Committee will schedule an informational meeting for the public. The Finance Committee will meet on April 18thfor an informational public meeting.
Michele moved to adjourn the Finance Committee meeting. Frank seconded. Call a vote: Michele-yes, Ilene-yes, Frank-yes.