Finance Committee Meeting Minutes 4/12/23
Minutes of the meeting 4/12/23
Meeting Date: Tuesday April 12, 2023
Meeting Opened at 4:59 pm
Finance Committee Members Present- Michele Miller, Frank Abbott, Ilene Marcus
Other individuals present: Laurie McArthur (Office Assistant)
Other individuals present remotely: Kenn Bassler
Call to Order: 4:59pm
AGENDA
1. CONTINUE FINAL EDITS OF WARRANT
Michele expressed concerns regarding the legality of the $30,000 for the Fire Company Capital Expenses. The Finance Committee needs clarification from the Fire Company for future plans. Michele recommended that the $30,000 be added into the Transfer Station budget, to cover overage. The Finance Committee voted unanimously not to support the $30,000 special article.
Ilene asked if the Capital Policy had been approved by the Select Board, and Michele said it had not. The Finance Committee discussed their agenda which will be reviewed with the Select Board at the Joint Meeting.
- Unanimously oppose to allocate 30k to fire company this year as a special article as it currently stands.
- The Ball field
- Remove the $78k for the 1ton truck for now
2. Approval of Minutes
Michele moved to accept the minutes from 4/4/23. Call a vote: Ilene-yes, Frank-yes, Michele-yes
3. Final Edits on the Warrant Continued.
Frank created a pie chart that explored each of the special articles. He reviewed each of the items with the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee discussed what should be included in the miscellaneous category, such as insurance and other costs that we must spend and do not control.
Michele reported that education was the largest portion of the budget where they were unable to make changes. Michele discussed changes between the FY 2023 and FY 2024 budgets, including increases and decreases in the various budgets. Ilene suggested putting the information into a context and Michele agreed to take on the task. Frank inquired about the data that should be in the historical bar. Ilene recommended going back three years. Michele clarified that they would have the pie chart and the three-year historical chart. The Finance Committee discussed several options for conveying how the budget has changed over the past three years, and Michele recommended simplifying the process.
The Finance Committee will meet on April 18th at 4pm tentatively as a last meeting to finalize the presentation.
The Finance Committee discussed utilizing a bar chart and how the chart would display the required information. The second chart would be a pie chart. Michele asked how the information would be presented to the public, and the Finance Committee agreed upon handouts. The Finance Committee will hold their informational meeting on 5/2/23.
Capital Plan and Special Articles
Frank asked if the Finance Committee if they should take out the non-discretionary items. He explained how the process will work in regards to the special articles, and the Finance Committee discussed the need to outline how the items would be paid for.
The Finance Committee and the Town Administrator discussed the costs associated with the Transfer Station, and reported that Monterey is already doing well with their transfer station fees. Ilene discussed the concept of contractor liability, and Melissa discussed the contract with the Finance Committee.
Frank said he will remove the special articles and present the non-discretionary. The Finance Committee discussed the budgetary items listed for the Fire Department, and Frank offered to outline where the ARPA funds were being administered. Michele said that the Select Board still has not affirmed the Capital Plan they devised and the $30k is advised against due to it not being on the Capital Plan.
Ilene said she looked at property tax, local receipts, total net state revenue, and total other revenue sources, and other reductions. Ilene said that she would need additional assistance with the total reductions column, and Melissa recommended that Ilene speak with the Accountant. Michele said that all of this information could go into the Town Report. Ilene provided an example of the chart she will be creating.
Michele reported that next week they would have the four charts and will create an agenda for introducing the charts.
Joint meeting of the Finance Committee and Select Board
Select Board members present: Susan Cooper, Justin Makuc, Scott Jenssen
Finance Committee Members present: Frank Abbott, Ilene Marcus
Finance Committee Members absent: Michele Miller
Other individuals present: Melissa Noe, Laurie McArthur (SB Secretary), Don Coburn, Mickey Jervas
Other individuals present remotely: Donna
Minutes of the meeting 4/12/23
Meeting Date: Wednesday April 12, 2023
Meeting Opened at 6:00 pm
Agenda items to be discussed:
1. Continue Final Edits of Warrant
Justin reported that the accountant worked with Melissa regarding the funding of the ballpark coming out of free cash, which would make the money available after the annual Town Meeting. Justin said the other item was the $30k to pay for the Fire Company property. Justin reported that he heard back from Town Council and forwarded this information to everyone. He reported that Town Councils main concern was the improvement effectuate a public purpose and the town should have a long-term lease, so the town has some security. Frank said that the Finance Committee agreed that this should be removed from the Warrant this year. Don asked if Council was aware of in the event the Fire Company should disband then the property would be awarded to the Town. The Finance Committee and Select Board said they were unsure and would have to inquire about that. Melissa said that previous councils have agreed that it was ok to allocate these funds. Susan asked if the terms were still viable since the lease has transitioned to month-to-month. Ilene asked if they can call Counsel to clarify this issue. Melissa read the terms of the lease to the Finance Committee and Select Board.
Justin called Donna from Town Counsel during the meeting. Justin explained the discussion to Donna reporting that the lease for the Fire Company was in question. He said the Select Board and Finance Committee wanted to make sure that the money is effectuating public purpose and that there is a long-term agreement. He discussed the terms of the lease should the Fire Company dissolve, and Susan clarified that the original lease would go month-to-month and the terms would still apply. Donna said that the month-to-month lease would be problematic since it would not support Capital Improvements in the property. Donna said that it would be helpful that the property would be awarded to the Town in the event the Fire Company were to dissolve. Susan asked about issuing a new lease, and Donna said that this would present procurement issues, and explained that they would have to go through Chapter 30b steps. She recommended that they have the appropriation and not turn the money over until a new lease was in place. Susan said that the new lease could include stipulations for work completed on the Fire Company. Melissa explained the process for how the funds would be distributed if the department went through the proper process.
Susan discussed article 17 and the $30k, and outlined new language for the verbiage of the article. Scott explained the process and recommended they add a clause in stating that the money would not be able to utilize the funds until the requirements of the new lease have been met. Justin called Donna back and asked about the wording “contingent upon the agreement of a new lease between the Town and the Fire Company”. She agreed that this wording sounded legal. Justin also asked Donna about once the Town Meeting approves monies to be spent is the Select Board able to stop the expenditure. Donna explained that the Town Meeting appropriates the money and the decision to release those funds is up to the Select Board.
Donna recommended the following wording: “Contingent upon the execution of a new lease agreement between the Town and Company with terms and conditions acceptable to the Select Board.”
Justin read the new verbiage of article 17 on the warrant. Scott moved to approve the wording, Susan seconded. Call a vote: Susan-yes, Justin-yes, Scott-yes.
The Finance Committee supported the article as it was re-written. Frank-yes, Ilene-yes.
Susan said she would like to see article 26 re-inserted back into the Warrant. The Select Board agreed to re-insert this article.
Justin asked about how the budget would appear in the Warrant, and inquired if the percentages would remain in, and Ilene said that she agreed it should remain the same. Justin said that he would recommend comparing annual budgetary expenses.
Melissa asked about the $30k from the Transfer station. Susan explained that the contract was an optional renewal and Casella turned down the contract. Susan said that the contract is going to be a minimum of another $30k in comparison to what they were seeing in other towns. Susan said they were trying to gather additional quotes. Melissa said that the Transfer Station fees will increase to $126,661 on line 433.
Ilene said they were going to do a budget briefing on May 2, 2023 and invited the Select Board to attend.
The Finance Committee said they do not have any problems with article 6. The Select Board said they supported article 6; Scott-yes, Susan-yes, Justin-yes. 3-0. The Finance Committee was in support of article 6; Frank-yes, Ilene-yes 2-0.
The Finance Committee adjourned at 6:53pm. Call a vote: Frank-yes, Ilene-yes.